Tuesday Treats - Holiday Desserts

If I am going to share the lovely pictures of the scrumptious holiday desserts, I should also share the recipes. What was I thinking?! Of course, you'll have to wait until December to justify making these. Hopefully you won't forget about them.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Ingredients
1 package (12 ounces) white chocolate morsels (about 1 1/2 cups/375 mL)
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk
1 cup (250 mL) sour cream
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed (3 cups/750 mL)
frozen pound cake or 1 1/2 (304-g) frozen pound cakes, thawed
2/3 cup (150 mL) thawed frozen cranberry juice concentrate
1/4 cup (50 mL) lemon juice
3 oz (90 g) vanilla-flavored almond bark
powdered sugar (optional)

Directions
1. For mousse, place white chocolate morsels and milk in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1-2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds with Mix ‘N Scraper®. Cool slightly, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in sour cream with Stainless Whisk. Fold in whipped topping.
2. Trim crusts off cake to make an 81/2 x 3 x 11/2 in. (22 cm x 7.5 cm x 4 cm) cake. Place trimmings into Rotary Grater and grate evenly over bottom of Springform Pan. Press crumbs using flat side of Measure-All® Cup to form crust. Slice remaining cake into 1/8-in. (4-mm) slices (about 60 slices).
3. Combine juice concentrate and lemon juice in Easy Read Measuring Cup. Layer crust with one-fourth of the mousse. Spread evenly with Small Spreader. Arrange about 20 slices of cake over mousse, overlapping as needed to form an even layer. Brush cake with one-third of the cranberry mixture using Chef's Silicone Basting Brush. Repeat layers two times, ending with cranberry mixture. Top cranberry mixture with remaining mousse. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. Place almond bark on microwave-safe plate. Microwave on HIGH 20 seconds, turning over after 10 seconds (do not melt). Hold almond bark with clean Kitchen Towel and create small curls using Serrated Peeler. Garnish cake with curls and sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Run releasing tool around sides of cake before removing collar.

Creamy Eggnog Parfait
Ingredients
2 cups cold milk
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup Sugar
2 1/2 Tb cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
6 egg yolks
2 cups Cool Whip, thawed
1/4 tsp rum extract
24 gingersnap cookies


Directions
1) Microwave milk on HIGH 3 minutes
2) Combine nutmeg, sugar, cornstarch and salt in 1.5qt saucepan, whisk in egg yolks until smooth. Whisk milk into egg yolk mixture, cook over med heat 3-5 minutes until boils. Remove from heat. Transfer to mixing bowl; place a piece of plastic wrap onto surface. Refrigerate 4 hours until chilled. Fold in 1 cup of coolwhip and rum.
3) coarsely chop 16 cookies. spoon 1/4cup of custard into Martini Glass, sprinkle with chopped cookies. Top with remaining custard.
4) Garnish with remaining cool whip and sprinkle with nutmeg and 1 whole cookie.