Mexican Cornbread Muffins

The ingredients:

• 300 ml (1 1/4 cup) corn meal
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) all purpose white flour
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) baking powder
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) sugar
• 250 ml (1 cup) (lightly packed) shredded blend of Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Asadero, and Quesadilla Cheeses.
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) melted butter
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) puréed whole kernel corn
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) finely minced onions
• 4 finely minced jalapeño peppers
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) whole milk
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) sour cream
• 2 eggs

Before I continue, I want to mention that the number of jalapeños will be determined by how spicy you want your cornbread. Also, jalapeños range in the amount of capsaicin they contain, with mild, medium, and hot jalapeños available. Furthermore, the same bread can be hot for one person and mild to another as our tolerance levels for spiciness varies for each of us. I like to use a mix of red and green jalapeños for appearance.

Combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Combine the milk and sour cream together mixing well. I use a mini food processor to purée the corn. I have yet to find any tin corn that I thought was worth eating. I obtain fresh corn and process it and freeze it for later use. The mini food processor also makes quick work of mincing the onions and jalapeños. Combine the rest of the ingredients and add to the dry ingredients mixing well by hand, no need to use a mixer for this quick bread.

Spray a muffin tin with a good non-stick cooking spray. Non-stick cooking sprays are just vegetable oil, so they are safe to use in cooking. Fill each section of the tin and placed in an oven set to 175°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 allowing to cook between 30 to 40 minutes. When near the time, peek into the over to check for brownness of the tops. There you have it, some delicious homemade Mexican cornbread muffins.

I have never cared for shop purchased eggnog. Most of the shop purchased eggnog are too thick; they add thickening agents such as guaran. Also, most of the shop purchased eggnog are too sweet for my tastes. One year at the holidays I brought Borden brand eggnog that was so horrible that I was unable to drink any of it. Therefore, I make my own holiday eggnog and I am going to share the recipe.

• 1 litre (1 quart) Half and Half
• 6 large eggs
• 1 tin (354 ml/12 oz) evaporated milk
• 250 ml (1 cup) white sugar
• Vanilla (to taste)
• Nutmeg (to taste)

The first step is to add the tin of evaporated milk to a saucepan and then add the six eggs. Using a mixer or whisk fully emulsify the eggs into the evaporated milk. Since we are using raw eggs, we will need to pasteurise the eggs to safeguard against possible salmonella. To pasteurise the eggs we need to bring the evaporated milk/egg mixture to 60°C (140°F). We don't want to bring the mixture above 65.5°C (150°F) to prevent coagulating the eggs. Insert a digital thermometer into the mixture; keep the probe off the bottom of the saucepan, and while you bring the temperature up use a hand whisk and constantly stir the mixture. Once the mixture has reached 60°C (140°F) or higher but below 65.5°C (150°F) continue stirring the mixture for three to five minutes.

Once we have our eggs pasteurised, set the saucepan off the burner and add the vanilla to taste, the nutmeg to taste, and the white sugar. Since the evaporated milk and eggs mixture is still warm, it will help to dissolve the sugar. Whisk the mixture to incorporate the nutmeg and to dissolve the sugar. Combine the saucepan mixture and the litre of half and half and stir well. This recipe will make a little less than 3 litres (3 quarts) of eggnog.

All through the years when I was growing up, a part of the holiday season was Mum baking a fruitcake. When I was little, I simply watched as my sisters help Mum in the kitchen with mixing the ingredients together and baking the cake. Later when my sisters had left home, it was just me and Mum together in the kitchen baking the holiday fruitcake. Mum is now gone but the holiday would not be the same without baking a fruitcake; in a way it is a connection to Mum and the memories, often accompanied by tears, flow freely.

The cost of the ingredients for making a fruitcake has risen over the years; it is not a cheap cake to bake, so I opted to leave out the additional candied pineapple that we usually included. The container of candied fruit contains some pineapple, but we usually increased the amount. I did buy an additional container of candied cherries to add to the fruitcake mix; it just isn't as nice a cake without the cherries. In the list of ingredients, the candied cherries are mixed in with the candied fruit.

228 g (1/2 lb) butter

500 ml (2 cups) pecans

500 ml (2 cups) dried dates

500 ml (2 cups) raisins

750 ml (3 cups) plain flour

Six large eggs

907 g (2 lbs) candied fruit

500 ml (2 cups) brown sugar

In addition to the ingredients listed above, you will add to 500 ml (2 cups) of the flour, 5 ml (1 tsp) of nutmeg, and 5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder. Set aside 250 ml (1 cup) of the flour to use to coat the nuts, dates, raisins, and candied fruit. Cream together the brown sugar and the melted butter until they are fully incorporated. Add the eggs to the brown sugar and butter one at a time until the mixture has come together in a nice smooth consistency. It is best to break your eggs into a bowl first so you can remove any little bit of eggshell that might slip in. A tip to preventing those little bits of eggshell is to crack your eggs on your flat worktop; cracking on the side of a bowl tends to drive bits of eggshell inside the egg.

Creamed Brown Sugar, Eggs, and Butter

Before finishing the batter, take the 250 ml (1 cup) of flour that you set aside and add about half of it to the candied fruit and stir to coat as evenly as possible. Add the dates, nuts, and raisins to the candied fruit and use the remaining flour to finish coating the mixture. The idea of using the flour to coat the mixture is that it will prevent them from sticking together and allow you to better stir them into the batter so they don't clump together.

Add the remaining 500 ml (2 cups) of flour to the brown sugar, butter, and eggs mixture, add it a bit at a time so the flour incorporates evenly. This batter is going to be very thick and you want to make sure the flour incorporates into the batter smoothly without any lumps.

The Batter

In a large bowl, large enough to hold the batter and the candied fruit/nuts/dates/raisins mixture, combine everything together making sure to stir it well so that all the candied fruits, nuts, dates, and raisins are coated with batter. You will find this a bit of work as the batter is very thick.

The Final Cake Batter, Ready For The Pans

Once it is all together, and everything is coated with the batter, pour the mixture into either a tube cake pan, or two regular loaf pans. In the past I have always made the cake in a tube pan, but this year I decided to make two small cakes in loaf pans. I was not as satisfied with the loaf pans and will return to the tube pan in the future. To make the removal of the cake from the tube or loaf pans easy, cut parchment paper to fit the shape of the bottom of the pans and line the bottom of the pan before filling the pans with the batter. Be sure to press the batter into the pans so there are no air gaps.

Ready For The Oven

Place the filled pan(s) into a moderate oven set to 180°C, 350°F, gas mark 4. The amount of time will vary depending on the type of pans used; for the tube pan expect about an hour or more cooking time. The loaf pans will require less time; be sure not to over cook the cake if using the loaf pans as it will dry the cake out. I check the cake near the expected time and wait for the tops to brown to a pretty golden brown colour. Once the fruitcake is done, remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the pan. To help remove the cake from the pan, carefully work around the edge of the pan with a flat utensil; the cake should slide out easily with the use of the parchment liner.

The Finished Fruitcakes

This fruitcake is a very rich cake, and tastes better than any fruitcake I have tried from a shop. It is best to bake this fruitcake ahead of the holidays so that the flavours of the ingredients have time to permeate the cake. Your holiday guests will really enjoy visiting for a cup of coffee and a slice of your home-baked fruitcake; don't be surprise if they return for a second slice.