Limoncello Cream Cheese Balls

It’s almost Christmas and most of my baking is in good homes now.  I always love to spread sweet joy around.  There is some left for us to enjoy.  Growing up in an Italian home, dessert was not a part of meals.  We normally enjoyed some fruit at the end of the meal and a slice of cake  or cookies later on with our evening coffee.  I like fruit after a meal to cleanse the palate and what is better than lemons. Limoncello Cream cheese Balls make it easy for me not to feel guilty eating sweets.

These little balls have the crunch from the almonds and the smoothness from the cream cheese.  They are almost like truffles.  The texture from the ground cookies gives them that extra level of flavour.  These disappear quickly and will refresh your palate after all that food.

For us Christmas Eve involves many dishes made from fish.  This year we are alone and it will be different.  I am making calamari, breaded tilapia, garlic shrimp and lobster tails.  For greens I am serving fried rapini and my multi layer salad ( that’s another blog) and stuffed zucchini. The star of the evening is our slow braised cabbage which is a Calabrese tradition and places my nonno Salvatore and nonna Emilia at my table.  These little lemon bites bring nonno Ciccio and nonna Marietta, my Sicilian grandparents to the table with us too.

From our house to yours, may your table be full of your best Christmas memories as we move forward in health, peace, and happiness.

Another great and easy  lemon recipe to end your meal https://recipesatmytable.com/mini-lemon-curd-tarts/

A great article on what foods cleanse the palate https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/foods-cleanse-palate-2261.html

Ingredients

• 8 oz block of cream cheese
• 2 tbsp  sour cream
• Juice of half a lemon and its zest
• 3/4  cup ground almonds
• 3/4 cup ground cookies, I used a lemon one, but arrowroot or a plain cookie would suffice
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp limoncello (optional)
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut.

Process

Put the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, limoncello liqueur, juice and zest of half a lemon into a bowl and beat until smooth.  

Now add in the cookies and almonds and stir together.

Place the dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes.  

Put the shredded coconut onto a plate. 

Make small balls (use about 1 tsp) and roll into the coconut.  Place on a baking tray and  back into the freezer. This recipe made 50 balls. 

Remove as needed, but they will disappear.

White Christmas Fudge

It isn’t Christmas without candy at the table. I am not much of a candy maker because of the clean-up mess that goes with it.  This White Christmas Fudge is easy and the clean-up even easier.  The simple ingredients make it a simple fix for your sweet tooth.

My first memories of Fudge were of going to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan for family outings. One particularly stands out.  Mount Caramel Church in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario organized a pilgrimage to The Cross in the Woods located in Indian River Michigan.  My grandparents wanted to go and they did and took me. Now if you can imagine that they spoke little English, but they got on a bus loaded with many more people who didn’t speak the language and off they went.  There were many grandchildren that accompanied them that day.

My memory of fudge is that The Mackinaw Island fudge was readily available everywhere on the mainland.  We bought a slab to go with our picnic lunch and my nonno took out his trusty old pocket knife from Italy.  I can still picture the blade as it cut through the sugary chocolate brick.  We all waited in anticipation as the brick somewhat crumbled.  Rest assured, no crumbs were waisted.  Simple times, lasting memories and the sweetness of the fudge still lingers on my mind.

As Italians we make this candy called torrone for Christmas https://recipesatmytable.com/traditional-calabrese-torrone/

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 cup chopped mixed nuts
• zest of half an orange
• 1 cup candied fruit
• 1 tsp Frangelico Liqueur

I also made a dark chocolate one using dark chocolate chips, eagle brand milk,  cups chopped almonds, orange zest, baileys liqueur. Omit the candied fruit and add double the almonds.  

Process

I lightly greased an 8 X 8 pan and lined it with parchment paper.  Ensure that the parchment hangs over the edge for easy removal.

In a saucepan, combine the chocolate chips and condensed milk.  Put on stove over medium heat and stir until melted.  Don’t leave it or it will burn.

Remove from heat and add the liqueur and orange zest and stir. I like to mix the zest with the liqueur. 

Go in with the nuts and candied fruit.

Mix, place in pan and smooth.  I used plastic wrap over the mixture to ensure a smooth transition.

Refrigerate overnight before cutting.