The story below is from our November/December 2020 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Holiday treats and seasonal sweets to share, savor and sip.
No matter what’s happening in one’s life—and this year, it’s been a lot—it’s comforting to be able to count on the forward march of time marked by the changing seasons. This time of year heralds the advent of apple harvests, the return of pumpkin spice everything and the anticipation of holiday sweets and bread breaking. Though our celebrations may look different this year, local bakeries and eateries are still whipping up classic holiday treats and seasonal sweets. From cookies to cocktails, here’s where to find celebration-worthy treats—no matter the occasion.
Apples to Apples
Virginia grows more than 25 varieties of apples, making it one of the top apple-producing states. Throughout the season, you’ll find several varieties fit for snacking and baking at Jamison’s Orchards, including sweet-tart Grimes Golden, crisp Empire, juicy McIntosh or crisp-sweet Gala. Stock up on jars of apple butter and apple pie filling, too.
For a rustic take on apple pie, opt for Bread Craft’s apple galette. Pie dough is mounded with local apples spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg before the edges are folded around the filling to create an open-faced tart. Another take on apple desserts is Sidecar’s apple streusel, in which local apples seasoned with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon are baked under a blanket of puff pastry and served with vanilla ice cream.
If cake is more your thing, order the apple spice cake at Corbin’s Confections, a gluten- and nut-free bakery in Salem. The family favorite dessert is fashioned after co-owner Shana Brown’s grandmother’s applesauce cake recipe. Local apples are diced and folded into a batter laced with cinnamon, clove and allspice and studded with plump raisins, then baked until fragrant and tender (a raisin-free version is available, too).
Ask for a T&G at Alexander’s, and you’ll get a playful, apple-forward take on a champagne cocktail. It’s anchored by an orange-bitters-soaked sugar cube, topped with Albemarle CiderWorks’ Royal Pippin Cider. The single-variety cider is named for the Albemarle Pippin, an apple lauded for its well-balanced acidity and lush apple taste. The sparkling sipper is finished with a float of Bowman Brothers’ Virginia-made bourbon and garnished with a brandied cherry.
Pumpkin Spice Everything
No matter your sentiment toward pumpkin treats, there’s no denying that the orange gourds signal fall. Neena’s Cupcakes’ pumpkin spice cupcakes, made with fresh minced pumpkin and frosted with a fluffy pumpkin-spice-laced cream cheese icing, could convert anyone to Team Pumpkin. Call to order or find them at The Dilly Dally market in Salem.
At Corbin’s Confections, discover a duo of pumpkin delights. There’s the aptly-named pumpkin pillows, in which super-soft pumpkin cookies sandwich a cream cheese icing filling, and fluffy pumpkin donuts coated in cinnamon-sugar. (Call ahead to order.)
On the Rise’s Teal Batson starts getting calls in August about her locally legendary pumpkin bars, which she’s made for more than 15 years. The sought-after bars, available at both bakery locations plus Wildflour Cafe at Towers through Thanksgiving, feature a buttery pecan crust, followed by a layer each of luscious pumpkin cheesecake, sweet cream cheese and pecan granola crumbles.
In addition to locally grown fruit, Jamison’s Orchards’ farm shop sells local treats, including pumpkin rolls crafted by Roselawn BakeShoppe. A thin layer of spongy pumpkin cake is rolled around a sweet cream cheese filling to create a sliceable treat that’s equally suited to holiday entertaining and afternoon snacking.
Do one better than pumpkin pie a la mode with a scoop of Pop’s Soda Bar’s pumpkin pie ice cream, in which pieces of pumpkin pie and marshmallow cream are swirled into spiced pumpkin ice cream.
Cookie Wish List
On the Rise leans into the holidays with an impressive cookie line-up, including Italian wedding cookies dusted with powdered sugar and raspberry cashew thumbprints. But it’s really earned a following for its gingerbread people—to the tune of nearly 2,000 every season. Pro tip: order them without the red-hot-buttons and decorate a batch at home.
Pick up the ultimate holiday cookie assortment at Pastel. You’ll find fan-favorites such as peanut butter blossoms and gingerbread, plus a couple that reflect the co-owner’s familial ties. There are Brunella Salazar-Gonti’s alfajores, delicate Peruvian cookies filled with dulce de leche or fruit, and spitzbuben, a raspberry-filled almond cookie made according to a recipe from Levi Buck’s sister-in-law’s grandmother.
Cookies and cream may be an ice cream classic, but holiday cookies can inspire seasonal scoops, too. To wit, Homestead Creamery’s gingerbread cookie mixes in ample pieces of gingerbread cookies with a medley of warming spices. And Blue Cow Ice Cream Co.’s snickerdoodle is also back, in which cinnamon-spiced ice cream is loaded with pieces of house-made chewy cinnamon-sugar cookies.
Holiday Dough
For Bread Craft’s Alex Eliades, stollen, a traditional German Christmas bread, holds a special place in his heart. His German grandmother often baked the spiced fruit-and-nut bread, which included fruitcake dried fruit mix. Eliades’ version features a rum-soaked mixture of golden and regular raisins, orange peel, lemon zest and toasted slivered almonds that’s combined into an egg-enriched yeast dough redolent of nutmeg. Once baked, the loaves are brushed with melted butter and dusted with powdered sugar.
Challah is traditionally served during Jewish Shabbat and holiday meals, but the braided, egg-enriched yeast bread makes a fine addition to any holiday table. (And it makes excellent French toast.) Call ahead to order loaves from Full Moon Deli & Café, where co-owner Francis Moon turns out a textbook example perfected over a decades-long baking career in New York City.
On the Rise bakes up stollen and challah too, along with cardamom bread and panettone. The cardamom loaves are made with European butter, yielding a rich, dense-yet-tender crumb that’s studded with raisins and perfumed with its namesake warming spice. Cardamom also figures prominently in panettone, a buttery Italian bread with an airy interior that’s chockful of golden raisins, candied citron and slivered almonds. (It also makes wonderful French toast.)
The story above is from our November/December 2020 issue. For the full story subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!