Holiday Goodies For You (Or Others), Part I
Ofner Le Cordon Bleu Creme Brulee Panettone
It’s guaranteed to be a sweet holiday with Ofner Le Cordon Bleu Creme Brulee Panettone.
It’s one of the new flavors this season by the Brazilian company, which also manufactures in the United States, that’s been turning out specialty sweets for 70 years.
I had a chance to try the new creme brulee version of the classic holiday Italian bread. Made with a naturally fermented dough, it’s moist, tender, and a little bready in texture.
There are gobs of cashew nut praline and creme brulee within it, and it’s topped with a coating of white chocolate, cashew nut praline, and bruleed sugar. It is quite sweet, so you do have to like your panettone on the sugary side.
If not, Ofner offers other panettone flavors that may be more up your alley, including apricot, dates, and plums; candied fruits and raisins; and pistachio cream.
The panettone serves 12 with 303 calories, 16 grams total fat, 66 milligrams cholesterol, 71 mg sodium, 33 grams carbohydrates, and 5.8 grams protein per serving.
Since the creme brulee one is new, it’s in limited supplies. Find it on the website for $53 for a 35.27-ounce panettone. Ofner panettones also are available on Amazon, Walmart.com, and Macy’s.
Jewels Under the Kilt Roasted Nuts
The name of this company couldn’t be nuttier. But of course, it fits perfectly.
Jewels Under the Kilt makes — what else — nuts.
But not just any nuts. These are coated with Canadian maple syrup in a patented process that leaves them super crisp on the outside and meaty within.
The company was founded by Elisabeth Burrows, who owns a fruit and nut orchard in Ontario, Canada, and obviously has a wicked sense of humor.
The company makes all manner of walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, and almonds. While some are just roasted and salted, most have the delicious maple syrup coating plus flavorings such as orange vanilla cream, apple pecan pie, pear ginger, chocolate, espresso, or chipotle.
The Moonshine Pecan is a fun flavor that doesn’t taste overly boozy but has a toasty vanilla presence. It’s also a little less sweet than some of the other varieties. The Pear Ginger Walnut has a subtle ginger taste and a sweet autumn quality. The Espresso Hazelnut tastes like a fancy cup of coffee.
The nuts are handy to have on hand to adorn charcuterie boards, toss into salads, sprinkle over sweet potatoes, bake into cookies or top coffeecake.
Depending on the variety of maple syrup-coated nuts, one serving (11 to 15 nuts) has roughly 150 calories, 14 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of protein, and 100 milligrams of potassium.
The nuts are available on the Jewels Under the Kilt website, Amazon Prime, and Healthy Planet.
Racha Siracha
I am always mystified when people panic over a shortage of Huy Fong Sriracha. The rooster-clad squeeze bottle with the green squirt top is definitely delicious and well loved, but it’s not the only game in town.
There are so many more sriracha brands that will work in a pinch and are definitely worth trying.
Case in point: Racha Siracha.
The rhyming name is cute to be sure, but it also has a meaning. “Racha” is Thai for “king,” and that’s just what this new Thai condiment that’s USDA-certified organic aims to be.
The company uses organic Racha chili peppers in Thailand grown on its own farm, along with organic pineapple vinegar, organic cane sugar, organic garlic, and mineral salt.
The sriracha comes in mild, medium, and hot.
I’m typically a “medium” kind of gal. But let me tell you that I was glad that the sample sent to me was the “mild” one. That’s because even that one carries a pretty big kick. I’m almost afraid of what the medium might be like.
The mild variety is indeed pretty fiery, though, not downright scorching so that you can’t taste anything else. There is a lot of tang and acidity here, along with a slight tropical fruity sweetness. It definitely has a more powerful personality than the Huy Fung brand.
Use it to spice up whatever you like — Asian noodle bowls, dumplings, scrambled eggs, sausages, or a grilled cheese sandwich.
A 10-ounce bottle is about $11.99 on the Racha Siracha website and $10.19 on Amazon.
