WSLS 10 announces Pin It to Win It: Holiday Foodie Edition contest winners

Last month, we asked you to share your favorite holiday dishes and recipes, and you did not disappoint!

While you’ve been decking your halls with holiday cheer, you’ve also been decking your tables with some amazing seasonal recipes. After you shared your dishes on Pin It, we asked you to heart your favorites.

And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Drum roll, please...here are the winners who tied for first place in a three-way tie.

TAWANNA BLASSINGAME - CRANBERRY ORANGE POUND CAKE

See the full recipe below:

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tablespoons cake flour-sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 5 oz  white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter-softened at room temperature
• 1 and 1/2 cups grams sugar  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons browned butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange zest

Frosting:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter-softened
• 4 oz  cream cheese-softened
• 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar (or more to make it thick enough to spread on top of the cake)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish:

1. handful dried cranberries
2. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3. 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
4. fresh orange zest

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. Butter and flour 8.5 x 4.5 x 3 (or 9 x 5 x 3 ) inches loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.
3. Combine cake flour, baking powder and salt and sift it three times, set aside.
4. In a small saucepan over medium heat brown 2.5 Tablespoons butter until it’s nice amber color, remove the foam and set aside to cool.
5. Whisk the egg with vanilla extract and set aside.
6. Mix the butter on medium speed until it’s creamy, slowly add sugar and continue beating until it’s creamy.
7. Add heavy cream and mascarpone, and beat on medium speed.
8. Turn mixer on low speed and gradually add dry ingredients alternately with eggs.
9. Add handful flour in white chocolate chunks and toss them to cover evenly. Toss cranberries with a handful flour to cover them completely.
10. Add white chocolate chunks in the batter and stir well, then gently stir in cranberries
11. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan, smooth the top and gently tap the pan on working surface to remove the air bubbles.
12. With a butter knife draw a line down the center of the pound cake and pour browned butter into the line.
13. Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean (about 55 to 65 minutes).   If the top starts browning too much tent the cake with aluminum foil
14. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on the rack.

Glaze:

1. When the cake is completely cooled prepare the glaze.
2. With a mixer, cream together softened butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar and beat until smooth, mix in vanilla extract. Spread on top of the cake. Place the cake in the fridge until the frosting is set.

Garnish:

1. When the frosting is set melt 1/2 cup white chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a small saucepan over low heat until it’s smooth.
2. Sprinkle the cake with dried cranberries, fresh orange zest and

 drizzle with white chocolate. (You can drizzle the chocolate with a spoon).

STEPHEN BLANCETT - HERB CRUSTED LAMP CHOPS WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

See the full recipe below:

Ingredients | Servings: 2

SAUCE

• ½ cup red wine (Cabernet or Merlot)
• 2 cups fresh raspberries
• ½ cup raspberry jam
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ tsp salt

LAMB CHOPS

• Canola oil for frying (or other oil with a high smoke point)
• 8 to 10 lamb chops, Frenched¼ cup Dijon mustard
• ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp salt

Raspberries, rosemary sprigs and chopped mint, for garnish

How to make it

SAUCE

Place all of the sauce ingredients into a blender or food processor and purée until smooth.

Transfer the liquid to a saucepan, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce is reduced and thickens, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and watch so it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and set aside.

LAMB CHOPS

Remove the lamb chops from the refrigerator and let sit, covered, to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, thyme, rosemary, mint, garlic, black pepper and salt.

Pat the lamb chops dry with paper towels. Brush all sides of each chop with Dijon mustard, then roll in the breadcrumb mixture until well-coated. Tap off any excess.

Heat 3 tbsp oil in cast iron or stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. Place half of the lamb chops in the pan and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining lamb chops and oil.

Transfer the chops to serving plates, drizzle the raspberry sauce around or over the chops and garnish with raspberries, rosemary sprigs and mint leaves.

CATHY PALLERIA - HOMEMADE COCONUT CREAM PIE

See the full recipe below:

Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked flaky Pie Crust (what I used) or All Butter Pie Crust
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (30g) cornstarch
• 1 (14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
• 1 cup (240ml) half-and-half
• 2/3 cup (130g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (80g) sweetened shredded coconut
• 2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• optional: 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) cold heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
• 3 Tablespoons (20g) confectioners’ sugar or granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• optional for garnish: unsweetened coconut shavings, coconut chips, or sweetened
• shredded coconut

Directions:

1) I like to make sure my pie dough is prepared before I begin making coconut cream pie. Make pie dough the night before because it needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before rolling out and blind baking (next step).

2) Preheat oven to 375 degree F (190 degree C). Fully blind bake the pie crust. (Follow how to blind bake pie crust instructions through step 9. I skip the optional dough strip trick in step 4, though that trick guarantees thick pie crust edges. Crimp or flute the pie crust edges before baking.) Cool pie crust completely. You can do this up to 3 days ahead of time. Cover cooled crust tightly and refrigerate until ready to fill.

3) Whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch together. Set aside. Whisk the coconut milk, half-and-half, granulated sugar, and salt together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisking occasionally, bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then reduce temperature to medium-low heat. Once boiling, remove about 1/2 cup of the mixture and, in a slow and steady stream, whisk into the egg yolk and cornstarch mixture. Keep those egg yolks moving so they don’t scramble. In a slow and steady stream, pour and whisk the egg yolk mixture into the pot.

4) The pudding will immediately begin to bubble and thicken. Stand back and use caution as the bubbles may burst. Whisk and cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut, butter, vanilla, and coconut extract (if using).

5) Pour warm filling into cooled pie crust. Cover tightly with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding (to prevent a skin from forming) and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight until chilled and thickened. Pie may be refrigerated for up to 1 day.

6) Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Medium peaks are between soft/loose peaks and stiff peaks and are the perfect consistency for topping and piping on desserts.

7) Pipe or spread the whipped cream on top. I used Ateco 849 piping tip to pipe. Garnish with extra coconut, if desired. Chill the pie uncovered up to a few hours or you can serve it immediately.

8) Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Based on: sallysbakingaddiction.com/coconut-cream-pie

Check out some of the other holiday dishes we received by heading to our Pin It page: wsls.com/pins