Planning a Christmas&nbspget-together this&nbspyear Add a 5-star touch to your holiday celebrations with these quick and easy recipes from the Hyatt Centric Chandigarh. 

Lemon Santiago

Ingredients

Whole egg- 320 gm

Almond powder- 300 gm

Caster sugar-266 gm

Cinnamon powder- 1.6 gm

Lemon zest- 1 no.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Beat the eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale and creamy. Add the lemon zest and cinnamon. Fold in the ground almond powder using a rubber spatula. 

Grease a 10 inches (25 cm) springform pan with butter and pour in the almond cake batter.Bake for about 30 minutes, until the cake is golden brown. Test with a toothpick and if it doesn't come out, cleanly&nbspcover the cake with aluminium foil and bake for five more minutes, then test again. Do this one more time if necessary (for 40 minutes in total). Allow the cake to cool in the pan.

Vanilla Cremeux

Ingredients

Milk- 50 gm (3.2% fat)

Cream- 100 gm (32% fat)

Egg yolks- 65 gm 

Sugar- 25 g m

Water- 15 gm

Concentrated vanilla paste- 1 gm 

Gelatin powder- 4 gm

Preparation

Soak the gelatin in water. Put the milk, cream, and egg yolks in a bowl over a pot with boiling water.  Stir until the mixture reaches about 82&degC, and then add the soaked gelatin and the vanilla paste. Mix it all, pour it into the desired silicon mold, use the Lemon Santiago Cake as your base and then freeze.

Milk Chocolate Glaze 

Ingredients

Milk chocolate- 225 gm

Water- 125 gm

Sugar regular- 71 gm

Cold glaze- 36 gm

Gelatin powder- 2 gm (dissolve in 15ml cold water)

Preparation

Mix water and sugar for a cold glaze and heat up to 105&degC. Pour the boiling mixture on top of the milk chocolate into a bowl, add dissolved gelatin, and blend with a stick blender. Leave to rest for 24 hours. Finish the cake with milk chocolate glaze at 30&degC.

Gingerbread Eggnog 

Ingredients 

6 large egg yolks (at room temperature)

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups milk 

½ tablespoon gingerbread spice 

1 pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 pinch ground ginger (freshly grated)

1 pinch ground nutmeg (freshly grated)

1 cup vodka

1 cup coffee liquor 

Method 

For your eggnog, whisk 6 egg yolks, half a cup of white sugar, and 1 tablespoon of molasses until creamy and light in colour. Heat the mixture of 1 cup heavy cream, spices such as gingerbread spice and nutmeg, and 2 cups whole milk with a pinch of salt.  Simmer lightly over medium, and remove the pan once the mixture bubbles. Stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and chill the mixture in the refrigerator for about 2-3 hours until the eggnog thickens. If desired, you can combine the eggnog and liquor in a blender for a super&nbspsmooth eggnog.

Pouring

Wet glass rim with molasses. 

Coat the glass rim with cinnamon sugar

Ice 

Pour in 1 cup of Vodka

Pour in 1 cup of coffee liquor 

Pour in your homemade eggnog

Add 2 tablespoons of molasses 

Add your gingerbread spice and nutmeg (just a pinch)

Shake Shake Shake

Pour beautifully, and enjoy a very merry Christmas