Holiday Open House: Your guide to easy entertaining

With the Holidays just around the corner, "What's for dessert?" is the only question on my mind. The best thing about working in a bakery is there is never a shortage of good food to choose from.  If you find yourself in a crunch for time this year and want to lighten your baking load, we are here to help. At Incredibly Delicious, we are always  happy to provide the easy answer for all your Holiday Entertaining! Many of you joined us for our Holiday Open House on Saturday to taste a variety of samples and explore what we have to offer this year. For those of you who were unable to attend, we offer a visual guide to the possibilities instead. 

Thanksgiving

Be it a family gathering or a communion of friendships, Thanksgiving is a time to come together, appreciate the goodness in our lives, and share our table with loved ones. Pumpkin has arguably been the showstoppers of this Holiday but we happen to love all our desserts equally at this bakery and don't discriminate against the occasional wild card like our Linzer Torte. This Austrian delight is actually one of the oldest known cakes in the world and originated in Linz, Austria in 1696. Torte is the German word for "cake" but your won't find any cake in this Torte. Our Linzer Torte is made of a single layer and resembles a Tart more than a traditional layer cake. It consists of a rich hazelnut pastry filled with our house made raspberry jam and is topped with pistachios.  A good pick for an adventurous crowd who enjoys a  bit of history with their dessert. 

Our next dessert on the list of favorites is the Cranberry Walnut Orange Tart. I can remember my mother making this tart every season and always looking forward to the very first bite. The sweet cookie crust is the perfect home for layers of cranberry, candied orange peel, and toasted walnuts. There is a secret ingredient that I can't give away but it makes all the difference in the flavor.  This tart will always be at the top of my list of favorites. 

For those of you who must have traditional Pumpkin at the table but don't want to forgo the excitement of flavor, we have the perfect tart for you! Our Pumpkin Tart is baked in a sweet cookie shell and topped with a walnut streusel finished with  candied ginger. It's all the richness of your favorite traditions punched up to the next level. Finished with rich whipped cream, this dessert will not disappoint. 

Last but not least is the Pear Cranberry Tart. If you have any concerns about nut allergies or want something a little bit lighter after your Thanksgiving Feast, this is a great choice. A sweet cookie shell filled with chopped cranberries and pears finished with a light apricot glaze. This tart affords a delicate balance of sweet and tart that is pleasing to the palate. 

When it comes to cake, we want to reflect the feeling of warmth that gathering with those you love can bring. Inspired by the beautiful changing season our Caramel Apple Spice Cake is the perfect embodiment of Fall. Moist spice cake layered with cardamon scented apples and caramel buttercream. This rich layered cake will be a hit at your Thanksgiving Feast. 

If you seek tradition in a cake form, the Pumpkin Spice Cake will be just right for your family. Delicate spice cake layered with pumpkin cream cheese mousse finished with our vanilla buttercream. Need I say more?

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If you still don't see something you like yet, don't despair... We have more to offer!

• Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Tart- with coffee whipped cream
• Cherry Almond Tart- tart cherries, marzipan, sliced almonds
• Fall Fruit Tart- apple, pears, and cranberries
• Pumpkin Cheesecake- everyone's favorite
• Vanilla Chai Cake- vanilla cake, chai mousse, coffee buttercream

Please order for Thanksgiving by November 19th at 3pm by calling us Today at 217-528-8548!

Christmas

Like most little girls, my absolute favorite time of year was Christmas. My Nana would wrap up cans of black olives and put them under her tree for me. I thought it was the coolest present on the face of the earth because she knew how much I liked them. My oldest son loves black olives too and I carry on her tradition still today. The thing that I most adored about Nana's house were her cookie trays. She would make several varieties, including date pinwheel, butterscotch oatmeal, Mexican wedding, toffee squares, old fashioned sugar cookie, and Divinity. My beloved favorite of everything she made was her Loutia Usher cookies, simply named after the woman who gave her the recipe. Today we still carry on those traditions at Incredibly Delicious except our Loutia Usher cookies are called Walnut Shortbread. As life gets busier it is nice to introduce traditions in your own family that don't require a lot of effort. As a mother of four children, I have always enjoyed our seasonal Ready to Decorate Cookie kits. It's a great way to spend time with my kids without the fuss of baking. This year we are offering the kits in Gingerbread!

Buche de Noel
​In the twenty years that I have been a part of Incredibly Delicious, I can truly say that Buche de Noel are my very most favorite thing to create. We offer them for a few weeks in December and then they are gone until next year. Buche de Noel are the French version of a traditional Yule Log. We make ours with delicate flavorful sponge cake rolled with buttercream and decorated to look like a fancy Christmas Log. We change up the flavors every year and I am so excited about this years selections!
​Chocolate Passion Fruit- Chocolate sponge rolled with passion fruit buttercream finished with chocolate buttercream
Hazelnut Raspberry- ​Hazelnut sponge rolled with raspberry buttercream finished with hazelnut buttercream

Holiday Cakes
Our Chocolate Peppermint Mousse Cake is like a giant hug. Rich chocolate cake layers with white chocolate peppermint mousse finished with vanilla buttercream and a red peppermint swirl. Our Winter Wonderland Cake tastes like a mouthful of snowflakes. Vanilla cake, white chocolate mousse, cherries, and dark chocolate pieces. Even if you can't run head first into a snowbank to make snow angels, our Winter Wonderland cake will make you feel like you have.  Also available for you Holiday table to order:

• Coconut Snowball Cake- vanilla cake, raspberry jam, vanilla pasty cream and shredded coconut
• Red Velvet Cake- cream cheese filling and vanilla buttercream
• Peppermint Cheesecake- with pink peppermint topping

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Please order our Featured Christmas Cakes by December 20th. Call 528-8548 to place your order today!

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Bakery Items
Having things around the house for a delicious and easy breakfast on holiday mornings is always a good idea. I usually have the best intentions of baking something but the rush of life leads me to a box of cereal. We offer several great ways to feed your family on Thanksgiving and Christmas morning. Yes, cookies for breakfast are completely acceptable on Holidays! 

• Cranberry Loaf- sweet breakfast or dessert loaf
• Gingerbread Men- traditional packages of 2
• Coffee Cakes- blueberry orange, Austrian apple, chocolate chip, white chocolate raspberry
• Croissants- traditional butter, chocolate, raspberry, cinnamon morning, almond cream
• Holiday Shaped Cookies- Vanilla or Chocolate
• Gingerbread Kit- 10 cookies, icing, and a set of decorating sprinkles for fun at home
• Assorted French Macarons (call for flavors)

Breads

• Brioche- light, sweet yeast bread
• Bread Loaves- multigrain, country French, pumpernickel, wheat raisin walnut, French, baguette, pepper parmesan 
• Bread Rolls- French, multigrain, pumpernickel
• Stuffing Mix- with our stuffing recipe

I learned in Italy with my husband to never underestimate the satisfaction of a good olive oil and a crusty loaf of bread, especially when there is grated parmesan involved (and wine!) Thankfully you don't have to travel around the world to get either of those today! At Incredibly Delicious you may have noticed our display of tasty goods from around the globe just inside our front door. The Olive Oils and Jams we offer are the perfect complement to our bread. We sample different Oils daily, that you are welcome to try while standing in line. Feel free to shop our store this season for easy gift giving and entertaining. We offer a variety of gift baskets in $20, $30, or $50 combinations.

Ultimately, even if the Turkey gets burned or Grandma has too much rum in her eggnog, the Holidays are all about sharing the things you love with the people you hold closest to your heart. We are here to help you make these special days wonderful in any way we can! Don't be shy, we get strange questions all the time. We are experts at knowing just what Aunt Vicky who is allergic to every nut known to man can eat on Thanksgiving. Give us a call at 528-8548.  As we all know at Incredibly Delicious,  Life is short... EAT DESSERT FIRST!