Our Favourite Holiday Recipes

As a special gift to you this holiday season, we’d like to share a little bit of Original Ginger with you and your family.

Here’s some of the Team’s Favorite Holiday Recipes!

Yes, we’re revealing the secrets of our yummy success – this time, not in marketing and branding, but what Santa loves best – a delectable round of homemade Christmas treats.

Team Member: Trisha, Creative Designer

What She Loves About Working For OG:

I absolutely love working for Original Ginger! The projects and work are fun and creative; but the greatest part is that management truly care about clients and employees. There is never a shortage of smiles, laughter, stories and fun to share when you are part of the OG team.

Recipe: Cranberry Christmas Bars

A white chocolate cranberry blondie (that’s a brownie without the brown), very reminiscent of a Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar, but even better because it’s homemade.

INGREDIENTS:

Blondie Layer:

• 3/4 cup salted butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/16 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 6 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped (or 3/4 cup white chocolate chips)

Frosting:

• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 6 oz. white baking chocolate, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• squeeze of fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• Zest from 1 orange

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13×9 inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. Prepare the blondie layer:
   • In a medium bowl melt the butter in the microwave. Once melted, stir in brown sugar
   • Scrape the butter mixture into a large bowl and let it cool to room temperature
   • Meanwhile, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs
   • Once eggs are beaten, add vanilla and then the cooled butter mixture and mix till well blended
   • In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger
   • Gradually mix the dry mixture with the butter mixture
   • Stir in the cranberries and chopped chocolate (the batter will be thick)
   • Spread the blondie batter evenly into the pan and bake for 18-21 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean (do not over bake!). Cool completely on a wire rack.
3. Prepare the frosting:
   • In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar till well blended
   • Gradually add half the melted white chocolate and beat until blended
   • Beat in the vanilla and a squeeze of orange juice
   • Frost the blondie layer
   • Sprinkle with cranberries and orange zest as desired
   • Drizzle with remaining white chocolate
   • Cut into bars square or triangle-shaped. Store in fridge until ready to serve! (Note: These freeze amazingly well!)

Team Member: Lisa, Co-owner & Creative Director

What She Loves About Working For OG:

I am proud of what our team has accomplished together on behalf of some pretty amazing clients. We get to learn about all kinds of businesses and brainstorm unique ideas. And who doesn’t love working in a dog friendly office where the Chai Lattes are freely flowing?!

Recipe: Nona’s Christmas Trifle

A wonderful dessert of fruity layers, cake and delicious whipped cream! It’s a tradition in my family to have Trifle for dessert after Christmas dinner. Good news is, it can also be made gluten free! NOTE: The photo shows a layer of cake near the top. We prefer to put ours at the very bottom.

INGREDIENTS

• Vanilla Wafers, Italian Ladyfingers, or Gluten Free pound cake
• Strawberry Jell-O
• Raspberry Jell-O
• Frozen raspberries
• 1 can sliced peaches
• Bird’s custard
• 2 sliced kiwis
• Mandarin orange slices
• Whipping Cream
• Sherry (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. For this recipe, it is best to use a glass pedestal bowl (to see the gorgeous layers). Start by lining the bottom of the bowl with the vanilla wafers so that the bottom of the glass dish is completely covered. You can shoot sherry over the wafers to your own taste (optional)
2. In a separate bowl, mix the strawberry and raspberry Jell-O together. Do NOT add as much water as the Jell-O packet instructions call for — add just enough water so the mixture remains slightly thick and is fully mixed. Let it cool.
3. Once cooled, add the frozen raspberries into the Jell-O mixture.
4. Now, pour the Jell-O mixture over top of the wafers in the trifle dish.
5. Place it in the fridge and let it set (this may take a few hours).
6. Once it’s set, drain the juice from the can of peaches and layer them on top of the Jell-O trifle layer (you can use other types of fruit if you like like strawberries or bananas). Set this aside.
7. Make your Bird’s custard (follow the instructions on the custard packet).
8. Pour the custard into the trifle bowl. Some will trickle down to the bottom layers. That’s okay!
9. Cover the trifle bowl with Saran Wrap and let it set in the fridge.
10. Once it’s set, layer the kiwi fruit and mandarins (you can also use strawberries or bananas if you like) on the top so they look nice.
11. Just prior to serving, make your whipping cream and add it on top.

Team Member: Alejandra, Makeup Artist (Video Production/Photo Shoots)

What She Loves About Working For OG:

I love working at Original Ginger because it’s a highly professional, organized and detail oriented agency; not to mention how fantasticly friendly everyone is. I always feel so rewarded every time we accomplish a project successfully. I really enjoy working with like minded, creative, talented people like our team at Original Ginger.

Recipe: Ponche Navideno (Mexican Christmas Fruit Punch)

This is my mom’s “special” recipe but I managed to persuade her to share it! It’s a delicious hot beverage and very traditional during Mexican Christmas parties. Ponche Navideno is best to cook the day before your party, so that the flavour develops. You can play with the ingredients to suit your liking; like sweetening the punch by adding more sugar, or adding tequila, depending on how strong you like your punch.

INGREDIENTS

Most ingredients can be found at Latin stores in Vancouver, such as Commercial Drive, and places like Los Guerreros Latin Foods in Langley.

Serves 16

• 16 cups of water
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 5 long tamarind pods, husks removed, and seeded
• 8 whole cloves
• 8 ounces whole tejocotes or crab apples
• 6 large guavas, peeled and diced
• 2 medium red apples, peeled, cored, and diced
• 1 medium pear, peeled, cored, and diced
• 2 (4-inch) sugar cane sticks, peeled and diced
• 1 cup pitted prunes
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 medium orange, sliced
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• Brandy or tequila (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the water, cinnamon sticks, cloves, tamarind pods, and tejocotes, or crab apples, into a large pot.
2. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the tejocotes are soft (about 10 minutes).
3. Remove the tejocotes (crab apples) from the pot with a slotted spoon. When they are cooled, trim the ends, peel, halve, and remove the seeds. Return the apple halves to the pot.
4. Add the guavas, apples, pear, sugarcane, prunes, raisins, orange, and brown sugar.
5. Simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally (at least 30 minutes). Then, remove the cinnamon sticks and cloves.
6. To serve, ladle the punch into cups. Include some of the pieces of fruit and add 1 ounce of brandy or tequila to each cup, if desired.

Team Member: Vanessa, Content Writer & Creative Wordsmith

What She Loves About Working For OG:

I always love the fun, unique projects that we get to work on. It’s exciting, getting to know local business owners, what makes them special, and then bringing their brand to life through words, whether that’s a website, video or blog post.

Recipe: Gougeres (French Cheese Puffs)

Since I am half French (my father hails from Provence), our large Christmas dinners, also called reveillons, are usually held on Christmas Eve, not on Christmas Day. These super simple puffs would be on every dinner table. And if you leave the cheese out, the puffs can also be filled with yummy pastry cream or whipped cream, for a dessert that will leave your guests wanting more – it’s also the traditional wedding dessert in southern France.

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Take 2 baking sheets and place a silicone mat on each one to protect the puffs from burning, or line each sheet with parchment paper.

*Baked puffs can be served hot, or left to cool and refrigerated. They can also be frozen for later!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into 1” chunks
• Pinch of coarse salt or fleur de sel
• 1 cup flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup of shredded Gruyere cheese, or Parmesan cheese (grate a little more – for sprinkling on top)
• Ground pepper
• Pinch of ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a saucepan, combine water, milk, butter and salt. Bring to a boil.
2. Turn down the heat and add in the flour, all at once, with a wooden spoon. Stir vigorously, ensuring that there are no lumps of flour in the mixture. Continue stirring until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan (about 2-3 min).
3. Scrape the dough into a bowl and cool for 1 min. That’s so you don’t scramble the eggs you’re going to add next.
4. Beat the eggs into the bowl, one at a time. Make sure that each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. The batter may separate at first, but keep beating and it will soon come together and look glossy. Your mixture should now be thick enough to hold a shape, but thin enough to go through the nozzle of a pastry bag.
5. Add cheese and a pinch of pepper and nutmeg.
6. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag. If you don’t have one, you can also use a plastic freezer bag with the tip cut off. Pipe them on to the baking sheets, in tablespoon-sized mounds, two inches apart.
7. Top with a sprinkling of cheese and bake for 15-20 min, or until puffed and golden brown.

We hope you adore our holiday dishes. Enjoy with the family, and let’s ring in the New Year! If you have a fabulous festive holiday recipe to share, please feel free to leave us a comment.

Thanks for making 2017 our best year yet, and see you all in 2018.

Photo Attribution: Luigi Anzivino / Wikimedia Commons / Free Content Licence / Public Domain