One of the joys of being on the road: finding some of the best dim sum ever to eat in the car. From Capital Seafood in Irvine, CA.

Mine ain’t a family of wine snobs.  That’s not to say my relatives don’t have fantastic taste (they do!), but—as this holiday season has reminded—we all have different criteria when it comes wine.  Dad, for example, enjoys a good drop but he’s also happy drinking wine that has sat open for a week.  Grandfather likes his red, and stocks up according to deep supermarket discounts… Economy is king.  My brother Will—who is alarmingly astute at describing wine—boasts an unfathomable ability to accurately describe then continue drinking anything, whether he says it tastes like burning car fumes or finds it reminiscent of luscious wild summer berries. I get the feeling he practices this dubious talent at college.  Mom doesn’t really drink much at all.

Enter wine-geeky me, fresh off the boat from two years of studying all things wine in Australia, tasting great stuff almost daily with equally geeky friends who can go on for hours about oak, tannin, structure, and minerality.  I openly acknowledge that normal people should not spend 85% of their time, as we wine geeks do, thinking about wine.  But after two years’ absence, I did want to share a little bit of my Australian wine experience with the family.

With my holiday vacation to the USA approaching, I hatched a plan to impress and delight the family while creating a holiday scene that would bring a tear to Norman Rockwell’s eye.  Never mind my expectations were wholly unsuited to the reality of Christmas Dinner as I have experienced in Cleveland, Ohio over the last 2.5 decades.

Here’s how Christmas usually unfolds:  We get stuck into a bottle of something inexpensive and nondescript an hour before dinner.  By the time the roast is on the table, no one feels impelled to crack open a prized bottle.  Never mind that the family’s wide-ranging preferences don’t lend themselves to a guided degustation.  The typical extent of our wine-centered discussion is a debate over the merits of paying $2 versus $50 for something as temporal as 750mL of fermented grape juice.  Never mind the fact that the most likely wine snob candidates in the family (Dad, Aunt, and me) are also the most likely to have polished off two-to-three palate-numbing cocktails before dinner.  So there were challenges.  Darn the naysayers… I had a dream!

I had a vision of a Christmas wine/Sarah’s nostalgia tour like never seen before….

In the late afternoon, we’d pop into Grandfather’s long-hoarded 1990 Moet et Chandon Dom Perignon Brut Champagne Cuvee (Riems, ~$400 auction price).  My brother and I surmise that Grandfather has no idea what gems he’s got in his cellar, and it’s time to start enjoying the wealth.  The evening would then move to the living room and the kitchen as final preparations went into the Christmas meal.  I would open a bottle of 2010 Rustenberg Chardonnay (Stellenbosch, ~$20) from my good friend Murray’s family vineyards in South Africa. The Chardy is sensationally crisp despite its fermentation in oak barrels, and would beautifully accompany either the soft cheeses shared by the fire or the delicious stone crab claws we were mauling with wooden mallets in the kitchen.  The relatives more inclined towards red would tuck into a highly recommended 2009 Joseph Carr Merlot (Napa, ~$20).  She’s a cranberry-bright, juicy little number with enough depth and seriousness to carry us seamlessly into the main meal.

Once at the dinner table, I would share a bottle of 2006 Dutschke ‘Sami’ Cabernet Sauvignon (Barossa Valley, ~$30).  There are few things more satisfying than a brambly, rich Cab with some age on it, and while I intended to set this wine down for a few years, the story of how I came to know Dutschke Wines, its generous proprietor Wayne Dutschke, and his daughter Sami is in many ways the backdrop to the story of my studies in Australia.  With the Dutschke business as example, I would explain to my family how my studies caused me to think differently about the wine industry and the merits of small producers bound to the land of their fathers.  My family would gush about the joys of wines with great stories behind them… and all this would whet their appetites for the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

Then I would present my mom with the first of her wine-related Christmas/Birthday gifts (she benevolently shares her birthday with Jesus), a bottle of 2008 Clos Erasmus ‘Laurel’ (Priorat, ~$45).  This is a wine by preeminent female Spanish winemaker Daphne Glorian, and is an absolute steal by comparison with some of her $150-200 labels.  My mom—whose name is Constance—happened to go to a high school called “Laurel,” hence the gift-connections.  We would round out the meal with birthday cake and another present: Vin de Constance (Constantia, ~$50), one of South Africa’s most famous and historical sweet wines.

Sadly, I can’t tell you what the Vin de Constance tastes like.  I’ve read about orange peel and fig and a delicate balance of sweetness and acidity.  On her Christmas birthday, Mom decided she wants to save the bottle for a special occasion.  This is the problem with giving gifts… you lose your right to open them yourself. As consolation, as my eminently wise little brother pointed out, “Cake goes pretty well with milk.” Grandfather prefers coffee with his dessert anyway.

Truth be told, we didn’t crack into any of my intended bottles on Christmas Night.  Most of them are still lying in my suitcase.  Just like last year and the year before, Dad and I got into the Manhattans and the cheap wine before dinner.  Grandfather (as is custom) asked me to blind-taste two wines under $5 and guess which one was the more expensive.  The stone crab-smashers were too busy with the crab legs to bother with a matching wine.  Mom was fretting over the Yorkshire pudding.  Half the cousins at the meal were under-aged.  When the moment came, even wine-snobby ol’ me didn’t care anymore about drinking the good stuff.

My sentimental epicurean vision overlooked the most salient feature of the traditional family holiday: family tradition.  We have a way of doing Christmas, and it wouldn’t matter if the Angel Gabriel showed up and announced a bottle of 1990 Dom Perignon.

What I did care about, it turns out, was letting the course of family events go as they always have.  The same arguments, the same menu, the same unfancy drinks.  After all, isn’t my family’s tradition what I came halfway around the planet to be part of? There is a time and place for wine-snobbery, but at the holidays, I realized it’s best to simply eat, drink, and be merry… no matter what the drink.  That’s the way we do it at my place, and family would want it no other way.

A spongy, vanilla cake drenched in a mix of evaporated milk, condensed milk, heavy cream and a splash (or more) of rum takes the term “triple threat” to a whole new level. Topped with homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit, this cake is something you can whip up, literally, for a get together or holiday that will leave the crowd asking for thirds.

Tres Leches, or three milk cake, is a very popular dessert in Latin America. Where this cake originated is a sticky subject. Since it is so delicious, and has been adapted to include classic flavorings from differing countries in South America, many people take pride in saying their country came up with it first. Though some may squabble about which version is most authentic, there is no argument when it comes to its importance at the table as a sweet indulgence to end any meal.

Although it is not known for being a traditional postre, or dessert, in Venezuela, I make it every year for the holidays. Why is that? Because it is ridiculously delicious, easy to make, and has rum. What more could you ask for?

So when I was in my teens my mom thought we should try making Tres Leches. By “we” she meant “me,” and since it was one of my favorite cakes I took the challenge. At that time, I only had a whisk for the job. Mami told me that the traditional way of making it made it taste better, so during those first few tries the cake took a bit more effort and time than it does now. Today, I can thank Tres Leches (and my mom) for giving me toned arms and a deep appreciation for electric mixers. As the years passed I catered the recipe to my family’s tastes, adding cinnamon, an extra splash or two of rum and a touch of almond extract for an added twist.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can’t go wrong. The steps are easy to follow, the ingredients, for the most part, are already part of your pantry’s arsenal and anything that is saturated with this much milky goodness always gets raves reviews. It is the perfect opportunity for you to take a recipe, add your own secret ingredient and make it your own. It is time to bring a new desert to the table this season, so take out your mixer, put on that apron and count your eggs to make this cake because sugar, milk never tasted so good.

Buen Provecho!

Torta Tres Leches

Cake
6 large eggs, separated
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract – secret ingredient

Milk Topping
1 14-ounce can evaporated milk
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup preferred rum (or more)

Whipped Topping
Remaining heavy cream (from 1 liter carton)
3 tablespoons of sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Add Ons
Fresh berries or assorted fruit.

Guide

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9 by 13-inch pan and set aside.
Tip: An aluminum pan is easier. Grease the pan and add a few spoonfuls of flour. Lightly tap and shake the pan to lightly coat. Turn pan over sink and lightly tap to remove excess flour.

2. In a bowl, beat egg whites on low speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar until stiff peaks form. Incorporate yolks into mixture, one at a time, until completely integrated.

3. Sift, or thoroughly mix, the flour and baking powder.

4. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with milk.

Tip: Do this step quickly to keep your cake batter fluffy and airy. Do not over mix.

5. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Stir batter once or twice to incorporate. Pour cake into prepared pan and bake until golden.
Tip: An aluminum pan will take 25- 35 minutes for the cake to be done. Add 10-15 minutes if baking in stoneware. Cake is cooked through when a toothpick is inserted into the center, removed, and remains dry.

6. In a bowl combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, heavy cream and rum.
Tip: This step can be done in advance, while the cake is baking in the oven. It can also be chilled along with the cake overnight.

7. Remove cake from oven. With a fork, or skewer, poke holes into cake. Pour milk topping over cake while it is still warm from the oven.
Tip: This part is fun for the kids. You can’t have too many holes, just make sure the surface of the cake remains level.

8. Let cake sit and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
Tip: Cooling should take a few hours, or can be left overnight in the fridge.

9. Combine the remaining heavy cream, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl. Using a mixer, whip heavy cream until peaks form.
Tip: The peaks should hold their shape enough to use a pastry bag with assorted tips if desired. Do not over whip, or you will end up with sweet butter instead of sweet whipped cream.

10. Once the cake is completely chilled, top with homemade whipped cream and berries.

And finally, admire, eat and enjoy!

Vanilla brioche and tea at the Swedish-owned AQ Kafe at Columbus Circle in Manhattan.

Kathmandu, Nepal

Local vendor in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Kathmandu, Nepal

Gaylord’s ice cream stand, Kathmandu, Nepal.

This bakery is 212 years old.

Winkler Bakery, Old Salem, NC

This baker is not 212 years old.

Winkler Bakery Bakery, Old Salem, NC

But what he’s holding – gorgeous Moravian sugar cake, a dense, coffeecake-like delight baked with potatoes – is the same recipe used two hundred years ago.

Moravian Sugar Cake, Winkler Bakery, Old Salem, NC

Winkler Bakery, located in Old Salem in Winston-Salem, NC was originally owned by Thomas Buetner who then sold it to Christian Winkler in 1807 (Brother Buetner preferred shoemaking and farming). They were part of a tight-knit Moravian community from Eastern Europe who settled in the area during that period.

The same dome oven is used to make these delights, as well cookies, cakes, buns…

Winkler Bakery oven, Old Salem, NC

Including the famous Moravian Spice Cookies, delightfully thin crispy gingery cookies…

Moravian Spice Cookies, Winkler Bakery, Old Salem, NC

…and who can say no to something called Moravian Lovefeast Buns, these lovely, dense, flavorful rolls.

Moravian Lovefeast Bun, Winkler Bakery, Old Salem, NC

Stop by if you can, if not, you can always order these goodies online!

The famous landmark welcoming folks to Georgia – a peach or a big…?

Black Sesame Rolls

One of my favorite dim sum dishes is this black sesame roll. I don’t even usually like black sesame stuff, but this is cool (figuratively and literally), sweet but not too sweet. Yes, most normal adults eat it with chopsticks, but I grab it with my hands and unroll it like a roll of film so I look like a cross between Gene Simmons and a 3 year old, but I don’t care. It’s fun.

Yin-Yang Rice

A plate of Yin-Yang Rice: half chicken in tart tomato sauce, half shrimp in creamy white sauce. Perfectly balanced.