“Hmm…sounds like an interesting dish”, you might be thinking at this point, and possibly completely grossed out by such a horrendous concoction. Let me assure you that the recipe contains neither turkey nor candy cane…and especially not a combination of the two! I’ve had so many people ask about these holiday traditions, that I decided to dedicate a post. As long as I can remember, my mom faithfully served these deliciously creative breakfast treats every Thanksgiving and Christmas. When I was old enough to take on the task, I became the designated pastry chef. Essentially, it’s a cinnamon roll recipe, sculpted into a turkey for Thanksgiving, and a candy cane for Christmas. The two are pictured above (sorry that it’s not the best image of the turkey).

1. CINNAMON ROLL RECIPE

You can really just use a family favorite…especially if you want something a bit healthier (Our family takes the “It’s ok to be friends with white flour and sugar occasionally” approach to special holiday goodies). My friend Danielle gave me this delicious Cinnabon Rolls recipe which works well for these two pastries.

Ingredients

• 1 (1/4 oz) package dry yeast
• 1 cup warm milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups flour

Filling (you don’t need as much for the holiday pastries…make enough according to your own preferences)

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2.5 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened

* You can also add nuts, dried cranberries etc. at this point.

Icing (cream cheese is expensive here, so I just use a powdered sugar, milk and vanilla combination)

• 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 oz. cream cheese

Directions
1. For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
2. Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.
3. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.
4. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

THIS IS WHERE I (Christiana) DIVERGE FROM THE RECIPE (But I left the rest in case you want to make cinnamon rolls!)
5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide.
6. It should be approx 1/4 thick.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
9. Spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
10. Roll up the dough on the 16 inch side so it looks like a long tube.
11. Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.
11.5 Let rolls rise in warm place for 35 to 40 min.
12. Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.
13. While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
14. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
15. When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.

2. THANKSGIVING TURKEY

So, following #4 of the recipe directions above…

5. Punch the dough down and set aside some for the body and feet (sorry, I just eyeball this…no measurements)

6. Flour an area and roll the rest of the dough into a “fan” shape (if you have a smaller pan, you may have to make a smaller “fan”)

7. Cut strips in the fan part with a knife or sheers (I find that sheers work better)

8. Generously brush the butter over the entire turkey, and then sprinkle the filling over the turkey…concentrating the most on the cut strips

9. Twist each strip of dough upward

10. Make the body and feet with the extra dough (I use sheers to cut the toes)

11. Place the body/feet on the fan part and gently press along the sides to attach

12. Repeat the butter and filling, over the body/feet. Baste butter over everything again (and you’ll want to continue basting while the turkey is in the oven…like I said, this ain’t “healthy” but in the words of Julia Child, “Butter makes life beautiful” (or something to that effect).

13. If you desire to decorate with raisins, cranberries, etc. then place them on the turkey at this point. I usually use craisins/raisins for the eyes, depending on what’s available.

14. Bake until JUST golden brown (basting every so often with butter). It’s easy to overcook OR undercook this, so watch carefully (Our oven in Cambodia is not consistent, so I can’t really give you an exact temperature or time…perhaps 400 degrees for 10 minutes or so…according to the Cinnabon recipe?)

15. When it has cooled down a bit, use a slotted spoon and zig zag motion, and drizzle the icing onto the pastry (it should be thin enough to pass through the slotted spoon, but not so thin that it’s runny…add more powdered sugar if necessary)

16. Important: serve warm! and ENJOY! (We used to eat this while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade)

3. CHRISTMAS CANDY CANE

This is the same concept, just a different presentation.

After #4 of the Cinnabon recipe…

5. Punch and roll dough into a long rectangle…it should be 10″ or so wide and then however long to fit your pan in the form of a candy cane. (Sorry, I usually guesstimate this, so I don’t have exact measurements)

6. Place on your baking sheet (I find it easier to do this first)

7. Using sheers, cut slices on either side…about 1.5 to 2 inches width…equal on each side, going up the length of the rectangle. Leave approximately 3 inches in the middle for the filling.

8. Baste everything with tons of butter, generously sprinkle the filling down the center of the pastry

9. Criss cross the pieces onto each other, overlapping the ends, and lightly press to attach them (and so they don’t loosen during baking). As you’re doing this, gently tweak the dough to form a candy cane shape in your pan.

10. Baste again with butter and then bake the same as the turkey

11. After drizzling the icing (see above) use cherries (in bunches of three) or dried cranberries  to decorate the candy cane.

NOTE: Both of these can be made the night before and then baked the next morning…just cover well with plastic to keep the dough from drying out (and make sure that it’s covered in butter…noticing a trend here?)