Eastern Iowa bakers share their holiday dessert recipes, traditions

If the holidays are proof of anything, it’s that humans are often creatures of habit. For most families, the holidays are defined by traditions, in one way or another.

Every year, they return like boomerangs. In the kitchen, it’s no different.

Whether it’s a family recipe going back generations or a casserole gleaned from the back of a can, culinary traditions are about more than making the same old meal.

Here are the desserts bakers and chefs around the Corridor have made a tradition in their families — and how they find comfort in making food at home, for pleasure, after working long days in the kitchen.

Make their recipes with inside tips, and learn why each list of ingredients is greater than the sum of its parts for their families.

Fostering togetherness with gingerbread cookies and houses

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SOLON — Cheryl Maloney, owner of The Eat Shop bakery, has been making gingerbread houses from scratch since she was a toddler.

Like many businesses, the holidays are the busiest time for her and the bakery’s staff as they juggle hundreds of pie orders on top of their usual grind. But even with the added stress, she refuses to cut corners with her family’s tradition.

In the hustle and bustle between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, most families are content to buy a gingerbread house kit from the store for their confectionary real estate needs. But in the midst of the chaos, making gingerbread by hand is a rare moment of respite for this Chicago native.

In fact, the extra work is half the fun for her. There’s no wrong way to make a gingerbread house, and she loves the nature of the material.

“I don’t care what happens, this is a priority,” Maloney said. “It’s my second favorite day, next to Christmas.”

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After taking over the tradition long hosted by her grandmother and aunt several years ago, Maloney’s family started to open up the tradition to friends and neighbors. Now, in their Solon neighborhood, she said it’s the only event that children and teenagers of all ages look forward to doing together — and the only tradition that gets them to forget checking their phones for a while.

“It just makes me so happy. It reminds me what Christmas is supposed to be about,” she said. “It’s all about just getting together.”

Now 43, the gingerbread architect has gotten more ambitious. She’s completed homes in a midcentury modern style, a replica of her Solon bakery and, soon, hopes to complete a Barbie dream house. But no matter the style, it’s what happens inside four walls and a roof that help her family focus on what matters.

And for stress-free baking, she says there’s no better choice.

“I like gingerbread houses because they’re very forgiving,” she said. “Even if you crack one in half, you can fix it with frosting.”

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Last year, The Eat Shop started a new tradition: a gingerbread house extravaganza to bring joy to children in the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Named in honor of her late father who instilled in her a love for Christmas, the John J. Sokol Gingerbread House Extravaganza continues with its second annual event this December.

The Eat Shop donates the labor and ingredients to make 100 gingerbread houses for children in the hospital, but welcomes community donations to purchase candy for the houses. To donate, visit theeatshop.com/gingerbread-extravaganza.

If you want quality gingerbread housing but still don’t want to make it from scratch, The Eat Shop now sells kits made in her bakery for $36. Orders can be placed online at theeatshop.com through Dec. 1.

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A simple apple crisp

When chef Cory Barrett is off the clock at home, away from his bustling new restaurant in Coralville, he prioritizes simplicity.

When his Thanksgiving feast is spread out, there’s always some type of crisp for dessert on the table, without a doubt. As his children have grown up, making a crisp for dessert became a no-brainer.

His creation, a riff on the apple pie with cheddar cheese he enjoyed growing up in rural northwestern Ohio, also went over well with the judges of “Iron Chef America” as the pastry master presented it during a special Thanksgiving episode in 2008.

The dish became a holiday tradition at home several years ago after he finished preparing the rest of his Thanksgiving meal and couldn’t bear the thought of making a difficult dessert.

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“When I go for at-home desserts, I look for things that are really simple. I like things full of flavor, things that are easy to execute and that people will enjoy,” Barrett said. “As a chef, I spend plenty of time in the kitchen. It’s nice to just hang out, to be able to take a break away from the kitchen itself.”

The dish can be made ahead of time and warmed up after dinner.

Barrett prefers to use Granny Smith apples for their tangy zip that holds up well to a sweet dessert. The recipe also can be adapted easily to other types of fruits, particularly stone fruits or pears.

Likewise, the white cheddar he uses could be swapped for a sharper selection, and other herbs will do. After this crisp aired on Iron Chef, he served a version of it with fennel and creme fraiche ice cream at the fine-dining Lola Bistro in Cleveland, Ohio, which helped the restaurant maintain its 75 percent dessert sale rate — a high rate for the industry.

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Barrett selected rosemary for its personal holiday nostalgia, “because it smells like a pine tree.” He also chooses to leave spices like cinnamon out of the dish to let the autumnal warmth of rosemary shine through with earthy notes balancing the bright apple.

Sugar coating helps pull moisture from the apples before and during the baking process, which serves sufficiently as the dessert’s “sauce,” since nothing else is added. And after a holiday feast of heavy or complex assortments, the simple dish boils down to a recognizable triad of flavors that plays well as the last movement of a concerto.

“When you look at the holidays, there’s expectations from everyone of what things are supposed to taste like. It adds something a little bit interesting,” he said. “There’s a lot of very successful pastry chefs (for whom) that’s their whole career — taking things that people know and making just a little twist to it.”

Passing a heritage on through baklava

For Victoria Kirby, owner of Amana Colonies Bakery and Cafe with locations in Amana and Cedar Rapids’ NewBo City Market, the holidays are an opportunity to remember her heritage.

With recipes sourced from Kirby’s mother and grandmother, the bakery always aims to convey a sense of family-oriented warmth that hearken back to a time of simple joy sourced from tried and true, wholesome ingredients. For the holidays, the desserts she makes at home are no different.

“Family is our root and core,” she said. “We want to take time out during the holidays to nurture that relationship.”

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Her father, an immigrant from Lebanon, brought his mother’s recipe for baklava over with him, which was taught to the children in the family. The family recipe, more than 90 years old, is made alongside a blend of Lebanese and American food each holiday season.

“We keep coming back to (baklava) because it’s a family favorite,” Kirby said. “It’s a labor of love. We spend time together working on the same project and enjoying lots of stories and good laughter.”

Preparation of the recipe takes 45 to 60 minutes, but they take extra time with each baklava session to ensure the next generation is trained in the art of how to make it.

“We want to sow it into the next generation,” Kirby said. “It’s over-the-top amazing.”

The small, crispy and sweet piece of dessert only requires a small piece to satisfy, and pairs well with a piece of pie to quench a sweet tooth. It stands out from other desserts with its depth through butters, sugar and walnuts.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.