At PGI, we are just like little kids at the bakery. We wait all year for Christmas, so we can bake traditional European and North American Christmas treats. We even throw in some new inventions along. the way!

If you love baking as much as we do, we’ve added some Christmas recipes for you to test out. One or more of them may become holiday favourites in your home.

If you would rather leave the Christmas baking up to us, check out our Christmas page.

Happy Baking!

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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are a classic. You can eat them any time of day (think for breakfast on the run!) or any time of year.

Yet, these cozy, hearty cookies soothe the soul on a chilly day, when summer moves to fall. Add a cup of tea or coffee and relax.

Read this recipe to the bottom. That’s where we’ve included our Pastry Chef Tips & Tricks.

Pastry Chef Tips & Tricks

Why must I soak the raisins before adding them to my Raisin Cookie batter?

Soaking the raisins before adding them to your cookie batter will plump up the raisins. This gives your cookies a better bite.

Additionally, if you don’t presoak your raisins, they will detract moisture from your cookies.

Now, let’s talk flavour. Depending on the liquid you choose to soak the raisins in, you will add additional flavour to your Raisin Cookie.

What other liquids can I soak raisins in?

Try soaking the raisins in warm rum, brandy, or tea for an adult-flavored cookie.

Attention Cookie Lovers

While you are here check out our COOKIES page. You’ll see the complete list of all the cookies we bake at PGI. There is something for everyone!

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There is always something fun happening at Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana our Italian pastry shop located in the heart of Ottawa’s Little Italy.

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Trail Mix Cookies are the perfect treat for a fall or winter hike, skating, or skiing. These cookies are filled with hearty rolled oats, peanut butter, peanuts, and trail mix to keep your energy up.

Trail Mix Cookies also make for a quick breakfast on the run.

Bake up a batch today and watch them disappear.

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Trail Mix Cookies

Ingredients

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 2 cups uncooked old-fashioned rolled oats
• ½ cup butter cut into cubes at room temperature
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup banana mashed
• ¼ cup unsalted peanuts roughly chopped
• ¾ cup trail mix

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
• Pulse the oats in a food processor until coarse. Add to the dry ingredients.
• Add the butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer or a stand-alone bowl with a hand-held mixer.
• Beat together at medium speed until well combined, about 5 minutes.
• Add the mashed banana and stir well.
• Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until the dough pulls together.
• Stir in the chopped peanuts and trail mix.
• Drop cookie dough by heaping teaspoons. Keep each cookie spaced about 2 inches apart.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, then cool on a wire baking rack.
• Enjoy!

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The fun never stops at PGI in Ottawa’s Little Italy.

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Mango Coconut Gelato Cake is a frozen dessert with a tropical flare. It’s sure to become a favourite!

Bake off one Vanilla Genoise Sponge Cake. You’ll find the recipe in our file. This will be the structure of your Mango Coconut Gelato Cake.

To speed up the process, visit PGI to purchase a container of Mango Gelato and another of Coconut Gelato.

Just before your gelato cake is ready to come out of the freezer, whip up a batch of Real Whipped Cream. Use this to frost your Mango Coconut Gelato Cake.

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Blueberry Vanilla Gelato Cake is a simple frozen dessert that combines the freshness of summer berries with the classic flavor of vanilla. It’s a recipe that your family will love and one that you can easily make again and again.

You’ll need to bake one Vanilla Genoise Sponge Cake to make this recipe. Check out our recipe file!

To speed up the process, visit PGI to purchase a Vanilla Gelato container and another Blueberry Gelato. There is no need to spend hours making your gelato from scratch.

Also, in our recipe file, you’ll find our recipe for Real Whipped Cream. Once your cake is frozen, whip up a batch of Real Whipped Cream to frost it. Then, decorate it however you like.

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Real Whipped Cream does not come from a pressurized can. But you know that, right?

We can’t think of anything that compares with Real Whipped Cream as a topping, except maybe buttercream. Agreed?

In this recipe, we take 35% cream and whip it up to fantastic billows. We use confectioner’s sugar in this Real Whipped Cream. It contains cornstarch, holding the peaks longer than regular sugar.

Serve this dessert topping with our Lemon Loaf Cake and fresh raspberries or strawberries.

Use it as a beverage topping!

Once you have achieved greatness with this recipe, you’ll find variations below for Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream and Chocolate Whipped Cream. It’s even more decadent.

How to Make Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream

In this recipe, the vanilla bean will replace the pure vanilla extract.

To make Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream, place the 35% cream in a pot.

Take a vanilla bean and cut it in half, wrapping the other half in plastic for future use. Scoop out the inner pulp of the vanilla bean and add it to the pot, along with the half-bean pod. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours.

When ready to use, discard the pod and continue to follow the instructions on how to make Real Whipped Cream.

How to Make Chocolate Whipped Cream

To make Chocolate Whipped Cream, add an additional 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder. Sift this together with the confectioner’s sugar and follow the directions above. Eliminate the pure vanilla extract.

Tips to Whip It Perfectly Each Time

Start with chilled 35% cream, bowl, and beaters.

Don’t over-mix! Remember to only whip on medium speed and watch what is happening to your whipped cream. If it’s overwhipped, it will start to fall apart and break.

If you want to ensure full control of the whipping process, whip it by hand. Use a large whisk and keep going. That’s what pastry cooks in training do!

How to Fix Broken Whipped Cream

If your whipped cream is broken, all may not be lost. Add a couple of tablespoons of 35% cream and fold in with a spatula.

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Our Chocolate Genoise Sponge Cake is as light and airy as our Vanilla Genoise Sponge Cake but with the rich chocolate flavour that chocolate lovers crave.

Start practicing your Genoise Sponge Cake baking skills. This cake is part of our Basic Building Blocks series. Once you perfect it, it will be the cake base for many more cakes.

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Chocolate Genoise Sponge Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 8 large eggs
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter melted and cooled

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
• Sift the flour and cocoa powder together. Set aside.
• Place the eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
• Beat on high speed for 10-12 minutes.
• Turn off mixer. Sprinkle half of the flour/cocoa powder mix over top.
• Gently fold in by hand. Repeat with remaining flour/cocoa powder mix.
• Add the butter and fold in by hand.
• Pour cake batter intothe prepared pan.
• Bake for 15 -20minutes.
• Cool the sponge cakein the pan before unmolding it to a wire rack.

What is a Genoise cake?

This type of cake relies on eggs, sugar, and the incorporation of air to keep it light and fluffy. You’ll note in the recipe that it does not rely on a leavening agent to help it rise.

Chiffon cakes, angel food cakes, and some flourless cakes are also foam cakes.

Check out our Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe.

What is the secret of a good Genoise sponge cake?

Work with warm ingredients. Warm eggs whip up into a higher volume. That’s what you want in a Genoise sponge cake!

If you forget to take the eggs out of the refrigerator, warm them up in a bowl of lukewarm water for several minutes.

Be sure to whip the eggs to the ribbon stage. This will take a good 10-12 minutes, so give it the full amount of whipping time.  When it’s time to incorporate the flour/cocoa powder mixture and butter, do it gently by hand.

What is the ribbon stage?

The ribbon stage is when eggs, eggs, and sugar are beaten to a thick emulsion. When the whisk attachment is pulled across the properly beaten mixture, it will be thick enough to leave a trail that resembles a ribbon.

Visual clues that show you have reached the ribbon stage include:

1. The mixture will turn from yellow to pale yellow or white.
2. The mixture will thicken.
3. The mixture will increase in volume.

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Vanilla Genoise Sponge Cake is the light and airy cake we use as the base for many cakes we make at PGI. You’ll hear the term Genoise sponge used in both Italy and France. In North America, you’ll hear the cake referred to as a sponge cake.

Vanilla Sponge Cake is the base of so many European cakes. You’ll want to keep this recipe handy!

Once cut, brush the layers with a simple syrup to lock in the moisture.

Start practicing your sponge cake techniques. As a recipe in our Basic Building Blocks series, once you master this, you can advance forward in your cake creations.

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Vanilla Genoise Sponge Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup cake flour
• 8 eggs large
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter melted and cooled

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
•  Prepare a 9-inch spring form pan.
• Sift the flour and set aside.
• Place the eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
• Beat on high speed for 10-12 minutes.
• Turn off the mixer and lightly sprinkle half the flour over the top.
• Gently fold the flour in by hand. Repeat with remaining flour.
• Pour cake batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 15 -20 minutes.
• Cool the sponge cake in the pan before unmolding and placing it on a wire rack.

What is a Genoise sponge cake?

A Genoise sponge cake is a type of foam cake enriched with egg yolks and butter.  Eggs and sugar are whipped together at high speed to create pockets for air to enter. The air results in the cake’s volume, created without leavening agents.

Other cakes in the foam cake family include chiffon cakes, angel food cakes, and some flourless chocolate cakes.

While you are here check out our Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe!

What is the secret of a good Genoise sponge cake?

First, you’ll want to use room-temperature ingredients. If you forget to take the eggs out of the refrigerator, place them in a bowl, cover them with warm water for several minutes, and then use them.

Warm eggs will give you cake more volume. This vanilla sponge cake relies on eggs, sugar, and air, an important step. Also, be sure to beat the eggs for a full 10-12 minutes; otherwise, you’ll end up with a flat cake!

Be gentle when adding the flour and butter by hand. Once the eggs and sugar are whipped, you’ll want to keep the volume in your cake.

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Lemon Loaf Cake is so fragrant and delicious. Try serving it with lemon curd. Or try pairing it with our vanilla or strawberry gelato.

Don’t be afraid to put your own twist on this classic recipe. Add a hint of lavender or a sprinkle of poppy seeds to make it your own. Most of all, enjoy the process of creating this comforting dessert.

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Lemon Loaf Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large yolk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 lemon grated, with zest chopped fine
• ¼ cup 35% cream
• 6 tablespoons butter melted and cooled 

For the Lemon Syrup

• ½ cup sugar
• 1 lemon juiced

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
•  Butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan
• In a small bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the eggs for 2 minutes.
• Reduce speed and slowly pour in sugar. Then, whip for 2 minutes.
• Add in zest and mix for 1 minute.
• Reduce speed and alternate adding the drying ingredients with wet ingredients.
•  Pour batter into the prepared cake pan.
•  Smooth the top with a reverse spatula or spoon.
• Bake the cake in the oven for 50- 60 minutes until the center is set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
•  Place on a baking rack to cool for 10 minutes.
•  Run a butter knife along the sides of the cakepan.
• Turn the pan over on the baking rack to remove the cake.
• Set the cake right side up on the baking rack to cool.
•  Next, heat together the sugar and lemon juice.
• With a skewer, poke holes in the bottom of the cake.
• Brush the cake with syrup.
• Allow to cool before serving or wrapping for storage.

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Chocolate Bread Pudding was inspired by challah bread. It is one of the breads we have in our store leading up to Easter.

Chocolate Bread Pudding is the perfect ending for an Easter brunch or a weekend brunch any time of year. You can always substitute croissants for challah when you make this bread pudding recipe.

For a version that doesn’t include chocolate, try our Challah Bread Pudding recipe.

Be sure to read all the Pastry Chef Tips & Tricks below the recipe to ensure success.

Pastry Chef Tips & Tricks

What is challah bread?

Challah bread is a fancy braided bread made with lots of eggs for a rich dough. It became very popular in Germany in the 1400s.

Why does the bread pudding recipe need to set before baking?

The challah bread needs time to absorb all the liquid, so it stays moist while baking.

Can I make this bread pudding in advance?

Sure! Simply cool to room temperature and then cover and set in the refrigerator. Bake off within 24 hours.

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