One of our favorite Christmas traditions is eating this amazing breakfast cake (honestly it’s more pastry than cake) on the upstairs landing before we go down to the living room to see all the presents. This Christmas breakfast is perfect because it can be made ahead of time and is easily served early Christmas morning. See the recipe at the bottom of this post to make it yourself!
The traditional flavor uses Cherry pie filling, but our favorite is Raspberry. We’ve also tried Lemon, Blueberry, and even Cinnamon Sugar. You really can’t go wrong. Drizzle the top with a simple glaze frosting and enjoy every last scrumptious bite.
One recipe makes 2 candy cane braids, plenty for our family of 8…. although I always double it so we can have leftovers for a few days! Just keep it covered and it will stay fresh for 2-3 days.
We always have the kids decorate a paper lunch sack on Christmas Eve and leave them on a picnic blanket set up in the upstairs toy loft. Santa fills the bags with breakfast snacks– things like a mini cereal box, fruit snacks, a juice bottle, and a clementine orange. The kids can get up and start snacking while everyone in the house wakes up (I usually set up some coloring books or a fuzzy poster to color to help pass the time too). Then after everyone is awake and has eaten breakfast together, we all go downstairs to start opening presents and stockings.
This tradition has always been a great start to our Christmas day and helps the kids eat something besides candy for breakfast, which makes for happier attitudes throughout the excitement of the morning (hangry sugar rush is not that much fun….), and I love watching the kids take peeks over the stair railing and be so excited for what’s to come. The mad dash down the stairs is always a blast too. The kids look forward to it every Christmas!
What are some of your favorite Christmas Traditions?
Candy Cane Christmas Cake
2 C Sour Cream
¼ C Butter
½ C Warm Water
2 T Yeast
⅓ C Sugar
2 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
6-7 C Flour
Pie Filling of Choice (cherry, raspberry, blueberry and lemon are favorites)
Warm sour cream and butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until butter is melted. Take off heat and let cool. Combine warm water, yeast, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. When bubbly, stir in warm (not hot) sour cream butter mixture. Add 2 eggs and stir to combine. Add flour one cup at a time, kneading when necessary, to make a soft but not sticky, stretchy dough. Cover and let rest in a greased bowl for one hour.
Divide dough into two even pieces. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll out dough into an elongated rectangle on the baking sheet. Spoon pie filling in a line down the center length of the rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or paring knife make cuts roughly 3 inches long and 1.5 inches apart down both sides of the pie filling to the edge. Starting at one end, braid the dough by alternating strips and pressing down on the opposite side of the pie filling. Curve one end of the braid into a candy cane shape if desired. Repeat with the second half of dough. Let rest 10-15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees (350 Convection). Then bake 20-25 minutes.
Glaze:
2 T Butter, softened
2-3 T Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
2-3 C Powdered Sugar
Mix together into a thin glaze consistency. Drizzle over the warm candy cane cake. Slice and serve warm, or cover and serve later. This is an amazing Christmas breakfast!
Merry Christmas!
Sunshine
Love it