Bianca Miccolis ’21

Features Editor

Only a few more days until we will be sitting with our families at the table carving into a turkey and scraping our forks against the nearly empty plate as we finish our dinners.  Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to show gratitude for the people in our lives and the opportunities that we are given and celebrating with food is a major plus. While Thanksgiving meals contain much of the usual turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and various vegetables, dessert can be a  fun way to experiment. Most of us will have pumpkin or apple pie ala mode, but Pinterest and Buzzfeed suggest some festive desserts to decorate your kitchen and taste just as good.

Pilgrim Cupcakes

While you may not associate cupcakes with Thanksgiving, they fit any holiday.  The beauty of cupcakes is that you can tailor them to any special event with flavors and decorations.  If you wanted the taste of fall, you could make caramel or pumpkin frosting or cupcake mix; it is entirely the baker’s choice.  To make the cupcakes “pilgrim,” you will need large marshmallows, chocolate to melt, Keebler’s fudge stripe cookies, and food gel.  Melt the chocolate and dip the marshmallows. After icing the cupcakes, place a cookie with the chocolate side face-up and then place the marshmallow on top of that.  You can decorate the chocolate covered marshmallow with food gel to create a buckle and draw a face on the revealed frosting. This dessert will put a smile on the faces of guests as it fits the season so perfectly.

Mini Caramel Apples

As Thanksgiving closes the fall season, it gives us one last chance to serve the tastes of fall and caramel apples are one of those flavors.  Instead of using the whole apple, save some money and space on your table by making mini ones! To do this, you will need a melon baller to scoops mini spheres of apple to dip into the caramel sauce.  Stick cap pop sticks in the pieces of apple and melt the caramel. A pro tip according to the My Litter recipe is to let the caramel cool before dipping the apples.  Once you have dipped the apples, you can add some sprinkles or a candy of your choosing for decoration.  This is a fun twist on a classic fall delicacy that you may not normally see at the Thanksgiving table.

Fruit Cornucopias

I remember in elementary school that every year before Thanksgiving, my teacher would have us color printouts of the classic symbol of the holiday: the cornucopia.  This dessert brought me back to those days in edible form. As a lighter option, the fruit cornucopia is easy enough to make and fitting for the holiday assortment. For this recipe, you need waffle cones and fruit such as peaches, grapes and raspberries, but it could be any fruit that you want.  Place the assortment of fruit in the cone to present as a cornucopia. This dessert will certainly receive points for creativity as well as nutrition value.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares

Eating pumpkin pie with your hands sounds pretty messy, but it can be done.  Every Thanksgiving, my mom makes pumpkin squares for dessert. They are a mix between pumpkin pie and cheesecake cut into squares for easy eating.  To make, combine pound cake mix, an egg, margarine, and pumpkin pie spice until crumbly. Press onto a jelly roll pan and in another bowl beat cream cheese until fluffy.  To this mixture, add condensed milk, two eggs, pumpkin and pumpkin spice as well as salt and mix. Pour this over the crust and bake it. When it is done, let it cool and store it in the refrigerator.  For the pumpkin lovers out there, this dessert is a great way to mix up the classic desserts of the holiday.

Hopefully, readers will now be excited to go home to eat Thanksgiving dinner with their families, friends, or with whomever they may be celebrating.  It is a nice time to unwind before the chaos of finals and look forward to the holiday season that follows. Enjoy the celebrations and Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo Courtesy of Buzzfeed