Theme Recipe: Cream Cheese Candy Canes

The Classic Cream Cheese "Candy Cane"

For years this recipe showed up on the side of containers of lumpfish caviar and I've always had a thing about making some sort of cream cheese dips every week of the holiday season, but I never got around to this one, I'm definitely going to try it soon!  Although I have never made it, I do have some ideas about variation that would give the same effect and look equally as festive, if you don't like lumpfish caviar...but I will add that it is very, very mild.  Most people these are pretty familiar with it, given it's popularity in Sushi dishes, and sushi as become huge here in the states!  The original recipe, and probably the photo, come from Marzetti.

Here's the relatively easy recipe, time consuming, but easy--sort of...

2 packages of cream cheese, 8 oz. each, softened to room temp for 30 minutes.

1 to 2 tbsp. grated onion (with onion juice)

1 jar red lumpfish caviar

1. Mix the softened cream cheese with onion and onion juice.

2.  Turn the caviar into a strainer and rinse gently with cold water.  Let drain a few minutes, and the place it on paper towels to take up excess moisture and color.

3.  You are going to need a long serving plate, either rectangular or oval.   Line the edges of this tray with wax wrap. 

4.  Place some plastic wrap on and cutting board, then with clean plastic gloves or more wrap shape into a 12 inch long log--it should be several inches to 5 inches wide, bending the top four inches to curve to make a cane shape .  Then remove top layer of wrap, if using and take the wax paper and "glue" it to the very edges of the cane, then gently place the platter over this and gently invert into onto the platter and remove the wrap.

5. Now take foil, and cut several strips, 1/2 inch wide and drape diagonally across the cane leaving white spaces in between.  Sprinkle  the white spaces with the dried caviar (I wouldn't worry so much about the sides the first time, but the caviar can be pressed into the cheese on the sides to make it stick.  Finally gently remove the foil and finally the remove the wax paper and serve with fancy crackers and/or Melba toast.  Chill at least 1 hour first

VARIATIONS:

Like I said that I haven't managed to make this yet, but some easy and slightly off-color ideas come to mide, the first of which, you could have fun with food coloring, go green, red, or multiple colors.

Also, any number other flavorings could be used for the cream cheese base.

The most important and obvious variation here is if you can't eat fish roe or just don't like it.  Roasted peppers chopped to the rescue.  They even come in both green and red.  There are also chopped olives, and any other thing that you might like to top a cream cone!