Stocking stuffers

It’s treat season, and there’s no better treat than the one you get on Christmas morning. I asked Kristine Bertram of Babycakes Bakery about what she wants to tuck into a stocking:

1. “Something my husband always puts in my stocking is coffee, so the first thing I do is find the coffee and go make it, and then we’ll do the presents. That really helps, and once you’ve had your coffee, when you start eating the sugar, then it’s OK.

2. “When you open your stocking, everyone wants chocolate or mint, and we have a chocolate-mint cupcake. But obviously it’s hard to put a cupcake in a stocking, so we have gift certificates available. Some of our other holiday cupcakes are gingerbread, and sticky toffee pudding. A lot of people aren’t familiar with what that is—it’s a traditional British dessert with Medjool dates, and when you bake the dates they taste like toffee.

3. “It’s cranberry season—I love cranberries, and I think cranberries and chocolate really go together. A cranberry-chocolate cupcake is on our menu right now. We’re also doing a separate Christmas-only menu with white chocolate cheesecake with chocolate curls and then a chocolate-cranberry cake with chocolate glaze and sugared cranberries.”