What To Do With Leftover Candy Canes

Christmas is only a few days away, and do you know what that means? It means that all those pretty little candy canes you have laying around in bowls have to be sucked down, or they'll go to waste. To help you with this traumatizing woe, pastry chef Stuart Marx of David Burke Fromagerie has come up with a few desserts that you can create for Christmas that'll include your red and white friends, too.

Candy Cane Cookies

Christmas is the season for baking cookies, and my favorite are my candy cane-studded chocolate wafer cookies.

Click here to see the Candy Cane Chocolate Wafers Recipe

Candy Cane Martini

For a sexy approach to your dessert, serve chocolate pudding in martini glasses and dust the rims with crushed candy canes.

Candy Cane Chocolate Bark

Chocolate bark is an easy and quick sweet to whip up — all you need is some chocolate. Around Christmas, I like to melt white chocolate in a bowl with pistachios, a handful of crushed Oreos, and crushed candy canes. Then, I spread it on waxed paper, chill it in the fridge, and break it up for bark once it's hardened. It's festive, chocolaty, and most importantly, minty from the candy canes.

Hot Fudge Sundae Bar

An ice cream sundae bar is a great dessert idea — especially for kids — because it's easy and lets people make what they want, avoiding wasted desserts. I make my famous hot fudge sauce and lay it out with ice cream (mint chip is especially seasonal), crushed candy canes, nuts, and whipped cream.

Click here to see the Hot Fudge Sauce Recipe

Holiday Layer Cake

If you're a cake lover, then my layer cake with white chocolate mousse, candy canes, and candy cane syrup, is the ultimate holiday dessert for you to make. Did I mention it uses candy canes?

These treats not only make use of the surplus of candy canes you have lying around but they make great desserts for the final days of the Christmas season. If all else fails, throw a bunch of them on your tree so at least you're making use of them, if not eating them, too.  

David Burke is a world-renowned chef and restaurateur. To learn more about him, visit his website and his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter @ChefDavidBurke