Christmas Dishes – Page 4 – recipes2live4's Blog (2024)

Mini Christmas Chocolate puddings

Ingredients:
1 packet Arnott’s Royals chocolate biscuits, or any other chocolate biscuit.
100g white chocolate melts
Ready made holly leafs (from supermarket) or green jelly sweet
Jaffa’s or Glazed Cherry

Directions
1. Open the biscuits and place onto tray.
2. Melt the chocolate by either microwaving it or Bain Marie
– Microwave – place chocolate into a heatproof bowl and microwave on medium heat
in 20 section bursts, stirring in between until chocolate has melted.
– Bain Marie – place white chocolate in a dry heatproof bowl over a saucepan that
is half filled with water. Place on medium-low heat and stir with metal spoon until
it has melted. (It is very important that the bowl is dry, any moisture will ruin
the chocolate).
3. Once chocolate has melted, use a tablespoon and spoon some melted chocolate over
the top of the biscuit so it drips down.
4. Before the chocolate melts, place the Jaffa and holly leafs on top. Allow 10 minutes
to set.
5. Store in an airtight container until ready to serve, as this will keep the biscuit
fresh.
Everyone will enjoy these mini delights.

CHRISTMAS TREE CAKE

Ingredients
For 2 Sponge Cakes (diameter of 24-26 cm)
•8 eggs
•2 cups sugar
•2 cups flour
•1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
Syrup (to soak the cakes in)
•130 g sugar
•120 ml water
•1 tablespoon Brandy
Cream
•400 g butter
•1 tin condensed milk
•green food coloring
•80-100 g chocolate
•50 g walnuts
•multi-colored jelly beans or m&m’s for decoration
Instructions
For the cake:
Lightly grease a cake tray with butter and sprinkle with flour (shake off any excess).
Sift the flour 1-2 times.
Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks
Place yolks in a separate bowl and add half the sugar and half the vanilla sugar
Tip: Make sure the whites and yolks are properly separated. Also, the bowl you’re
using to whip the whites must be clean and free of grease. Wipe it with a paper towel
soaked in vinegar or lemon juice.
Yolks in a bowl, add half the sugar and vanilla sugar.
Mix the eggs with the sugar until it increases in volume and becomes fluffier.
You can mix the yolks with a fork, whisk, or a handheld mixer.
Put the egg whites in another clean bowl and beat on low to medium speed on the mixer
to form a light fluffy foam.
Increase the mixer speed to medium or maximum and without stopping pour the rest
of the sugars.
When all the sugar is added, continue whisking until nothing will not spill out of
it if you tilt it.
Take a third of the whipped egg whites and add to the yolk mixture carefully, fold.
Add to yolk mixture the sifted flour and mix well.
Then add the remaining beaten egg whites (1/4) and very gently fold in from top to
bottom. Mix the dough.
Tip 1. Dough does not need long to mix. Do not over mix! You will get rid of all
the bubbles that make it the delicious biscuit it is!
Tip 2. In biscuit dough, you can add grated lemon or orange zest, sifted cocoa, chopped
nuts. These ingredients are pre-mixed with the flour. If cocoa or nuts are added
to the flour, the flour should be lessened for the amount you substituted.
Tip 3. Fill the cake pan no more than 2/3 of the height, for when this type of cake
bakes, it doubles in size.
Put the dough into the cake pan and smooth the surface.
Bake the cake in a preheated 180 ° C oven for about 30-35 minutes.
Warning: During baking, do not open the oven door between the first 20-25 minutes,
otherwise the cake may sink. But if there is no need to open the door, it is better
not to open it at all.
Take the cake out. If the cake moved away from the edges of the mold, lightly press
it with your fingers, the cake should spring\s back and the hole should be quickly
restored.
Carefully remove the cake from the mold, put on the rack and let cool.
Let it cool for 8-12 hours in room temperature so it can properly soak the syrup
and not crumble when cutting it.
Shaping
Cut the Christmas tree shape out of the cakes like this:
Each cake is cut into 2 parts.
Prepare Brandy Syrup
In a saucepan pour water, pour the sugar, stir and bring to a boil over high heat
and remove the foam.
Remove the syrup from heat and let it cool to a temperature of ~ 36-37 ° C.
In the cooled syrup, pour the brandy and stir.
Soak the cakes in the syrup.
Prepare the cream with condensed milk:
Beat the softened butter until fluffy.
Then, put in a tablespoon of condensed milk and beat until fluffy smooth.
Set aside 1/3 of the cream and in the rest of the cream add green food coloring and
beat until the cream is evenly colored .
Grate the chocolate.
Chop the nuts.
Assembling the cake:
Spread white cream (the 1/3 you set aside) on the syrup-soaked cake layers and sprinkle
with chocolate and chopped nuts.
Do this for all of them.
For the top and sides of the cake, spread the green cream all over and make sure
you level it well.
You can fill a pastry bag with the green cream or just use a knife.
For the sides of the cake to decorate, I used the nozzle number 2 (for the labels).
And I used the “star” to decorate the top of the cake.
On the Christmas tree, you can put a garland of multicolored m&m’s and decorate it
to your liking.

Christmas Tree Cookies

Perfect as decorations for the Christmas tree AND as treats for your guests!

Serves: 30
Cook Time: 0h 15m

Ingredients:
Cookies Ingredients:
250ml Stork Bake
125ml castor sugar
3ml vanilla essence
625ml cake flour
Gold cotton/thread
Icing Ingredients:
375ml icing sugar
1 egg white
4 drops lemon juice
Food colouring

Method:
Cookies Method:
1. Cream Stork Bake, vanilla essence and castor sugar together until light and fluffy.
Mix in flour and knead lightly.
2. Place in the fridge for 10 – 15 minutes.
3. Roll out on a floured board and cut into shapes using cookie cutters.
4. Bake at 170°C for 10 – 15 minutes until pale golden in colour.
5. Cool slightly before removing from the tray.
6. When cold, they are ready to decorate.
7. Use a needle to make a small hole on the top of each cookie.
8. Use a thin piece of gold cotton or thin cord to hang them on the tree. You can
hide the cotton with a little icing while you decorate them.
Decorate with icing.
Allow icing to harden before hanging on the tree.
Icing Method:
Sift icing sugar. Beat egg white lightly and then add icing sugar gradually, beating
well, until the icing reaches piping consistency.
Beat in lemon juice. Colour small quantities of icing according to personal taste.
Spoon each colour of icing into a small plastic bag and snip off one corner to make
a piping bag.
Pipe onto cookies.

Christmas Wreath

A beautiful festive decoration that has the added benefit of being a tasty treat.

Serves: 10 – 14
Cook Time: 0h 30m

Ingredients:
Wreath Ingredients:
750ml cake flour
5ml salt
45ml sugar
2ml cinnamon
10g instant dry yeast
60g Stork Bake
45ml warm milk
2 large eggs, beaten
50ml lukewarm water
Beaten egg for brushing
Icing sugar for dusting
Filling Ingredients:
30ml soft brown sugar
60g Stork Bake
60ml cake flour
2ml almond essence
100g almonds
Red and green glacé cherries, chopped

Method:
Wreath Method:
1. Mix the cake flour, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Add the instant dry yeast and mix
well.
2. Melt the Stork Bake in the warm milk and cool slightly.
3. Add the lukewarm milk mixture, beaten eggs and enough lukewarm water to the dry
ingredients and mix to form a soft dough.
4. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
5. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and cover with greased plastic wrap.
Leave to rest for 15 minutes.
6. Knock the dough down and roll out into a 23 x 60 cm rectangle.

Filling Method:
1. Cream together the brown sugar and Stork Bake.
2. Add the cake flour, almond essence, almonds and cherries and mix well.
3. Spread the filling over the rolled out dough and roll up, starting with the wide
side.
4. Pinch the seam closed and turn the dough so the seam faces down. Cut the roll
in half lengthwise using a sharp knife.
5. Turn each half cut side facing up and carefully twist the halves together to expose
the filling.
6. Place the plait on a greased baking tray and shape into a ring.
7. Brush the edges with water and pinch together.
8. Cover with greased plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled
in volume, about 35 – 40 minutes.
9. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 25 – 30 minutes at 190°C.
10. Cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar.

The EASIEST Christmas Pudding EVER

A frugal favourite! What’s your favourite pudding sauce?
Plum Pudding:
Serves 12

Ingredients
* 2 Cups (350g) Self Raising Flour
* 1 Cup (220g) Castor Sugar
* 1 Kg Dried Mixed Fruit
* 1 tbs. Bicarbonate Of Soda

Directions
Mix the first three ingredients together in a large bowl. Then mix 2 cups (500ml) boiling water with bicarbonate of soda, add to the mixture and mix thru with a knife. Cover and leave overnight. Mix well the next morning. Place in a damp floured cloth and tie very securely. Boil in a large saucepan for 3 hours ensuring it does not come off the boil or boil dry. Remove and cool slightly before carefully peeling the cloth so as not to disturb the delicious, thick skin that forms.

Mini Christmas cake squares

Little hands will love decorating these – plus they can be given as gifts this festive season!

Serves: Makes 16 mini cakes

Total cook time: Decorating time, 1 hr+

Ingredients:
1 Classic Christmas Cake made in an 18-cm square tin
12tbsp apricot jam
2 x 1kg packs marzipan
2 x 500g packs white ready-to-roll fondant icing
2 x 500g packs blue ready-to-roll fondant icing
Mini Christmassy biscuits (we used gingerbread men)
Ribbon and snowflake plunger cutters

Method:
Cut the cake into 16 square mini cakes.
Try and make them as equal as possible.
Warm the jam, mix it with 2tbsp water, and brush the mix over the cakes.
Roll out the marzipan to ½ cm thick and cover the cake, smoothing the sides and trimming the edges. Roll out the white fondant to ½ cm thick and cover 8 of the cakes, smoothing and trimming.
Use the white fondant trimmings to make snowflakes.
Repeat with the blue fondant and cover the remaining cakes.
Decorate away!

Pork roast with crispy crackling

Try this easy pork roast recipe with ‘best ever’ crackling – your family will be asking for it every weekend!

serves: 6 | prep: 0:20 | cook 2:00

Ingredients
2kg (1.8-2.2kg) loin of pork
2 tbs olive oil
4 tbs sea salt
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2 onions, peeled and thickly sliced
2 apples, sliced thickly in rounds
2 tbs plain flour
50ml white balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 cup (250ml) chicken stock

Method
Remove the pork from the fridge and use a sharp knife to score the skin of the pork at 1cm intervals. This does require assertive use of the knife, or get your butcher to do it. Rub the oil into the skin and then the sea salt and black pepper. Make sure you push some salt into the slits. It is a lot of salt, but does ensure fab crackling.
Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced). Place the onion rounds in the middle of a large baking dish and place the pork on top. Roast for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200°C (180°C fan-forced) and roast for another 30 minutes.
Remove roast from oven, baste pork and arrange apple slices around pork. Roast for another 20 minutes until apples are tender. At this point, if the crackling has not crackled, increase the oven temperature or turn on the grill and crisp for 5 minutes.
Remove pork and apples from oven and rest on a plate for 10 minutes before carving. Use an oven mitt to tilt the baking dish so all the fat runs to one corner, spoon off most of the fat, leaving only 2 tbs. Heat the dish over a hot plate, stir in plain flour and use a wooden spoon to dislodge all the yummy roasted bits.
Pour in white balsamic vinegar, chicken stock and any juices that have collected under the pork. Stir until thickened.
Serve the carved pork with the roasted onion rings, apples and gravy. Roasted potatoes and steamed green beans make a perfect accompaniment.

Easy Christmas turkey

Follow this easy, super-fast Christmas turkey method when you don’t have the time – or the inclination! – to roast a whole turkey. This cheaty turkey and stuffing recipe is a guaranteed Christmas crowd pleaser! ”

Ingredients
2kg frozen, rolled turkey breast
1 orange, juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
200g packet bought sage and onion stuffing
10g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
150mL chicken stock
4 tablespoons fresh herbs (e.g. flat-leaf parsley, thyme, rosemary)
Gravy, to serve

Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Defrost turkey in the fridge overnight.
Place the turkey in a large roasting pan with the foil on and roast for one hour and 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and baste with combined orange juice and oil.
Leave foil off, return turkey to oven for another 30 minutes.
For the stuffing, heat butter and oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook until softened. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil.
Butter a lamington tray and spread stuffing into tray, cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes (coincide with the last 30 minutes of cooking the turkey). Remove foil and cook for another 10 minutes.
Remove from heat. In a bowl, combine stuffing mix, onion mixture, fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste.
Slice the turkey, garnish with herbs and serve with warm gravy and stuffing.

Snowman marshmallow pops

What could be cuter – and yummier – than these funny little snowman marshmallow pops? Theyre easy for the kids to make, and will make fabulous edible Christmas gifts for all their friends.

serves: 18 | prep: 0:20

Ingredients
375g white chocolate buttons or candy melts
1-2 tsp vegetable oil
250g (2 pkts) white marshmallows
mini M&M’s and licorice straps (to decorate)
You will also need:18 cake pop sticks or bamboo skewers

Method
Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted, stir through vegetable oil until smooth.
Thread three marshmallows onto each cake pop stick or skewer.
Dip marshmallows into melted chocolate to coat. Allow excess chocolate to drip away.
Before chocolate sets completely, decorate using mini M&M’s for the eyes, nose and buttons, and slivers of licorice for the mouths. You can even add a set of earmuffs if you like.

Santa strawberries

These cute little Santa strawberries are the perfect bite for fruit lovers young and old. Whip up some cream and you can have Santa appear on your table quick smart!

Ingredients
1 cup thickened cream
¼ cup sifted icing sugar
2 punnets strawberries
2 soft liquorice sticks or 20 raisins

Method
Gather all ingredients together.
Whip cream and icing sugar together until quite firm.
Hull the strawberries and then cut the tip off each. Sit each strawberry on paper towel to soak up the juice.
Fill a piping bag (or icing press) with a fluted nozzle with the cream mixture and pipe it onto the cut surface of the strawberry to create a head.
Using the tip of the nozzle, join the cream and pipe a liitle “beard” for the Santa halfway down the side of the strawberry. It’s imoportant to make these join up so the cream on the head takes the weight of the cream from the beard. Place tip of strawberry on cream.
Pipe a “pom pom” onto the top of the strawberry. Place liquorice or raisins cut in half for eyes and serve.