Gingerbread Almond Wreath

Preparation 25 Minutes

Cook 40 Minutes

Serves 12

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Method

  1. Pre-heat oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced). Lightly grease and line a 22cm ring tin.

  2. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.

  3. Stir in the almond meal, coconut, bi-carb and spices. Mix well, then stir in the currants and sultanas. Pour into prepared pan and scatter the top with flaked almonds. Bake for 55-60 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

  4. Serve on a platter surrounded by fresh rosemary sprigs and fill the cavity with raspberries.

Ingredients

250g butter, diced and softened

1¼ cups brown sugar

4 extra large eggs

2 cups SUNBEAM Almond Meal

1 cup desiccated coconut

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

2 tsp mixed spice

1 cup SUNBEAM Currants

½ cup SUNBEAM Sultanas

¼ cup SUNBEAM Flaked Almonds

Rosemary sprigs and raspberries, for serving

Recipe Collection

Sultana & White Chocolate Shortbread

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy, approximately 2-3 minutes, add the sifted flour, when almost combined add the sultanas, choc chips & continue to beat with the flat beaters until a firm dough is obtained, be aware that it does take time to bring it together. If you knead by hand it will take approximately 4 minutes of kneading.
Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes or even overnight.
Remove the dough from the fridge, and if very firm, gently knead, place the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll to ¼ inch thickness, cut out with your feastive cookie cutters, place on the prepared cookie sheets. Refrigerate the cookies while the oven is pre-heating, for about 15 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 160C. Line 1 or 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Bake the cookies for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, let sit 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!

Boiled Fruit Cake

  1. Soak fruit overnight in sherry or brandy
  2. Place soaked fruit, water, butter, golden syrup and sugar in a saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil then remove from heat and add bicarbonate of soda mixed with one tablespoon boiling water. Cool for 15 minutes.
  3. Add lightly beaten eggs mixing thoroughly. Fold in sifted flours, spices and vanilla essence.
  4. Place in a 20cm round or square cake tin. Decorate with almonds. Bake at 160°C for 75 to 90 minutes. Cool in tin.

Thermo cooker method:

  1. Soak fruit overnight in sherry or brandy.
  2. Place soaked fruit, water, butter, golden syrup and sugar into TM bowl and heat 7 min/100°C/Reverse/speed 1.
  3. Add bicarb soda mixed with one tablespoon boiling water and gently stir through with the spatula – the mix will froth up but should not spill over.
  4. Cool for 15 minutes in TM bowl.
  5. Carefully add all remaining ingredients apart from the blanched almonds in the order listed and mix 10 sec/Reverse/speed 4.
  6. Scrape down sides of the bowl and mix 5 sec/Reverse/speed 4.
  7. Place in a lined 20cm round or square cake tin. Decorate with almonds. Bake at 160ºC for 1¼ to 1½ hours. Cool in tin.

Easter Blondies

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius and butter or line with parchment paper a 20cm x 20cm baking tin.

Melt the butter and white chocolate in a bowl over a pot of water and take off to cool once combined and fully melted.

In another bowl, mix the muscovado sugar, caster sugar and eggs together until thick and glossy. Approximately 2 minutes.

Once the butter and white chocolate mixture is cooled, mix in 1/3 to the sugar and eggs, and then fold in the rest.

Add in your flour, baking powder, vanilla, almonds and macadamias and mix until just combined.

Pour batter into your lines baking tin and for 35-45 minutes. The centre should still have a little wobble and a tooth pick should come out a little fudgy.

Straight from the oven, press your speckled eggs into the top of your blondie and let cool on a wire rack.

Panforte

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line the base and sides of a 20cm round cake pan.

    Place sugar, honey and chocolate in a large saucepan and gently heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in the raisins, figs, cherries, cranberries and nuts. Mix well.

    Add flour, cocoa and spices to mixture and working quickly mix it together until all combined. You may need to wear a thick rubber glove. Press mixture into prepared pan and bake for 13-15 minutes. Set aside to cool before removing from pan to cool completely.

Fruit Nut Fudge Brownie

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line base and sides of a 27cm x17cm slice pan with baking paper, extending paper over sides.
  2. Combine fruit and rum or juice in saucepan and bring just to the boil. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally. Set aside 1/4 cup of the fruit mixture for decorating the top.
  3. Heat butter and chocolate in saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and combined. Set aside to cool 10 minutes.
  4. Whisk sugar and eggs together in large bowl, then whisk in cooled chocolate mixture and remaining soaked fruit. Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into the bowl and add half of the hazelnuts (saving some for the top). Stir until combined. Pour into prepared pan and scatter with reserved fruit and nuts.
  5. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until tested with a skewer. Some crumbs will cling to the skewer. Allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before removing. Cut into 18 pieces and serve warm and gooey or cool and fudgy.

Frozen Christmas Pudding

Combine sugar with 250ml water in a small saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then increase heat to high and boil for 1 minute.Remove from heat, add sultanas and cranberries and allow to sit for 10 mins. Drain and set aside to cool.

Use muslin to line the inside of a 1.75L capacity pudding basin.

Meanwhile, spoon icecream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a beater attachment. Allow to soften slightly before beating until smooth.Add cooled fruit mixture, vanilla, cinnamon, pistachios and brandy and beat until just incorporated. Spoon into the prepared basin, smooth the surface, cover with the lid (or plastic wrap) and freeze overnight or until firm.

Turn out onto a serving plate, top with fresh berries and shower with icing sugar to serve.

You will need a 1.75L pudding basin and muslin for this recipe

You will need to begin this recipe the night before
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