Reindeer Raisin Bites

Preparation 30 MINS (Plus refrigeration)

Cook

Serves 24

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Method

  1. Add dark and milk chocolate, raisins, and almonds (excluding reserved almonds) to a food processor and blitz until very finely chopped.
  2. Transfer chocolate to a bowl, pour over the hot thickened cream, add butter and salt and stir to combine. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours until firm but still able to be scooped with a spoon.
  3. To make truffles, scoop 2 heaped tbsp of the mixture and use clean hands to roll into a ball.  Repeat with the remaining mixture.
  4. Roll balls in the chocolate sprinkles to coat.
  5. Cut pretzels in half and insert 2 into each ball for antlers.
  6. Just below the antlers, insert slivered almond to form reindeer’s ears.
  7. Use white icing to stick an Ovalteenie to each ball to form a snout.
  8. Use white icing to create two eyeballs just above the mouth. And a dot to each eye with the black gel.
  9. Use the white icing to attach a red mini M&M to the top of each Ovalteenie to give your reindeers noses.
  10. Refrigerate for a further hour to set the icing. Serve cold.

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate

200g milk chocolate

120ml thickened cream, heated

70g butter – softened

200g SUNBEAM Australian Raisins

100g SUNBEAM Slivered Almonds, 48 pieces reserved to decorate

24 mini pretzels, to decorate

Chocolate sprinkles, to decorate

24 Ovalteenies, to decorate

24 red colour mini M&M’s

Designer Icing White 140g

Food Colour Gel Black 15g

Recipe Collection

Apple, Pear & Sunmuscat Filo Tart

Preheat oven to 200ºC (fan forced 180ºC).  Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine all nuts, sunmuscats, breadcrumbs and cinnamon, toss to combine then drizzle over the maple syrup and mix well.  Reserve 1/3 cup of this mixture.

Lay 1 sheet of filo onto prepared tray.  Brush evenly with melted butter, sprinkle over ¼ of the nut mixture.  Brush a second sheet with butter and arrange on top, repeat with another ¼ of the nut mixture.  Repeat twice more, so you have 4 layers of brushed filo and nut mixture, then brush remaining filo sheet with butter and place on top. 

Arrange apple and pear slices on top, brush with remaining butter then sprinkle over reserved nut mixture and coconut sugar.

Bake for 25-30 mins until pastry is golden.  Cut into slices and serve with rocket.

Christmas Fruit Pudding

  1. Combine fruit, brandy, rinds and apple. Cover and set aside overnight or for at least 2 hours.

  2. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, beat in golden syrup. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition

  3. Combine breadcrumbs, flour, spices and almonds. Add creamed butter mixture and soaked fruit, mixing well to combine.

  4. Grease a 2 litre capacity pudding basin, line the base with a double layer of baking paper.

  5. Spoon mixture into the basin and smooth top. Double line the top with baking paper rounds.

  6. Take a 60cm long piece of baking paper and 60cm piece of foil, layer and fold in half, make a 3cm pleat in the middle (this allows for any expansion of the pudding). Place sheets over pudding and secure tightly with string. Place a wire rack onto the base of a large saucepan, fill one third with water and bring to boil. Carefully place pudding onto wire rack making sure the water level comes about halfway up pudding basin. Cover and simmer for 6 hours, replenish water when needed.

  7. Remove from water, stand for 10 minutes before turning out. Serve cut into slices with cream and maple syrup.

Rum & Raisin Trifle

Place the raisins, sultanas, currants, mixed peel, almonds and dates in a bowl and pour over 3/4 cup rum.  Cover and allow to macerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Keep additional raisins seperate and add 1/4 cup rum these will be used for garnishing the trifle.

Pre heat the oven to 140 degrees C.  

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.  Gradually add the eggs and beat well.  

Place the butter mixture, soaked fruit mixture, flour bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and allspice in a large bowl and stir to combine.  

Line a 20cm square cake tin with two layers of non-stick baking paper.

Spoon in the mixture and bake for 2 hours or until cooked when tested with a skewer.  

Cool in the tin.  Once the cake has cooled remove from tin and freeze to semi-firm

Cut the fruit cake into 3cm pieces and decoratively line the base of trifle bowl & pour over the extra rum

Layer custard over fruit cake and repeat cake & custard layers if desired.

Whip caster sugar & thickened cream until stiff and add to trifle

Garnish with rum soaked raisins, and crushed ginger snaps

To make spun sugar, combine sugar with the water in small heavy-based saucepan. Stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves; bring to the boil.

Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, without stirring, until mixture is golden brown. Remove from heat; stand until bubbles subside. To make spun sugar, drizzle toffee between 2 wooden spoons over baking paper-lined oven tray.

Shape & stand at room temperature until set.

Sticky Date Christmas Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce

TO MAKE THE PUDDING

1. Combine dates, mixed fruit, 280ml water, sugars, salt and butter in large saucepan. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 8 mins.

2. Add bicarbonate of soda, stir well and allow to cool completely (preferably overnight).

3. Once completely cool, add eggs, flours, spices and rum. Mix well.

4. Generously grease inside the pudding bowl. Pour the mixture into tin then cover with a layer of baking paper and a layer of foil and secure tightly with kitchen string.

5. Place a small cooling rack or an upturned oven-safe dish into the base of a large saucepan. Place pudding bowl on top so that it is not directly touching the bottom of the pan. Fill saucepan with boiling water to come half way up the sides of the pudding bowl. Bring water to the boil then reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer for 3 hours.  Remove pudding from water, allow to cool completely before removing pudding from tin.

TO MAKE SAUCE

1. Combine cream, butter and sugar in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until all ingredients combined.
2. Stir in salt.

Hot Cross Sultana Muffins

Cream together the butter, sugar and orange rind until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Sift together the flour, cinnamon and combine with the Sultana Bran, Sunbeam Sultanas and walnuts. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternatively with yogurt, until just combined. Spoon mixture into greased muffin pans filling ¾ full. Pipe on crosses. Bake in moderate oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve Warm.

Crosses:

Mix flour and water to a smooth paste. Fill into a small plastic bag, cut a small hole across the corner and use to pipe crosses.

Christmas Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 180oC (160oC fan). Generously grease a 20cm round, loose-bottom (or springform) tin. Line the base with baking paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add biscuits. Blitz to a fine crumb. Add 250g of the melted butter and blitz until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and use a spatula to gentle push half of the mixture up the sides of the tin. Spread remaining mixture evenly over the base (using a drinking glass can help to compact the mixture around the sides and base). Refrigerate.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine remaining butter with sugar and whisk until combined. With the motor running, add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add cream cheese, quark, sour cream and vanilla, whisk until smooth. Add cornflour and mix until incorporated.

Add peel and sultanas and gently fold through the cream mixture, then spoon into the prepared base and smooth the surface.
Bake cheesecake for 10mins then reduce oven temperature to 170°C (150°C fan) and bake for a further 50 mins. Turn off the oven, leaving the door slightly open, allow cheesecake to sit in the oven for a further hour until the edges of the cheesecake feel firm when gently pressed.

Allow the cheesecake to cool completely at room temperature then remove sides of tin and transfer cheesecake to refrigerator to cool overnight.
To make the meringue decoration, place the egg whites and caster sugar in a large bowl and whip into soft peaks. Spoon the meringue on top of the cheese cake and shape with a spatula. Use kitchen blow torch to lightly crisp the outside of the meringue. Serve and enjoy!
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