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

Sunshine Pudding

Prepare a 2 litre pudding basin – grease well and double line base with baking paper circles.

  1. Combine raisins, sultanas, cherries and Cointreau in a bowl and leave to soak for 30 minutes.
  2. Place apricots, apricot nectar, orange juice and rind in a small saucepan and simmer covered for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool and puree.
  3. Cream butter and brown sugar in a small bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
  4. Sift flours into a large bowl, add butter cake crumbs, macadamias, soaked fruit, pureed apricots and butter mixture and mix well to combine. Spoon mixture into the basin and smooth the top. Top with baking paper round.
  5. Take a 60cm long piece of baking paper and foil, layer and make a 3cm pleat in the middle of the sheets. Place onto pudding basin and secure with kitchen string.
  6. Place a wire rack onto the base of a large saucepan, a third filled with water and bring to the boil. Carefully place pudding onto rack, making sure the water comes about halfway up basin. Cover and simmer for 6 hours, topping up water when needed. Remove from saucepan and stand for 10 minutes before turning out.
  7. Serve with cream, custard or ice-cream if desired.

Candied nuts decoration:

  1. Place sugar and water in a medium, heavy-based saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar has completely dissolved. Stop stirring, increase heat and bring to boil. Reduce to medium heat and gently boil until the toffee begins to change colour. Do not stir toffee once it has boiled.
  2. Working quickly, drop macadamias one at a time into the toffee and toss with a fork to coat, remove and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Repeat with remaining macadamias.
  3. Decorate the top of the pudding and serve.

Aussie Ice-cream Pudding

Preheat oven to 180ºC.

  1. Brush a 2 litre pudding basin with vegetable oil, then line with plastic wrap, trying to keep wrap smooth without wrinkles. Place in the freezer to chill.
  2. In a bowl combine sultanas, raisins, cranberries, apricots, macadamias and orange liqueur. Leave to soak for 30 minutes.
  3. Place softened ice cream in a large bowl stir in soaked fruit. Fold in whipped cream and pour mixture into prepared pudding basin. Place in the freezer and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
  4. To prepare orange cake, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in almond meal, orange juice and rind. Pour into a greased and paper lined 20cm cake tin and bake for 1 hour. Allow too cool in the tin, before turning out onto a board.
  5. To finish pudding, ease ice-cream pudding from basin and place on top of cake. Trim the cake edges if required and serve cut into thick slices.

Sultana Cinnamon Mini Muffins

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line two 12-hole (1-tablespoon/20ml) mini muffin pans with paper cases. Combine flour, brown sugar, oats and sultanas in medium bowl. Whisk milk, melted butter and egg in small bowl, stir into dry ingredients (do not overmix, mixture should be lumpy).

Divide mixture into paper cases. Bake about 15 minutes, turn, top-side up, onto wire rack. Combine caster sugar with cinnamon, sprinkle over hot muffins.

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.

Stuffed Baked Apples

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced).
  2. Cut a 2cm slice off the top of each apple and set aside. Using a spoon or melon scoop, scoop out the core of the apple. Place apples into a baking dish.
  3. Combine the raisins, walnuts, sugar, butter and spice. Using finger tips, mix it all together until a rough mixture has formed. Spoon into the cavity of each apple and bake for approx 25 minutes until apples are tender. If using the tops of the apples, add to the oven half way through cooking time and serve these with the baked apples.

Speedy Cinnamon & Choc Scones

1. Preheat oven to 220ºC (200ºC fan forced). Line a baking tray with non stick baking paper.
2. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl; add mixed fruit and mix to combine. Make a well in the centre and pour in cream and lemonade; mix using a blunt knife to form a dough; turn dough onto a lightly-floured surface and knead lightly. Divide dough into two equal portions; roll each into a ball then into a circle, about 2.5cm thick, using a rolling pin. Using a sharp knife, cut each circle into 8 wedges. Place scones onto prepared tray.
3. To make glaze, whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl; brush scones lightly with glaze. Cook for 14 minutes or until cooked through and golden.
4. Place chocolate into a zip lock bag and snip the corner. Drizzle over the scones. Enjoy!
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