Reindeer Raisin Bites
Preparation 30 MINS (Plus refrigeration)
Cook
Serves 24
Method
- Add dark and milk chocolate, raisins, and almonds (excluding reserved almonds) to a food processor and blitz until very finely chopped.
- 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.
- To make truffles, scoop 2 heaped tbsp of the mixture and use clean hands to roll into a ball. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
- Roll balls in the chocolate sprinkles to coat.
- Cut pretzels in half and insert 2 into each ball for antlers.
- Just below the antlers, insert slivered almond to form reindeer’s ears.
- Use white icing to stick an Ovalteenie to each ball to form a snout.
- Use white icing to create two eyeballs just above the mouth. And a dot to each eye with the black gel.
- Use the white icing to attach a red mini M&M to the top of each Ovalteenie to give your reindeers noses.
- 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
Christmas Cake Gift Jar
As a gift idea
- Place flour in bottom of jar and add spices and bicarbonate of soda
- Pour in fruit and push down lightly
- Next place brown sugar and finish with slivered almonds.
- Attach a gift card with the following instructions:
YOU WILL NEED
250g butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup brandy
METHOD
- Preheat oven 150°C. Double line a 20cm round tin with baking paper
- Combine gift jar contents, butter, eggs and brandy and stir until combined
- Spoon into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour or until skewer inserted comes out clean.
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
Aussie Ice-cream Pudding
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
- 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.
- In a bowl combine sultanas, raisins, cranberries, apricots, macadamias and orange liqueur. Leave to soak for 30 minutes.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Walnut & Sultana Monkey Bread
Prepare the dough: The dough comes together with a mixer. You can also make the dough by hand, but it requires a bit of arm muscle. After the dough comes together in the mixing bowl, it’s time to knead. You can simply continue beating the dough with the mixer for this step or you can knead the dough by hand.
Let the dough rise: The dough rises in about 1-2 hours in a relatively warm environment.
Punch down the dough: Punch down the dough to release the air.
Shape & coat dough balls: Pull off little pieces of dough and roll into balls. Dunk the balls into melted butter, then coat with cinnamon sugar. Little bakers love to help out with this step! Good thing to note: the heavier the cinnamon-sugar coating, the more these little monkey bread bites will taste like gooey cinnamon rolls.
Let the shaped monkey bread rest for 20 minutes: Arrange the coated balls in a flat oven proof pan or a cast iron pan, cover lightly, then set aside to rest as you preheat the oven. The balls will slightly rise during this time.
Top with buttery brown sugar sauce: Before baking the monkey bread, mix melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract together. Stir in the nuts. Pour any remaining sauce sauce all over the dough balls.
Bake:
Bake until the top is lightly browned, about 40 minutes.
Invert onto serving plate: Allow the monkey bread to cool for 5-10 minutes, then invert it onto a serving plate.
Drizzle with vanilla icing: Whisk confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract together until smooth. Drizzle all over the warm monkey bread. Top with extra nuts
Golden Fruit Cake
Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan-forced. In a large bowl add Sunbeam Almond Meal, sugar the butter and egg and combine until a breadcrumb texture. Spoon into a greased 23cm (base measurement) fluted loose base tart tin. Press mixture to line the base and sides of the tin. Making sure you have made even base and sides, the palm of your hand for the base. Freeze for 15 minutes. Place the tart shell on a baking tray and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool.
Couscous Dried Fruit Salad
Rinse the couscous under cold, running water. Add to a saucepan with 750ml water, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 mins or until soft. Drain and rinse under running water and set aside to cool completely.
Whisk together olive oil and lemon juice, season and pour over the cooled couscous. Toss to coat.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Spoon into a presentation bowl to serve.
This salad can be served cold or at room temperature.
Moghrabieh can be substituted for Israeli (pearl) couscous. Simply follow the cooking instructions on the packet as they can vary.
