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

Custard-stuffed Hot Cross Doughnuts

Place the water, sultanas, currants, cinnamon, vanilla bean and honey in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer to cook for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Liqueur 43 (if using). Set aside for 30 minutes to steep and cool. Discard the vanilla bean and cinnamon quill. Drain through a sieve set over a jug, reserving the steeping liquid. Set aside.
To make the custard, place custard powder in a saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and mix until smooth and well combined. Stir in the remaining milk, then add the cream. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until smooth. Set aside to cool. Spoon into a piping bag and place in the fridge until required.
Place the warmed milk in a jug. Add the yeast and 3 tablespoons of reserved steeping liquid to the warm milk. Set aside in a warm spot for 5-10 minutes until foaming. Place flour, mixed spice and butter into the bowl of a large food processor (your processor needs to be at least 12 cups). Process until butter is incorporated. With the motor running, pour the milk mixture and egg. Process for 1-2 minutes or until dough has formed a ball and is smooth and elastic. If the dough is a bit to sticky, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, until it is the right consistency. Add drained sultanas and pulse to combine. Turn onto a floured surface and bring the dough together. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl. cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour or until mixture has doubled in size.
Line two trays with baking paper. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes, knocking the air out. Cut the dough into 16 even portions. Roll each portion into a ball and place on the lined tray and flatten slightly, allowing a little room between each to expand. Cover with a tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes to prove.
Place 4 doughnuts in the wire basket of an air fryer and brush with melted butter. Air fry at 180°C for 8 minutes or until crisp and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts. (Alternatively, heat a saucepan of vegetable oil to 160°C and deep-fry doughnuts, turning halfway through, for 2-3 minutes or until golden and cooked through).
Cut a small slit into the base of each doughnut. Pipe custard into the slit on the base of each doughnut. Return to the rack, cut side down.Step 7
Brush the doughnuts with the remaining reserved steeping liquid and set aside for 5 minutes to set.
Place the melted white chocolate melts into a piping bag. Snip the corner and pipe a cross over each doughnut. Set aside for 5 minutes to set.

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.

Festive Rumballs

  1. Place biscuits, walnuts and sultanas in a food processor, pulsing until fine crumbs have formed. Add coconut, condensed milk and cinnamon. Continue pulsing until mixture has come together. Remove to a bowl and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
  2. Roll teaspoons of chilled mixture into balls whilst enclosing half a cherry or walnut inside. Toss in extra coconut or finely chopped walnuts. Refrigerate until required.

Pumpkin Fruit Cake

Preheat oven to 160⁰C. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.

  1. Bring to the boil mixed fruit, sugar, syrup, butter and apricot nectar, stirring all the time and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add bicarbonate of soda. Allow mixture to cool.
  2. Add eggs and pumpkin. Beat till smooth. Then add flours and mix well to combine.
  3. Place in tin and bake for 90 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

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.

Cherry Ripe Slice

Line 27 x 18cm slice tray with baking paper, leaving 2cm of paper above edge to make removal of slice easier. Put biscuits in a bag and crush well. Combine biscuits and butter and press into base of prepared tray. Refrigerate for 20min till firm.

Combine coconut and icing sugar mixture in a bowl. Put white chocolate extra butter and cream in a small pan and cook gently over low heat. Stir frequently until chocolate has melted. Stir in food colouring.

Gently stir white chocolate mixture into coconut mixture, add cherries spread firmly on biscuit base, chill for 30min or until firm. Spread dark over the slice, refrigerate until firm, cut into squares to serve.
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