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Christmas cookie recipe swap no-bake chocolate crackles

So I was trawling Twitter one day in lieu of doing some chores and found a cookie swap hosted by the creative types at Real Housemoms, {I love} My Disorganised Life, and White Lights on Wednesdays. This had my name all over it so I jumped on board!

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Tags: chocolate, cookie swap, easy, no bake, oats

Comments 44 Comments
Categories Biscuits and Cookies, child-friendly, chocolate, Christmas, Dessert, do ahead, easy, Fast & simple, Other sweet stuff, sugar

Easy ice cream Christmas pudding [and simple home made Christmas chocolates]

17 Dec

Firstly – an apology for the lack of photos with this post. I’ve been baking like a mad woman in the last few weeks for various Christmas-related events and even though I intend to photograph as I go for my blog it hasn’t turned out this way.

Sigh.

First up, a super easy Christmas ice cream pudding that I’ve been making for many, many years. I have no idea where the original recipe comes from but it is embarrassingly easy.

This is so simple and a perfect dessert for Christmas Day in Sydney, which is, without fail, a squillion degrees. I made nine desserts for my mother-in-law’s Christmas lunch on the weekend and this was the first thing to vanish.

GATHER:

2 litres best quality vanilla ice cream, softened

1 cup mixture of sultanas, currants and raisins

Good splash of rum

¼ cup glace cherries, chopped

2 tablespoons cinnamon

LET’S GET TO IT:

Soak the dried fruit [but not the glace cherries] in rum and leave overnight.

Line a 2-litre pudding basin with cling wrap, leaving overhang.

Working quickly tip the softened ice cream into a large bowl and stir in rum-soaked fruit, cinnamon and cherries.

If desired place some home-made chocolates [see below] in the base of the pudding basin, then add ice cream. Smooth the top then fold over the overhanging cling wrap. Wrap in foil and freeze overnight.

Home made Christmas chocolates

I found a similar idea for these little chocs online and Christmas-afied them using red and green Christmas sprinkles from a baking store. Simply line two mini muffin pans with mini liners. Place 150g your choice of chocolate with a splash of canola oil in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted and glossy. Pour chocolate into mini pans until bottom is covered and then a bit more. Sprinkle over Christmas sprinkles and place in fridge for a few hours until firm. Remove and discard wrappers.

Miss 7 and I made these for her to hand out to her class. We bundled a few up in cellophane bags for all of her classmates. I should have taken a photo…

Tags: chocolate, Christmas, dessert, easy, fast, ice cream, sweets

Comments 31 Comments
Categories alcohol, chocolate, Christmas, Dessert, do ahead, easy, Family, Fast & simple, food, holidays, ice-cream, sugar

Nigella Lawson easy salted caramel sauce

10 Apr

This recipe is The Bomb. It is quick, requires a handful of ingredients, will rock your world and impress everyone who is lucky enough to sample even a drop of it. This sauce requires real, lux salt, not the nasty table salt that you can buy in massive pantry packs. Nigella has shown us again why she is the queen of all things decadent and divine with this recipe. Serve this with vanilla ice cream for a show stopper dessert. Add the salt in increments & taste as you go.

With thanks to Anna Warr [http://www.facebook.com/AnnaWarrPhotography] for her delish snaps.

GATHER:

50g brown sugar

50g caster sugar

50mL golden syrup

125mL double cream

75g unsalted butter, cubed

half to one-and-a-half teaspoons best quality salt [I use pink Murray River salt]

LET’S GET TO IT:

Melt butter, sugars and syrup in a small heavy pan and simmer for two to three minutes. Swirl, don’t stir, occasionally.

Slowly pour in cream and half a teaspoon of the salt and stir before tasting. Add a little more salt at a time if you desire.

Pour into serving jug and watch your guests drool.