Recipes - Part 4

Marshmallow Bubbles

4 cups rice bubbles
3 Tablespoon cocoa
250g copha
250g icing sugar
1 packet marshmallows

Sift cocoa and icing sugar, add rice bubbles. Melt copha and pour over dry ingredients, mix well. Add marshmallows and allow to sit in flat dish in the fridge. Cut into squares.

Coconut Ice

Makes: 36 squares

2 egg whites
500g icing sugar, sifted
250g desiccated coconut
125g copha
1 teaspoon vanilla
Red food colouring

In the bowl of an electric mixer, lightly beat the egg whites and mix until they are foamy. Add the sifted icing sugar and coconut and mix until combined.
Melt the copha over low heat in a small saucepan, allow to cool, then pour in the vanilla into the coconut mixtue and mix together thoroughly.
Turn half the mixture into a lamington tin about 17 x 23cm, which as been lined with baking paper. Press down well with the back of a large spoon. Colour the remaining mixture with a few drops of red food colouring and mix thoroughly until you get a pale pink colour. Press onto the white mixture and place in fridge until set and chilled, before cutting into squares. The squares should be stored in the fridge.

Hint
Try making pretty green and white coconut ice by using green food colouring in place of the pink for the second half of the mixture.

Rum Balls - Recipe 2

280g cake crumbs
3 Tablespoons apricot jam
3 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Tablespoons rum
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons apricot jam, extra
Chocolate sprinkles

Mix together cake crumbs, cocoa, 3 Tablespoons of wrmed sieved apricot jam, and rum until a stiff paste is formed. Make into approximately 24 balls. Warm 2 Tablespoons of sieved jam with wter; dip the balls in this jam mixture, then coat with chocolate sprinkles. Place in paper patty cases.
Makes approx. 24

Festive Fruit Ring

Oven Temp: 200C

Pastry
1 cup S.R. flour
10g butter
20g softened butter, extra
100ml milk

Decoration
2 glace cherries
2 Tablespoons icing sugar

Filling
1 Tablespoon sultanas
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
1 Tablespoon currents
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teapoons mixed peel
1/2 teaspoons caster sugar

Set oven at 200C. Place shelf in top 1/3.
Sift flour and salt into a bowl.
Rub butter into flour.
Make a well in centre. Add milk and mix to a soft dough.
Turn onto lightly floured board, knead 10-12 times to form a ball.
Roll into oblong 15 x 20cm. Spread with softened extra butter.
Mix filling ingredients together and sprinkle over buttered dough.
Roll up like swiss roll start with short side.
Lift onto greased oven tray and form into a half moon.
With a sharp knife make a series of cuts 3/4 of the way through the roll and 2cm apart.
Glave evenly with milk.
Mix icing sugar with a few drops of hot wate and drizzle over ring.
Decorate with chopped cherries.

Christmas Nibbles

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Makes: about 48

250g cooking chocolate
125g crystallised ginger
1/2 cup shelled peanuts or hazelnuts
100g marshmallows
Small foil patty cases

Melt chocolate in the top of a double saucepan over gently simmering water. Drop ginger and nuts into chocolate. Stir to coat these completely.
Place each piece of chocolate - coated giner on a foil-lined tray. Place spoonfuls of the nut mixture onto foil-lined trays. Set both in the fridge.
Marshmallows may be coated in the same manner.
Alternatively, place ginger and nuts (or chopped cherries and dried fruit) into the base of small foil patty cases, pour over enough chocolate to fill each case. Set in the fridge. Keeps for up to 2 months.

Steamed Fruit Pudding

1/2 cup full cream milk powder
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups mixed fruit
40g butter
1 cup self-raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spiced
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

Combine first 5 ingredients in pan, bring to boil stirring, cool 30 minutes.
Add combined sifted flour, spice and bicarbonate soda, mix well.
Spoon into greased 6 cup pudding basin, cover securely.
Steam pudding 1 1/2 hours until cooked, serve wit custard.
Serves 4-6.

Christmas Cake

500g mixed dried fruit
200g glace cherries, chopped
125g pitted prunes, chopped
125g butter
1 cup full cream milk powder
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/4 cup sherry
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour

Place first 8 ingredients in pan, bring to boil stirring, reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in sherry and bicarbonate soda, cool.
Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread cake mixture evenly into greased and lined 20cm deep square cake pan.
Bake in 160C oven for 2 - 2 1/2 hours until cooked.
Serves 15-20.