Chocolate Salami
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Ingredients
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100g dried fruit, softened in boiling water for 10 mins (prunes, apricots, figs, dates)
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200g dark chocolate
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100g unsalted butter
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200g crushed biscuits (amaretto, shortbread, gingernut, biscotti)
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100g ground pistachios
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100g ground toasted hazelnuts
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Icing sugar to dust
Optional: 2 tablespoons liqueur such as amaretto, rum, brandy, whisky, mint
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Method
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Chop fruit in small pieces
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Blitz your nuts in a food processor (if you've bought whole nuts)
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Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl together. Stir in the nuts and fruit (liqueur if adding too)
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Lay out a piece of tin foil, spoon 1/2 of the mixture along the long end of the foil and roll into a sausage shape
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Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight
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Remove from the foil and sprinkle with icing sugar
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Package in baking parchment, twist the ends and seal with ribbons or decorations of your choice
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(Amended from a recipes featured in The Telegraph, 23rd November 2019)
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Jamie Oliver's Hot Chocolate
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Ingredients
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200g dark chocolate
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10 tbsp cocoa powder
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5 tbsp Horlicks powder
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5 tbsp cornflour
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5 tbsp icing sugar
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Good pinch of ground cinnamon
Optional: add a splash of brandy, rum or Cointreau for a festive finish
Method
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Finely grate the chocolate into a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, mix it all up and package in jam jars with ribbons!
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Festive Nuts
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Ingredients
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200g nuts - these could be mixed or nuts of your choice
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1 tbsp oil
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1 tsp ground coriander
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1 tsp ground cumin
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1 tsp smoked paprika
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Pinch of chilli powder (hot or mild depending on your preference)
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Ground salt and pepper
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OR: swap out the spices for cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, remembering not to add the chilli and pepper
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Method
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Preheat the oven to 180 or gas 4 and roast the nuts for 10-15 mins, turning halfway through
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Heat the oil in a pan and fry the spices for a minute until fragrant. Add the nuts once cooked, coating evenly
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Cool and store in an airtight jar
Christmas Cocktail Garnish
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Ingredients
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Few slices of dried oranges and limes
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Dried juniper berries
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Dried cranberries
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Whole cardamoms
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Method
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Preheat the oven to 100 or gas 1/4. Slices your oranges or limes into 1/2 cm thickness and pat dry with kitchen towel
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Place the fruit on a cooling rack and then onto a baking tray and pop into the oven. The baking tray allows the air to circulate around the fruit whilst cooking
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Bake for 1-2 hours turning the fruit every 30 mins or so
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Cool and place a few pieces of the fruit in jam jars with a good pinch of the juniper berries, cranberries and cardamoms
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Quick & Easy Mincemeat
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Ingredients
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2 tbsp vegetable suet
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250g mixed fruit of your choice - sultanas, currants, raisins, glace cherries, figs, dates, cranberries, chopped almonds
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100g dark brown sugar - demerara, muscovado
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1 bramley apple
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1 tsp mixed spice
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Juice and zest of 1 orange or lemon
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2 tbsp brandy / rum / Cointreau
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Method
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First things first, sterilise your jam jars
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Chop the fruit into small pieces
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Put into a bowl and add the mixed spice and booze (you could add apple juice if you wanted to go alcohol free)
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Place in jam jars, seal, label and decorate with ribbons
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Truffles
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Ingredients
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150g dark chocolate, chopped
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150g milk chocolate, chopped
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150ml double cream
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50g unsalted butter
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Cocoa powder, sprinkles, lustre powder, icing sugar, chopped nuts, for coating, flavourless oil (such as sunflower), for shaping
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Method
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Put the dark and milk chocolate in a bowl, then put the cream and butter in a pan and bring to a simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until it melts. Leave to cool, then chill in the fridge for 7 hrs
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Put the coatings into separate bowls. To shape the truffles, lightly rub your hands with flavourless oil and roll teaspoons of the truffle mix between your palms – this can get messy!
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Gently roll the truffles in the bowl until evenly coated, then put in a box and chill. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for three days, or freeze for up to a month. Defrost in the fridge overnight
(Recipe from BBC Good Food)
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Christmas Granola
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Ingredients
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50 g blanched almonds
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50 g pecan nuts
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50 g unsalted pistachios, (shelled)
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50 g dried cranberries
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50g chrystalised ginger
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50 g pumpkin seeds
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50 g sunflower seeds
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1 tablespoon sesame seeds
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1 tablespoon flaxseeds
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250 g porridge oats
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1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1 teaspoon mixed spice
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½ teaspoon all spice - optional
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1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
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50 g sultanas
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50 g sour cherries
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6 tablespoons maple syrup
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1 orange – zested and juiced
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Method
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Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/gas 3
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Roughly chop the nuts and dried fruit, then place into a large bowl
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Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix together
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Finely grate over the orange zest, then drizzle over the maple syrup juice. Stir well to coat everything
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Spread out over a large baking tray in an even layer – split it between two, if it's easier
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Pop into the hot oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until turning golden, stirring every 10 minutes or so to stop it from catching. Bear in mind that the muesli will harden up and go crunchy as it cools, so don't be tempted to cook it for too long
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Leave to cool completely, then tip into airtight storage jars and use as and when you need it – it will keep quite happily for up to 4 weeks
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