General Chat

I go to a class on Tuesdays, today is the last class for the year.

I thought I'd make something "Christmassy" to take

Puddings. I made 24 :-)

Not really a proper recipe.......... but you get the idea.........

800gr dark fruit cake - break it up & put it in food processor
Whoosh it up a bit
Add a LITTLE bit of brandy/whisky/juice - just enough to make it stick together, but NOT SOGGY!
Roll it into small balls and place on baking paper. Put in fridge.
Melt some white chocolate in a bowl over simmering water (Milky Bar is good).
Drizzle the tops of the puds with a little chocolate, then add a bit of red & green glace cherry (that's supposed to look like holly)

;-)

That sounds great ..

Hah!

Two ladies wouldn't finish their puds, they thought there was too much booze!

800 gr of cake & less than a Tablespoon of brandy!

I think they scared others off lol

Took 24 of them, and brought 12 home......... OH and I will enjoy them :-D

These sound nice Scozz, I'm just nudging your recipe up the board. The christmas puds sound a great idea for family gatherings. I'm going to try them out at the weekend :-D

Teresa

Hope you enjoy them Teresa :-D

I've got a box of them in the fridge lol

Got 10 left

Send them down the cyber hatch Scozz :-D. I will munch them with a nice cuppa :-D :-D :-D

I will let you know how I get on making mine at the weekend :-D

Teresa

Perhaps they don't like spirits like brandy or whiskey, it can taste a bit strong if the alcohol is not cooked off. Still more for you :-D

I'm going to be making some Scozz - they sound scrummy. I shall add a bit more brandy though ;-)

They sound nice.
I might try making some myself at the weekend.
Must admit, I'll probably put an over-healthy amount of booze in :-) hic, but I suppose it depends what you like ;-)

Karen

Wend & Karen ~ don't add too much, or they will be sloppy and not keep their shape!

If you don't like booze in them, a bit of water & a couple of teaspoons of instant coffee is also nice

I prefer the boozy ones lol

:-D

And.......... if you've not yet made your big pudding, I have an easy recipe, cooks in the microwave in 9 minutes!

What a great idea Scozz, I shall have a go , can we have the microwave recipe please,

love Jean x

I got this recipe years ago from Scottish cousins, so it's all in lbs & ozs. Microwaves these days are more powerful, so check on your pudding at about 7 mins. Tablespoons are British measure, a bit smaller than Australian.

In a saucepan:
1/2 pint water
3/4 cup white sugar
8 oz butter or margarine
8 oz sultanas
8 oz mixed fruit (anything ~ figs, dried apricots, raisins etc, chop the large ones)
1 Tablespoon treacle (optional, but it's nicer with it)
1 rounded Tablespoon cinnamon
1 rounded Tablespoon mixed spice

Bring to the boil & simmer for one minute.

Remove from heat and add

8 oz flour sifted with 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 lightly beaten eggs

Use a plastic bowl, line it with cling film, so that the film goes well over the sides (you may need three or four pieces)

Pour mixture into lined bowl. DO NOT cover the mixture with cling film.

IMMEDIATELY put in microwave and cook for 9 minutes on HIGH.

At this stage I poke large holes in the pud (I use a carving fork) and pour some brandy over it.

If you leave the pud until it's cold before putting in the microwave it will take longer to cook.

Easy to warm up on Christmas Day.

Hope you enjoy it.

:-D

I forgot this one ~

A friend of ours doesn't like dark fruit cake, or Christmas pudding, and her family isn't too fond of it either. She loved the look of the little puds I took to a function last year, but had to use something else.... she bought a mud cake & made little puds with that. She said the family loved them.

:-D

Hi Scozz, I have just made the pudding mix :-D. We don't much like mixed peal so put glacé cherries in it. I microwaved it for nine minutes but I added a couple of minutes for a dryer consistency. I broke it up to crumbly mix, halved it and added orange juice to one half and brandy to the other. I then made it it to little bite sized puddings and put melted white chocolate on top.

I got some coloured icing sticks and made a holly type effect on top :-D

They are yummmmmmmy and so easy to do. I'm testing them out SIL and BIL later.


Teresa

I cheated with the mini-puds, got an 800gr fruitcake at the supermarket :-D

We've still got some puds, but the white chocolate has gone funny; doesn't matter, they still taste good! I'll have to make more for Christmas.

That reminds me....... must give the big pud a drink :-D



:-D

They sound yummy - I might even break the habit of a lifetime and bake :-D

My ex's aunt used to give us a Guinness cake (rich fruit cake laced with lots of Guinness-very moist & tasty) every Xmas - yummy.

We even had a Guinness cake on our wedding day :-D

There are only three little puds left! They went down very well and some went home with SIL. OH said that there were a bit sweet with the white chocolate so I will try milk or dark chocolate next time. I liked the white chocolate so I will make different toppings.

The Guinness cake sounds yummy Maggie, my Dad used to have a daily Guinness at 10 am every morning. He said it did him the power of good :-D


Teresa