Christmas Sweets - 5 simple recipes
Christmas means that slight chill in the air, overall happy feeling, attending Midnight Mass and buying huge balloons after Mass, Decorating Christmas Tree, New clothes, Meeting dear ones, Dance, Music, Party, giving and receiving gifts .. but most of all … Homemade sweets. Markets are overflowing with readymade sweets but this year try your hand on preparing some at home with these simple recipes.
1)TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CAKE
Ingredients
12 oz plain flour,
1 tsp cinnamon,
1 tsp mixed spice,
A pinch of salt,
4 oz candied peel,
4 oz cherries,
2 lb dried fruits,
4 oz blanched almonds,
4 eggs,
4 tbsp sherry,
Finely grated 1 lemon,
8 oz margarine,
8 oz sugar,
1 tbsp black treacle, and
A closet with a lock (to keep it safe from children until the C-Day).
Method
Sieve together all the dry ingredients.
Mix the peel, fruit, cherries, chopped almonds and lemon rind.
Whisk the eggs and sherry together.
Beat the margarine, sugar and black treacle until soft.
Add the flour and egg mixtures alternately to the margarine little by little till it has a thick paste consistency.
Stir in the fruit mixture.
Put into an 8-9 inch tin, lined with greaseproof paper round the sides and at the bottom.
Now, tie a double band of brown paper round the outside of the rim, standing well up above the top of it.
Put in the middle of a hot oven. Bake for 3 1/4-3 1/2 hours at gas mark 3 for the first 1 1/2 hours, and then decrease to gas mark 2 for the remainder.
Cool the cake in the tin, then store in an airtight container.
Can be served hot or cold with custard or double cream respectively.
2) Jam Cookies
Ingredients
3 cups maida or plain flour
less than 1/4 kilo Amul Butter
125 grams bura sugar (powdered sugar)
2 whole eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
100 grams grated cashews.
Method
Mix all ingredients except cashew together.
Make small balls.
Dip in egg white, coat in grated cashews and make a dip on the top.The original way is to put jam in the dip, but lots of people put glace cherries. Your choice.
Place on a greased thali and bake till light brown on the base.
3) Culculs
Ingredients
1 kilo maida
2 tablespoons ghee
4 eggs
pinch of salt
Method
Beat eggs separately first and then make a dough with water.
Keep aside for at least 4 hours.
Then make the culculs.
Don’t place them one over another as they will stick together.
Fry in ghee or ghee flavoured oil, until you hear a sound as they move against each other.
They should be crisp but not brown.
Make a sugar syrup of 3 measures sugar to 2 measures water.
Boil together add colour, till a drop of the syrup in water stays a soft ball .
Then you can dip the fried culculs in.
Test a few first. I find this step difficult to judge.
Work fast but be careful, the syrup can burn you badly
4) JUJUBES
Ingredients
5 small sachets of gelatine.
400 grams bura sugar
juice of one orange, one sour lime
1 tablespoon brandy
vanilla essence
Method
Soak gelatine overnight in one pint of water.
Next day add orange and sour lime juice, sugar essence and brandy, and put on the fire.
Keep stirring till one thread consistency.
Strain into a dampened thali.
Cut the next day and coat in sugar.
5) Marshmallows
Ingredients
2 sachets gelatine
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
50 grams icing sugar
white of one egg
Method
Melt sugar in one cup of water ( Heat till 2 threads of syrup drip from the spoon when you lift it out)
Add gelatine dissolved in 2 tablespoon hot water.
Cook till 1 thread.
Take it off the fire.
When luke-warm, add the beaten stiff egg white and beat again till thick.
Pour into a greased tray.
Cut the next day.
Enjoy your sweets!!! Merry Christmas !!!
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December 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am
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