Christmas cooking with Jenny Morris

It’s stone fruit season and we have decided to dedicate a whole culinary hotline to these sweet and juicy fruit!

All recipes by Jenny Morris

Ingredients:

 

  • 300 g sultanas
  • 300g raisins
  • 100g currents
  • 100g chopped glace figs
  • 100g chopped glace pineapple
  • 200g glace cherries, halved
  • 250g butter cut into cubes
  • 200g brown sugar
  • 1 cup sherry
  • 100g coarsely chopped Pecan nuts
  • 3 tablespoons orange zest
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 5 eggs, beaten lightly
  • 260g cake flour
  • 100 g self-rising flour
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
The Decoration:
  • 4 cups sifted icing sugar
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 20 glace cherries

How To Make Last Minute Christmas Cake

  1. Line base and sides of a deep 19cm square cake pan (or 22cm round cake pan) with 2 layers brown paper and 2 layers baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above edge of pan.

  2. Combine all dried fruit, cherries, butter, sugar and sherry in saucepan, stir over a low heat until butter has melted, and sugar dissolved. Bring to boil then remove from heat and cool.

  3. Preheat the oven to slow, 150°C. Stir nuts, orange zest, molasses and eggs into the cooled fruit mixture, then add the dry ingredients and stir together to combine.
     Spread mixture into prepared cake tin. Bake in a slow oven for about 2 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out dry.
  4. Remove from the oven and cool.

  5. Stir the water into the icing sugar to firm a thick paste. Spoon the Icing over the cake and while still wet arrange the cherries over the top of the cake. Garnish with fresh cherries on a stalk dusted with gold dust

Ingredients:

 

  • For the chocolate brownies
  • 1 cup dark chocolate, chopped
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1 ½ cups brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 Tbsp cup cocoa powder
  • 1 ¼ cup self-rising flour
  • ½ cup chocolate chips


For the royal icing:

  • 2 cups icing sugar
  • 1 large egg white
  • ½ tsp water
  • red food colouring
  • green food colouring


To serve:

  • 6 pretzel sticks
  • 6 candy cane sweets
  • red & white sprinkles

How To Make Christmas Tree Brownies

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C, line and grease a square cake tin. Place chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and eggs, then add the melted chocolate and butter mixture and stir. Sift in the cocoa powder and flour and mix until well combined, then fold in chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tray and bake for 40 minutes. Once the brownies are ready allow to cool before cutting.
  3. For the royal icing: Combine icing sugar, egg white and water in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Then divide the icing between two bowls. In the one bowl, add about 1 drop of red food colouring and in the other bowl add a drop of green food colouring mix until smooth, then transfer the icing to piping bags.
  4. Cut the brownies into equal triangles and pipe a zigzag pattern onto the brownies and decorate with sprinkles and insert a candy cane sweet or pretzel stick at the base.