Monday, December 01, 2008

Mini Christmas Puddings

... and so it begins
The Christmas china is out - well, the mugs have been in use for a couple of weeks now but the rest came out this morning.

Nothing like having your porridge [ oatmeal ] in a seasonally appropriate bowl

This afternoon, David and I got stuck into the first of the edibles:
namely the mini Christmas puds...
the simplest Christmas 'recipe' ever

and just in case there's a deprived individual out there who's never had these yummy little comestibles, here's the 'how-to':

First drive or walk to the supermarket and buy the cheapest no-name generic brand Light Fruit Cake, 200 -250 grams of white cooking chocolate and some glace cherries ...
every year I put the leftover cherries up the top of the pantry in some sort of sealed container and the following December I inspect the remains, determine that they aren't fit for human consumption and go buy more. So if you need any you know where to find 'em.

Once you're home again, clear the decks, and assemble a sharp knife and a mixing bowl. Oh, and a half cup measuring cup.
Okay?
The first bit's sooooooooooo difficult :]
open the package and crumble the cake into the bowl


Add a half cup [ imperial ] of orange juice, brandy or a half/half mixture of the two. Mush it up well.
Around here it's juice because I'm too cheap to go out and buy a bottle of plonk that I won't drink when OJ does just as well

Roll into small balls - maybe an inch in diameter

pop into the fridge for half an hour or so to firm up

when you're ready to proceed, chop the glace cherries [ red and green ] into very very small pieces
This is the fiddly bit and also where I take over for obvious reasons
Then melt the white chocolate gently in the microwave or over a double boiler

Now you have to move fast before it sets again
Drizzle a small amount on top of your puds and place one red and two green cherry pieces on top [ it's supposed to look like holly ]

I'd strongly recommend doing them in batches of about a dozen at a time unless you are superhumanly fast !

I've also seen these done with white icing [ frosting] instead of the chocolate but I like the choc ones best

Anyway that's it. Done !

10 comments:

lisette said...

2 words - yum mo :)

Nadie said...

Love the 'santa's little helpers' in the side bar, especially missC with the teddies!

post related - we haven't made those in YEARS! Dave looks like he's doing a great job rolling them up :)

catsmum said...

david was kind enough to act as taste tester and I gather that he agrees with your estimation, Lisette
... and btw when are you and the kidlets coming up to share the Christmas spirit and meet the new animals

catsmum said...

well if you remember Nadie we stopped making them when you weren't allowed to eat 'em anymore

Jackie said...

Delish! Luv all of 'santa's little helpers'.

Anonymous said...

Ooooh - that looks both fun and tasty :) Not to mention a clever way to get folks to eat fruit cake!

Tanya Brown said...

Mmmmm. Looks good.

Charlene said...

Oh Catsmum...I hope you don't mind I gotta question...I noticed in your sidebar the '2008 Christmas Tour of Homes' button. I've never participated before, and would love to do so. I've noticed that BooMama turned off her comments, to that particular post. I've got the button on my page but there's no mr.linky to link up to so I'm wondering what's the procedure? I noticed last year she had over 500 people participating. Maybe it's gotten too big this year already? Any help would be appreciated. I love to see how others around the world decorate at this time of year. Thanks so much!

catsmum said...

Charlene
don't panic - she won't put the Linky up until the actual day of the tour - December 15th
and the rest of you are more than welcome to join us

Donna Lee said...

Boy, I go away for one long weekend and all goodness is breaking loose down there! Congrats to Nadie and the Boy. It's exciting news. I make fruitcake every other year because we are the only ones who like it and it makes 4 at a time. They are rich with molasses and rum and are heavenly. But i can never convince anyone to try them.