Mr Gift blog

These delicious little cakes showcase some wonderful Christmas spices: Mixed Spice, Nutmeg and Cinnamon. Make them look even more Christmassy by using patty pans in Christmas colours and topping with a glace cherry.

Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 12
 
Ingredients:

• 2 cups SR flour, sifted
• 1 tsp Mixed Spice
• 1 tsp Nutmeg Ground
• ¾ cup castor sugar
• 1/4 cup (65ml) apple juice
• ½ cup (125ml) milk
• 125g butter, melted
• 2 eggs

 
Decoration:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• boiling water
• 1 tsp Cinnamon Ground
• 12 glace cherries

 

Method:
1. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with patty pan cases. Preheat oven to 200oC. 
2. Sift together flour, Mixed Spice, Nutmeg and castor sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre. Mix the apple juice, milk, butter and eggs and pour into the dry mix. Using a metal spoon, stir gently to combine.
3. Spoon mix carefully into the patty pan cases, then place in preheated oven. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire cake rack.
4. When cold, combine icing sugar with just enough boiling water to make a thick paste, and ice the top of each cake carefully. Sprinkle each with a little cinnamon, then top with a glace cherry. If you can find it, serve with sprigs of holly or fresh apple leaf but remove before eating.
 
This recipe was kindly shared with us by Dianne Ward. Dianne is a mother of two young children, freelance writer and founder of food blog www.thesassycook.com that champions being fast and fabulous in the kitchen. Check out www.thesassycook.com for more delicious recipes and clever cooking tips.

Looking for a new summer salad? This one combines two of my favourite ingredients – cranberries and walnuts. Another great thing about this salad is the crunchy texture, which is really refreshing on hot summer days.

Ingredients:

• 20 grams dried cranberries
• 4 cups shredded purple cabbage
• ¼ cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Sprinkle of salt and pepper

Method:

1. In a bowl, combine shredded cabbage, walnuts, parsley and cranberries.
2. In a separate container, mix olive oil, lemon juice, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper– pour dressing over salad and mix through to serve.

This recipe was kindly shared with us by the New Atkins team. New Atkins are the original low carb experts. To learn about controlling carbohydrates, and for tips and hints to manage your long-term weight loss or management goals, visit www.Atkins.com

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a ham, especially if it’s glazed. I love the addition of bourbon whisky in this recipe…

Ingredients:

Serves 6

• 1.5 – 2kg ham with bone, or 1-1.5kg boneless ham
• 1 tsp rice malt syrup 
• ¼ cup stevia (or similar)
• ½ tsp mustard powder
• ½ tsp white vinegar
• 1 tbs bourbon whisky
• 1 tsp whole cloves

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180ᵒC. Mix together rice malt syrup, stevia, mustard, vinegar, and whisky, and set aside.
2. Remove the rind from the ham, and using a sharp knife score the top and sides in a diamond like pattern (around 2-3 cm diamonds, with incisions around 1 – 2 cm deep). Make a small incision into the centre of each diamond, and insert a clove into each.
3. Place ham in a baking tray scored side up and brush over glaze. Bake for 20 minutes per kilo of ham, or until ham starts to brown and is warmed through.

This recipe was kindly shared with us by the New Atkins team. New Atkins are the original low carb experts. To learn about controlling carbohydrates, and for tips and hints to manage your long-term weight loss or management goals, visit www.Atkins.com

What are the key things you associate with Christmas? For me, it’s the lovely traditional food we cook and enjoy at this time of year. Come January, I usually can’t look at another piece of shortbread or a fruit mince pie since these foods have been my staple diet throughout December. But, without fail, by the end of November I’m looking forward to eating my favourite Christmas foods again.

This Christmas, we’ve teamed up with some talented chefs, passionate home cooks, food bloggers, and people who’ve just got a cracking Christmas recipe in our latest blog series, Christmas Favourites. This series will feature a selection of our favourite Christmas recipes to get us through the silly season.

Our first recipe is a sweet treat from freelance writer and blogger, Dianne Ward:

Ingredients:
 
Cookies:

•60g softened butter
•1 cup sugar
•1 egg
•Pinch salt
•1 tsp (approx.) natural vanilla essence
•1 cup desiccated coconut
•1 1/2 cup self raising flour
 
Icing
•1 1/2 cups icing sugar
•4 tablespoons good quality cocoa
•2 tablespoons melted butter

 
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line baking tray with baking paper.
2. Cream butter and sugar, then beat in egg, salt and vanilla. Add coconut and flour and mix well.
3. Roll into a log then cut into rounds and place on lined baking tray.
4. Bake for 20 mins until golden. Ice when cool.
 
Icing
Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl.  Add melted butter and about 2 tsp water and mix to a fudgy consistency. 

Lemon/passionfruit icing – instead of water gradually add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or passionfruit pulp. 
Raspberry – instead of water add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of raspberry puree gradually.

   
This recipe was kindly shared with us by Dianne Ward. Dianne is a mother of two young children, freelance writer and founder of food blog www.thesassycook.com that champions being fast and fabulous in the kitchen. Check out www.thesassycook.com for more delicious recipes and clever cooking tips.

Capsicum takes on a completely new identity when roasted – it becomes gloriously sweet and actually makes a great little vessel for stuffing with other delicious ingredients, such as the below assortment of vegetables. I’ve even filled capsicum halves with a bolognaise-style ragu before, which is also really tasty. You can be as creative as you like!

• 2 medium sized red capsicums
• ½ red onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 100 grams sliced mushrooms
• 40 grams cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 zucchini grated
• 1 cup shredded silver beet
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 50 grams green beans, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped in quarters
• Olive oil
• ½ brown onion
• Handful fresh basil, roughly chopped

 
Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180ᵒC.
2. Cut the red capsicums in half, remove seeds and place on a baking paper lined baking tray.
3. Place quartered tomatoes on a separate part of the tray, and sprinkle with one clove of crushed garlic, salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Place the tray in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
3. Sauté red onion, two cloves of garlic and olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
4. Once the onion is soft, add mushroom, zucchini, silver beet and green beans and sauté until soft. Remove from heat and combine parsley and drained cannellini beans.
5. Remove the capsicum halves from the oven, and evenly spoon with vegetable mixture. Return to oven for another 15 minutes.
6. In a saucepan, sauté brown onion in oil until soft. Add the roasted tomatoes, a splash of water and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and finish off by stirring through fresh basil. 
7. Once capsicums are removed from oven, allow to cool slightly before serving with a drizzle of warm Napoli sauce on top. Once cooled, cut the capsicums in half again to make stuffed quarters.

This recipe was kindly shared with us by the New Atkins team. New Atkins are the original low carb experts. To learn about controlling carbohydrates, and for tips and hints to manage your long-term weight loss or management goals, visit www.Atkins.com