Busy Lizzie’s Delicious Christmas Recipes

 

As a Christmas present for you all, I’ve got some wonderful chocolatey recipes for you to bake at home thanks to Hug at Home’s very own star baker, Susan! Susan often brings her magical bakes into the office for us all to enjoy and has been very kind to give me the recipes for her favourite Christmas treats so I can share them with you all! So pop your apron on, grab your ingredients and let’s get baking!

Mini Christmas Puddings

For this recipe you’ll need:

125g butter

2 tablespoons golden syrup

1 tablespoon milk

150g dark chocolate

250g crushed digestive biscuits 

60g raisins

60g chopped glace cherries 

45g chopped hazelnuts (optional)

To decorate you'll need…

75g melted white chocolate 

Sprinkles and edible glitter

Now here’s how to make these tasty treats!

1. Grab your dark chocolate, butter, syrup and milk and melt them together in a saucepan (or in the microwave if you’d prefer the easier option!)

2. Stir in the crushed digestive biscuits, raisins and chopped glace cherries and mix well before leaving the mixture to set.

3. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave. 

4. Shape the mixture into small balls (prepare for your hands to get a bit sticky!) to fit into petit four cases.

5. Top with the melted white chocolate (Susan recommends using a piping bag here for ease and less mess!)

6. Sprinkle with Christmas sprinkles whilst the chocolate is still soft and dust with edible glitter to make mini puddings look like festive works of art! Allow your Christmas puddings to set before you tuck in.

7. Last but certainly not least, enjoy!

 

 

This next recipe is perfect for your vegan family and friends but it’s still mouthwateringly delicious and can be enjoyed by all!

Best Ever Vegan Chocolate Cake

For this recipe you’ll need:

300ml dairy free milk (soya, almond etc)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

150g non-dairy margarine (Susan recommends Flora!)

3 tablespoons golden syrup

1 teaspoon coffee granules or espresso powder

275g self raising flour

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

For the frosting you’ll need:

75g non-dairy margarine

200g icing sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons water

Here’s how to make this scrumptious cake!

1.Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan.

2. Lightly grease 2x 20cm baking tins (this will make your life so much easier when removing them once they’re baked!)

3. Stir lemon juice into the milk and set to the side. (I wouldn’t recommend taste testing this mixture) 

4. Melt the margarine, golden syrup and coffee in a pan or in the microwave and leave to cool down.

5. Gently sieve the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl.

6. Pour the milk and melted margarine over the flour mixture and mix well until it becomes a nice silky smooth batter.

7. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 cake tins.

8. Bake for 30-35 minutes, which offers plenty of time to enjoy a nice glass of wine whilst you wait. When the time’s up, stick a skewer or knife into the cake which should come out clean if it’s fully baked.

9. Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely (we don’t want any burnt fingers). 

10. Make the icing by mixing the frosting ingredients together in a bowl.

11. Sandwich the 2 cakes together with half of the frosting mixture and spread the rest on top of the cake.

12. If you’ve got any Christmas sprinkles left over then sprinkle on top of the frosting to make your cake look extra snazzy.

13. Cut a slice of the cake and dig in!

 

I hope you enjoy making these amazing Christmas bakes and share them with your friends and family this holiday season. I’m definitely going to have a crack at making the vegan chocolate cake and hopefully it turns out as good as Susan’s. If not, I’ll be asking her to make one for me!

Busy Lizzie x