Christmas Recipe Scrapbook

This year I decided to put my favourite Christmas recipes together into a little scrapbook album to save looking through my cookbooks every year searching for recipes. Most of the recipes are ones I have adapted from others over the years.

I made the album by cutting squares of cardboard and covering them with scrapbook papers. Then I punched holes in them, tied them all together with festive green and red ribbons and embellished the front cover with letters, ribbon and charms.

These are some of the pages and recipes from the album.

Vanilla and Cranberry Cupcakes

150 g butter or dairy-free spread
150 g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cranberries
150 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
¼ cup milk

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line muffin pan with paper cupcake cases. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla and cranberries. Add sifted flour, baking powder and salt alternately with milk. Divide mixture between cases. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool, then ice with vanilla frosting and decorate with red and green glace cherries.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

 Vanilla Frosting

100 g softened butter or dairy-free spread
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups icing sugar
1 Tblsp milk
Red and green glace cherries to decorate

Mix butter, vanilla, icing sugar and milk to a spreadable consistency. Spread or pipe onto cakes.

Christmas Fruit Mince

2 cups sultanas
2 cups cranberries
1 cup raisins
Grated rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 apple, peeled and grated
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons brandy

Process sultanas, cranberries and raisins until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. Spoon mixture into a screwtop jar and refrigerate. Will keep up to 3 months.

Christmas Fruit Mince Tarts

Pastry

3 ½ cups flour
½ cup custard powder
4 tablespoons sugar
250 g butter or dairy-free spread
1 egg yolk and water to mix

To make the pastry: Sift flour and custard powder. Stir in sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add beaten egg yolk and water. Mix to a stiff dough. Chill for 30 minutes.

To make mince tarts: Roll out pastry to 3mm thickness. Cut out rounds and line 24 greased patty tins. Place 1 tablespoon of fruit mince in each shell. Roll out remaining pastry and cut out star shapes. Place a star in the middle of each tart. Brush stars with beaten egg. Bake at 180ºC for 20 minutes. Dust with icing sugar when cold.

This chocolate fudge cake recipe is one that my mother used to make when we were children and she still makes it today. Delicious!

Chocolate Fudge Cake

450 g plain digestive biscuits, crushed
200 g butter or dairy-free spread
200 g white sugar
50 g soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
Nuts or dried fruit (optional)

Mix cocoa with a small amount of cold water to a thin paste. Place butter, sugars, eggs and cocoa in a saucepan. Stir continuously over a medium heat until butter has melted and sugar has fully dissolved. Add vanilla essence. Add heated mixture to crushed biscuits and mix well. Press down firmly into cake tin and refrigerate until set. Cut into pieces.

If desired, nuts or dried fruit can be added before adding the biscuits. Ice with chocolate icing or sprinkle with icing sugar.

Note: If using dairy-free spread, you may need to add a few more crushed biscuits to the mixture so that it will set properly.

These stuffing balls are good for vegetarians as they can be cooked separate from the meat. The recipe makes 6 balls. They are nice cold the next day too!

Sage and Apple Stuffing Balls

25 g butter or 3 tablespoons oil
1 onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 egg, beaten
4 slices bread, crumbed
¼ cup chopped fresh sage leaves or 2 tablespoons dried sage
Salt and pepper to season

Gently fry butter, onion and apple for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in breadcrumbs, sage and beaten egg. Season with salt and pepper. Form into balls. Brush with oil. Bake at 180ºC for 30 minutes, turning over halfway through cooking.

I added a pocket to the back page for slipping in extra recipes and notes.