Chelsea Buns

These delicious orange zest infused sticky buns may just become a must for your Christmas brunch. The recipe is small, easy and quick to prepare . . . and if you don't have time in the morning, simply bake ahead, leave in pan, cover with foil and reheat before inverting onto plate.

Ingredients:

Sticky topping:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 Tbsp honey
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 cups chopped pecans

dough:

• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp instant or fine quick acting yeast
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 Tbsp oil 
• 3 cups flour, divided
• 2 eggs

filling:

• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• zest from one medium orange

Method:

1. Line 9 x 9 pan (for 9 buns) or 9 x 13 pan (for 12 buns) with parchment paper
2. In mixing bowl begin with sugar, yeast and salt. Add hot tap water and let sit for a few minutes, until frothy looking. (you can use a kitchen aid with bread hook attachment or a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon)
3. In the meantime, melt butter for topping, adding the rest of the ingredients except for the nuts. Bring to boil. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle evenly with nuts.
4. To yeast mix in bowl, add oil and 1 cup flour and then the eggs, mixing them in well.
5. Stir in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time until you can knead and shape it into a soft ball, not too sticky if handled with a dusting of flour. Cover and let rise 20 - 30 minutes.
6. While the dough is rising, melt butter for spreading and mix all the filling ingredients.
7. Roll dough out on floured surface to about 10 x 12 or 14 inches. Spread with butter and filling.
8. Roll up, starting on long side. Cut into 9 or 12 pieces, depending on how big in height you wish them to be or how many you are serving) and place on top of sticky topping in pan.
9. Cover loosely with plastic and let rise another 20 - 30 minutes, until they don't have room to spread any more. 
10. Bake at 350 F for about 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown. ( lesser time for larger pan)
11. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Cover with serving plate and carefully flip buns onto plate. Serve warm.

If your kitchen is warm, these take about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish. 

Jello Cake

Looking for a nice light dessert to serve in all the holiday celebrations? Look no further. This dessert brings back childhood memories for me and is definitely a vintage dessert having stood the test of time and is still delicious today. This recipe is my friend Carolyn's version of the dessert. Cherry Jello is my personal favorite but you can change it to any flavor you like.

• 3-4 sleeves of graham crackers (my pan is not quite 9x13 and only needs three sleeves, but some comments say they use 4 sleeves of crackers)
• 1 large package of cherry flavored jello (170g)
• 2 cups boiling water 
• 4 cups of ice cubes
• 500 ml whip cream (2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar

1. Boil 2 cups of water and dissolve package of cherry jello, stir well.
2. Add 4 cups of ice cubes until it begins to thicken, remove excess ice cubes that will no longer melt. 
3. Whip the cream until stiff with the icing sugar.
4. In a 9x13 pan, dot the bottom of the pan with whipped cream so the first layer of graham wafers stay in place.
5. Add a layer of graham wafers covering the bottom of the pan. If the cake pan has rounded edges break the corners to fit better.
6. Add half the whipped cream covering the entire surface of the wafers. 
7. Add another layer of graham wafers.
8. Gently pour half of the almost set the jello and spread from corner to corner. 
9. Add another layer of graham wafers on top of the jello. 
10. Repeat layers, with the jello on top as shown in the picture. 

Don't worry if the jello looks lumpy it usually sets completely smooth.
Let it set in the refrigerator overnight or a minimum of 8 hours. 

What an easy festive dessert, it quickly becomes a favorite.

Rolo Cookies

If you are looking for a nice gooey, caramel-filled chocolate cookie, this is the recipe for you. They've been a Christmas favorite at our place for some years, since the time my sister was employed at Nestle Canada and had access to Rolos in abundance! Now it seems I'm always on a mad hunt for Rolos just before Christmas. This year I found them at the third store I visited, but they were all out of the regular Rolos, and had only the jumbo sized or a bag of minis. I used Rolo minis this year and they worked great! The cookies are a wee bit smaller, but nicer for the Christmas trays.

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 48 Rolo candies (or one bag Rolo minis)

1. Cream 1 cup butter together with the brown and white sugar until light and fluffy. 
2. Add vanilla and eggs...beat well. Add flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Stir in a half cup of the chopped pecans.
3. In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup chopped pecans with 1 tablespoon sugar. 
4. With floured hands, wrap 1 tablespoon of dough around a Rolo, covering completely. 
5. Press one side of dough/ball into pecan sugar mixture. 
6. Place, nutty side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. 
7. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes, or until set and slightly cracked. 
8. Cool two minutes; remove from pans.

 

 

Christmas Pudding with Sauce

This recipe for Christmas pudding comes from my husband's Grandma. In our early years of marriage I came to enjoy this family recipe which was served along with other desserts after Christmas dinner. We all enjoy the pudding, but it's the sauce that makes the pudding. 

Pudding:

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup butter, frozen and grated ***see note***
• 4 cups raisins, a mixture of dark and golden
• 1 cup chopped figs
• 1 1/2 cup mixed peel, put through a food processor
• 1 cup red cherries
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp baking soda, dissolved in 3 tsp warm water

1. Add all ingredients into a very large mixing bowl and mix together well.
2. Christmas pudding is often made in a mold or large bowl, but grandma filled 3 wide mouth mason jars with this mixture. Dividing it to fill the jars 3/4 full. Seal loosely with new canning lids.
3. To avoid scorching the bottom of the pudding while streaming, place small Pyrex bowls, or other heat proof dishes or extra canning jar lids in the bottom of the pot to set jars on top of. Place jars on top of the Pyrex bowls in a large pot of hot water on the stove top. The water should sit about half way up the jars. Steam pudding in jars for 3 hours adding boiling water to the pot as needed during steaming.
4. Once the pudding has steamed, remove from heat and tighten lids. Lids will snap shut as the pudding cools, and pudding will be sealed. Store in a dark cool place or in the refrigerator. Pudding is best if it has a few weeks to sit. Because this pudding is sealed once steamed, it will keep well for up to a year stored in a cool dark place. 
5. When ready to serve. Remove lid. Place jar or pudding in a pot, again setting the jars onto a Pyrex or heat proof bowl to avoid scorching the pudding while re steaming. Add water about 1/2 way up the jar. Steam pudding for at least an hour to re heat. Serve warm with Christmas Pudding Sauce. Recipe follows.

NOTE: This recipe was originally made with suet. We now substitute the suet for butter that is frozen and then grated into fine pieces. If using suet, use the same amount as the butter. 

Christmas Pudding Sauce

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, separated. Set aside egg whites to whip for last step.
• pinch salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup whipping cream, whipped stiff

1. Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Stir in flour until smooth.
2. Beat egg yolk adding to it the sugar, salt and milk. Whisk together.
3. Add egg mixture to butter and flour mixture and stir well.
4. Cook mixture until thick and smooth. Allow to cool.
5. Beat egg white until very stiff. Fold into cooled mixture.
6. Whip cream and fold into mixture. 
7. Serve over warm steamed Christmas pudding.
8. Sauce will keep well in refrigerator for several days. Lightly stir when ready to serve.

Bread for the Journey

On this 3rd Sunday of Advent as we think of the coming of Jesus Christ we light the candle of joy!

Luke 2: 8-12 NIV

 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

"Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love."

Artichoke and Roasted Pepper Dip

Put this appetizer out on your kitchen island and for sure you'll have everyone right where you're trying to finish up the meal. My son-in-law loves to tease me about that! So, depending on how stressed you want to be, plan your placement carefully. If I remember right, I got this recipe from my niece, Pauline.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup miracle whip ( I do more)
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 jar roasted sweet red peppers, patted dry and chopped
• 1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 each: green onion chopped, clove garlic, minced

1. Stir together miracle whip, cheese, peppers, artichokes, onion and garlic. (I save a bit of the cheese to sprinkle on top) 
2. Spoon into 9 inch pie plate or similar small, low baking dish. 
3. Bake at 350° F 10 - 12 min. Serve with crackers, corn chips, guacamole or black bean chips.

Angel Kisses (Alfajores)

This cookie has a ‘melt in your mouth’ kind of texture, like shortbread. The filling is cooked sweetened condensed milk, also known as dulce de leche, if purchased in a jar. The recipe came from a friendly neighbor, who invited me for coffee when I was a newly wed. I loved the cookies because the filling was just like what we used to spread on our bread when we lived in South America. I found out that they were quite a bit of work to make when I made them for our daughter’s first birthday, so I decided that they would be Christmas cookies and eventually we ended up calling them angel kisses, because we did not know the real name.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soft butter
• 3 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups cornstarch
• 1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• flaked coconut

Method:

1. Put unopened can of sweetened condensed milk, standing up, in a pot of water, water coming up about 3/4 of the way. Bring water to boil and simmer for 11/2 hours. Add water if needed. Cool completely in fridge. Good if you can do this the day ahead. I like this method because the dulce tastes fresh and creamy. If you prefer, you can use 1 jar purchased Dulce de Leche. 
2. This cookie recipe has no liquids, so I find it is very important to use very soft butter, but not melted. I take it out of the fridge the night before. It also helps to use a large mixer that has a dough (hook) attachment.
3. Beat butter until very creamy. Beat in the yolks. 
4. Mix sugar and lemon rind, then add to creamed mixture, along with vanilla. 
5. Stir in cornstarch and combined other dry ingredients (using hook attachment if you have) until smooth. Shape into ball.
6. Taking about 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll out on floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness.
7. Cut with small, round cookie cutter or tomato paste can. 
8. Place on floured cookie sheets and bake at 350° F for about 8 min. Do not over bake. Cookies should just be starting to get color on the underside, not on top. Cool.
9. Stick two cookies together with cooked sweetened condensed milk, spreading the sides (edges) as well and rolling them in coconut. 
10. Freeze to set. Store in air tight container in freezer and beware if someone in your family likes eating them frozen! Yields 4 dozen cookies 

Chili Meat Pockets

I'm not sure who gave me this recipe but I used to make them for the children's school lunches.

 They would also be great as appetizers for those Christmas parties. 

If you have a food processor, use it for the pastry.

For the Pastry:

You will need to make the recipe twice to use up the filling.

• 1 cup creamed cottage cheese
• 1 cup margarine
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons wheat germ

For the Chili Meat filling:

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/1/2 cups onions chopped fine
• 3 tablespoons chili powder ( or to taste)
• 4 envelopes beef bouillon powder.
• Cheddar cheese cut into pieces about 1/4 inch x 1 inch x 1/1/2 inches.

1. Prepare filling first.
2. Brown ground beef and onions until meat is cooked through. Drain fat. 
3. Add chili powder and beef bouillon powder and cook a little longer stirring well until seasonings are incorporated. (Do not add water)
4. Set aside to cool while you make the pastry.
5. Place all pastry ingredients in bowl of food processor and pulse until dough begins to stick together.
6. If mixing by hand, cut margarine and cottage cheese into dry ingredients and then mix by hand until mixture holds together and becomes somewhat sticky.
7. Divide dough and roll each piece out to about 1/8th inch thickness on floured surface.
8. Cut circles using a cutter about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
9. Place 1 piece cheddar cheese on one side of each circle. 
10. Top with about 1 tablespoon of meat filling.
11. Fold in half and crimp edges together using a fork. 
12. Prick the tops with your fork to let the steam out when they bake.
13. Place on baking sheets and bake at 375 degrees C for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. 
14. Serve to the kids with ketchup for dipping or to the adults with red pepper jelly.
15. Keep the Chili Meat pockets in the fridge or freezer until serving.
16. They heat up best in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or turn the oven off and let them warm if frozen.

Nanaimo Bars

For those of us that have grown up with the Nanaimo Bar, it hardly seems possible that the rest of the world has had to go without this treat at Christmas time. I'm sure that Joyce had no clue that her famous bar would become such a favorite when she entered a contest in her hometown of Nanaimo. For the whole story you can click right here to read it. 

I do recall learning to make these before I was a bride. I even made them for the day that I had my bridesmaids over to wrap the Wedding cake in foil and netting for our wedding favours. Sadly, that day I made a few errors that I am going to make sure you never make. Pay attention to the little details and you too can serve the perfect little layer bar with your Christmas goodies.

First of all, you will want to use a 9X13 pan instead of the 8X8 pan. I like it nice and thin. You may like yours thicker, go for it. The other thing you will want to do is to line your pan with parchment paper or foil. If you don't do this you will not be able to lift it out to cut once it has been chilled

The other thing you will need to do is to ensure fresh ingredients. Make absolutely sure your graham wafer crumbs are fresh. Taste them. Don't trust that because your package is sealed, they will be fine. Also, make sure that your nuts whether you choose to use walnuts or almonds or pecans are also fresh. Taste them. The coconut I use is fine unsweetened. While you can use flaked or shredded, it cuts nicer if the bits are tiny.

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom layer 

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter 
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons of cocoa
• 1 farm fresh egg slightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cup of graham wafers
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup of fine unsweetened coconut

1.  Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl and melt it until it is nearly but not entirely melted.
2. If the butter is too hot it will instantly cook your egg in the next step.
3. Add the cocoa and sugar and stir until it is combined.
4.  Add the slightly beaten egg and stir until well combined.
5. Put back in the microwave for about a half minute.
6. Your mixture should be a bit like a custard.
7. You may need to put it in for another half minute, stir and repeat until it has slightly thickened.
8. The egg should have now slightly cooked and thickened the mixture.
9.  Add the nuts and coconut and stir until well combined.
10.  Add the graham wafers last. Don't add all the crumbs at once. I have found that some makes of graham crumbs are more powdery and thereby can dry the mixture faster. I think you'll be okay with this amount of butter, but as I learned years ago, if the mixture is too dry, it will crumble and not cut nicely later on when it is chilled. Spread the first layer into your prepared pan and chill for an hour. Do not skip the chilling step.

Second layer 

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons Birds Eye Custard Powder. (non-sweet custard powder meant to be cooked)
• 3 tablespoons of heavy cream
• 2 cups of icing sugar or (powdered sugar)

1.  Cream the butter and add the custard powder and combine well. 
2.  Add the Icing sugar next and stir slowly to combine.
3. Add the cream a drizzle at a time to make a nice smooth icing.
4. Beat it well until it is light.
5. Take your chilled crumb base out of the fridge and spread your icing evenly on top.
6. With your offset spatula, spread it out nice and smooth or as smooth as you can.
7. Put it back in the fridge for an hour. 

Third Layer

• 6 squares of semi-sweet chocolate
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1. Put this in the microwave for half a minute or combine and heat over in a double boiler.
2. Stir the chocolate at a half minute intervals until it is perfectly smooth.
3. Take your chilled bar out of the fridge and put your chocolate on again using your offset spatula. Put it in the fridge to chill for 15  - 20 minutes.  
4. The bar needs to chill until the chocolate has set but not so so chilled until the chocolate is hard. If this happens you will crack your bar when you slice it.

I keep it well wrapped in the refrigerator. 

The instructions might seem daunting but it really is easy and very quick with no baking involved.

Snow Drops..gifts from the kitchen

A very easy gift to make and a 'crowd pleaser' too. So easy to make that it can be done as a last minute gift! Years ago I got this recipe from a friend who called it Crispix Snacks but on the Crispix cereal box it's called Snow Drops and that just sounded better to me. I changed up the recipe a tiny bit.

• 1 box - 350 g Crispix cereal
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 3/4 cups icing sugar

1. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in a saucepan on the stove or in a bowl in the microwave. Stir until melted and smooth.
2. Pour  Crispix cereal in a large bowl and pour the chocolate and peanut butter mixture over the cereal stirring gently until all the cereal is coated.
3. Pour icing sugar in a large paper bag and add the coated cereal. Keep the top of the bag closed and shake up the cereal until it is well coated.
4. Pour on to a large baking pan and place in a cool place to harden. Once cool it is ready to package or to have as snacks. 
5. It is a 'bit' addictive so beware if the bowl empties fast! Still...it is cereal and peanut butter and chocolate so it should be good for you! ~smile~