C2C - Festive Snacks

Hi everybody!
It is now Day 12 of the Countdown2Christmas blog series and we are halfway through. I cannot believe time has gone by so fast.
But today I thought it would be fun to talk about Christmas sweeties.

Come this time of the year, I have to admit that I do have quite a lot of sweeties so I am going to share some of my favourite festive snacks with all of you.

Terry's Milk Chocolate Orange

Maltesers

Cadbury Milk Mousse Snowman

Lindt Lindor

Mince Pies

These are a few recipes that might help you if you are looking to make any little snacks this holiday season. These can also be packed beautifully to give as presents to friends and family or when attending parties. These are also really good party food.

Homemade Honeycomb

Ingredients:-

• 200g granulated sugar
• 350g golden syrup
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda

Method;-

1. Butter a 22x33cm tin
2. Combine sugar, syrup and vinegar in a large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
3. Continue to cook until the mixture reaches hard crack stage on a sugar thermometer, 143 degrees C.
4. Remove it from the heat and stir in bicarbonate of soda quickly ( the mixture will become frothy). Immediately pour into the buttered tin.
5. All the honeycomb to cool then break into pieces

Chocolate Orange Truffles

Ingredients:-

• 50 unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons double cream
• 200g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
• 1 teaspoon orange zest

Method:-

1. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine butter and cream. Bring to the boil and remove from heat. Stir in 100g chopped chocolate, Grand Marnier and orange zest. Continue stirring until smooth.
2. Pour truffle mixture into a shallow baking dish. Chill until firm for about 2 hours.
3. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Shape chilled truffle mixture by rounded teaspoons into small balls. ( a melon baller would work perfectly )
4. Placed on prepared baking tray and chill until firm for about 30 minutes.
5. In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt the remainin 100g of chocolate with oil, stirring until smooth. Cool to lukewarm.
6. Drop truffles, one at a time into melted chocolate mixture. Using 2 forks, life truffles out of the chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip back into the pan before transferring back on to baking tray. Chill until set.

Spicy Cheese Straws

Ingredients:-

• 250g plain flour
• 275 grated mature Cheddar cheese
• 165g butter
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 125ml water

Method:-

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Grease or line a baking tray with parchment.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper, salt, grated cheese and butter in a bowl and mix until well combined. Add water a little bit at a time to make a very stiff dough.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll pieces of dough into just slightly thicker than pencil shaped sticks. Cut sticks in to 8 to 12cm lengths. Arrange the pieced on the baking tray.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes or until browned.

Candied Walnuts

Ingredients:-

• 500g walnut halves
• 400g castor sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:-

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Spread nutes in a single layer over a baking tray. Roast for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until the nuts start to turn brown and the smell of roasting nuts fills the kitchen.
2. Stir together sugar, cinnamon, salt and milk in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for 8 minutes or until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage of 113 degrees C. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla immediately.
3. Add walnuts to sugar syrup and stir to coat well. Spoon nuts onto greaseproof paper and immediately separate nuts with a fork. Cool and store in airtight containers.

Parmesan Shortbreads

Ingredients:-

• 150g plain flour
• 75g parmesan, grated
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg yolk

Method:-

1. Mix all the ingredients together using a spoon/electric mixer until a golden dough begins to form a clump.
2. Trun it out onto a surface and knead for about 30 seconds until smooth then divide into two.
3. Take the first half and using your hands, roll it into a cylinder about 3cm diameter. Make sure the ends are flat too. now wrap it up in cling film, twisting them at the ends and put in the fridge. Do the same with the remain gin half of the dough.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C while the dough rests in the fridge for about 45 minutes then cut them into thick slices about 1cm thick.
5. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and put in the oven for 15-20 minutes, when they should be just beginning to turn a pale gold at the edges.
6. Remove from the oven, leave to cool before eating.

Chocolate Covered Toffee

Ingredients:-

• 450g butter
• 400g granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 200g milk chocolate, melted
• 120g chopped almonds

Method:-

1. In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the butter has melted, Allow to com to the boil and cook until the mixture becomes a dark amber colour to the temperature has reached 140 degrees C. Stir occasionally. Handle very carefully.
2. While the toffee is cooking, cover a Swiss roll tray with foil or greaseproof paper.
3. As soon as the toffee is cooked, handle very carefully, pour into the baking tray.
4. Melt the chocolate and spread a thin layer over the toffee. Sprinkle the nuts over the chocolate and press in slightly.
5. Place the toffee in the fridge until it sets. Break into pieces and store in a airtight container.

Christmas Pudding Cake Pops

Ingredients:-

• 200g Madeira cake
• 140g-160g white chocolate
• 1 orange, zest finely grated
• 300g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
• 50g white chocolate, broken into chunks
• Sugar holly decorations or red and green writing icing

Method:-

1. Pulse the Madeira cake in a food processor until you have fine crumbs. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over just simmering water or in the microwave.
2. Stir the orange zest into the chocolate, then work the chocolate into the crumbs using your hands.
3. Form into 10 small truffle-sized balls then roll gently in your palms to smooth the surface. Arrange the balls on a baking parchment-lined dinner plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the mixture to set.
4. Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave or over a bowl of just simmering water. Dip a lolly stick into the melted chocolate about 1.5cm in and poke halfway into a cake ball. 
5. Repeat with the remaining balls. Put them back on the plate. Return to the fridge for 5 minutes.
6. Dip the cake pops one at a time into the melted chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip off and spin the pops to even out the surface. Poke the pops into a piece of polystyrene or cake pop holder. Allow to set for about 30 minutes.
7. Heat the white chocolate in a microwave or over a pan of simmering water. Allow to cool for a few minutes until it has a thick, runny consistency. if the chocolate is too hot, it will melt the dark chocolate underneath. 
8. Spoon a small amount on the top of the cake pops, tip them back and forth so it runs down the sides a little. 
9. If you have holly decorations, pop one on the top of each pop. If using writing icing, wait for another 20 minutes or so until the white chocolate has set. Pipe on holly leaves with the green icing and two little dots for berries using the red.

I hope this blogpost has helped you in anyway possible. I think I might go and have a cheeky little festive snack now. 

Please do comment below sharing your favourite Christmas treats or you can always reach me at any other or my social media sites.

Merry Christmas, xx

Twitter: @jessieashleyyy

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Email: jessicashleyyy@gmail.com