Re: Cooking for Christmas

Ophelia I hope you like these -
LADY ALICE BISCUITS ( OR CUSTARD POWDER BISCUITS)
6 ozs  Plain flour, 2 ozs Custard powder, 2 oz icing sugar
3 ozs butter, 3 ozs margarine, pinch salt & little vanilla essence
Cream butter, margarine ,sugar, essence and salt the work
in flour and custard powder. Put in a biscuit forcer , place
on a greased tray ( or baking paper as I do) 180 celcius
for 15 minutes. It is important that you have butter & marg not
just butter or marg.

CHOCOLATE BISCUITS
6 oz self raising flour,4 oz corn flour,6ozs icing sugar, 6oz butter
1 oz cocoa( I use 3 highly heaped desertspoons) 1 egg, vanilla
Cream butter and sugar add egg and cream then stir in the other ingredients.
Out through a biscuit forcer.  Place on baking paper
and bake 180 celcius for about 14 or 15 minutes.  When cold
sandwich with a butter icing.


I usually make a lot of  the Lady Alice in different shapes and then I
sandwich some with  a butter icing- others I decorate with a half of a
glase cherrie, and some I leave as they are.

FRUIT SLICES
Make your favourite everyday biscuit mix - mine has no recipe I just
start with a quantity of margarine about 250 grams and enough sugar to make
them as sweet as you like- cream this and add an egg and then work in enough
self raising flour to make it the consistency of short pastry.  In fact I
use this for all my pies too.
Roll out on baking paper the size of your biscuit tray then spread with
filling and then place another layer of the biscuit mix on top -cut into
finger length pieces and prick with a fork and sprinkle with sugar
Filling
depending on how much pastry you have made you may alter the quantities.
The basic quantities I invented when I thought these up
was about three cups of mixed dried fruit ( sultanas, currents etc)
place in a saucepan over low heat with about a half cup of water
and cook until soft then either put through a blender or use a bar mix and
mince them up.   The add two tablespoons of drinking chocolate
and a heaped tablespoon of butter and again cook slowly ( add a little more
water it the mix looks so thick it might burn) and this will give the fruit
a little caramel/chocolate taste.

All these biscuits both filled and not filled will keep in an airtight tin
 for months

FOR AFTER COFFEE
Cherie   Slices.
½ lb copha ( or 500 gr), 1 cup drinking chocolate, a 200 gr packet
of glace cherries, 1 tin sweetened condensed milk (395 gr), ½ lb coconut
a tiny drop of pink colouring ( you want it pink not red) and packet
of morning coffee biscuits ( any thin arrowroot type biscuit will do)
Line a tray with the biscuits and leave out for a day or so to soften
Melt ¼ lb of the copha, add cherries, coconut, condensed milk and colour and
spread over the biscuits.
Heat the other ¼ lb of copha and mix into the drinking chocolate
spread over the cherrie mix and refrigerate to set.  When set cut
into small squares and keep refrigerated in our climate but for your
Christmas temp I guess this would not be necessary.   They will keep for
months in the fridge.

Caramel slices
1 cup self raising flour,1 cup coconut, ½ cup brown sugar, 1 cup of
rolled oats( oatmeal). 150 gr butter (melted), 1 tin sweetened condensed
milk (395 gr) 2 tablespoons of golden syrup ( I do not know if you have
this - I know you have corn syrup but that is a clear syrup while golden
syrup is just that - golden.  I guess treacle would do
 30 gr of extra butter,150 gr of dark cooking chocolate, 20 gr copha
Combine first 5 ingredients in bowl and mix well and press into the base of
a foil lined 18cm x 28 cm tin ( or a combination that makes up that size).
Bake 180 celcius for 12 minutes.
Combine the milk, syrup and extra butter  in a saucepan , bring to the boil,
lower heat and simmer for 6 minutes stirring all the time
Pour caramel over the biscuit base and cook another 12 minutes then let cool
Combine melted chocolate and copha in a saucepan till all melted then coat
the caramel and put in fridge to set.   Cut into squares when set.

Of course I always make marshmallows and coconut ice as well.

So these are the MUST MAKES for Christmas in our household for desert on
Christmas day i make a pie crust  ( using "recipe" of the fruit slices) and
then I lightly poach a mixture of all the stone fruit we have ripe at
Christmas time - peaches, apricots, cherries etc. with a little sugar and
then arrange them in a pretty pattern in the pie crust.   I then use the
"juice' that they were poached in by thickening it a little with arrowroot
and then pouring it over the arranged fruit as a glaze.   Served with ice
cream or fresh whipped cream ( or both).

God  Bless Gwen
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Gwen Kelly


"Ophelia" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> May we have the recipes please Gwen?
>
> warmly
>
> Ophelia
>
>
> "G.Kelly" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Thank you Melody I always like a few new things - started in on my old
> > favourites on Saturday , Almond crisps and my old favourite custard
powder
> > ones and today a cherry and coconut slice -  since i am not at work I
> always
> > makes up little baskets of goodies for friends and neighbours   God
bless
> > Gwen
> >
> > --
> >
> > Gwen Kelly
> >
> >
> > "Angelicsong" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > For those of you who are starting their Christmas cookie exchanges at
> work
> > > and for those of us doing baking for the holiday, I found this page
with
> > > tons of recipes! :)
> > >
> > > Hugs,
> > > Melody
> > >
> > > http://www.santas.net/recipes.htm
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>