Christmas Chocolate Stirrers

We came across some chocolate stirrers in a shop whilst out Christmas shopping and Sous Chef J wanted to make some of his own.  Luckily, we already had a silicone ice cube tray with a festive theme so we wondered if we would be able to make use of it.

It was important to source some white chocolate that was actually meant to melt.  Having looked closely at the offerings in the cake decorating aisle at the supermarket, we went for some chocolate chips from Silverspoon.  The packet mentioned melting and gave directions so that was a start, at least!

Having put the choc chips into ceramic bowls, we placed them into a container of hot (not boiling) water and used a spatula to stir them.  Miracle of miracles, they melted.

Next it was onto filling the silicone tray with the melted chocolate.  We did the white chocolate snowmen and snowflakes first.  Then moved onto the dark chocolate for the stockings, trees and bells.

We then added cake pop sticks... this was a delicate task as we needed to make sure the chocolate was firm enough to take the sticks without being too hard to get them in.

Whilst we waited for the chocolate to set fully, we sorted out which sprinkles would be used to decorate our stirrers.  Sugar stars and sugar strands from Morrisons as well as Dr Oetker chocolate stars were what Sous Chef J chose.

 This is what the fully cooled chocolates looked like.






We then warmed them over hot water and placed them in the decorations before being placed in paper petit four cases.  To make individual gifts for Sous Chef J's pals, the chocolate stirrers were put in a cellophane bag which was tied with Christmas themed ribbon.

 

Rudolph Cupcakes

Feeling in festive mood we decided to make an attempt at some cupcake decorating.

To get started we made a batch of Dove's Farm victoria sponge cake (our blog about this is here) This mix was then divided between 12 bun cases and baked at 170ºC for about 15-20 minutes.   Once the cakes had cooled thoroughly, they were topped with some chocolate icing.  

Then, some antlers were prepared by cutting curly wurly bars.


Then the decorating began - we used chocolate vermicelli and other suitable cake decorations to create our Rudolphs.

We made some with our visitors and then they were given a special (recycled) pot to take their creations home with them!

It was a lovely activity that, with a little forward planning, resulted in some pretty handsome looking Rudolph cakes!

Mince Starts

Sous Chef J always likes the look of jam tarts when we're out in the supermarket.  However, we rarely buy them (even when offered in a gluten free range like Waitrose have) but we do try to make 'something' at Christmas time.  This year we thought a sort-of-mince-pie would be a fun undertaking.  Topped with a marzipan star instead of a pastry lid and, thus, the Mince Start was invented!

So, being the convenience cooks that we are, we delved into the depths of the freezer and recovered a long forgotten slab of pre-made, shop bought, gluten free pastry.  This is from G Free and, once defrosted, we were impressed with its pasrty-ness.  Having risked making our own gluten free pastry in the past, which was very crumbly, we tend to steer clear of pastry-requiring recipes.

With defrosted pastry, a jar of mincemeat, some marzipan and a 12 cup bun tray at the ready we set to work.  Sous Chef J used an old butter wrapper to grease the baking tray and I started to roll out the pastry.  Using a little cornflour, it was an easy task to get the pastry rolled to an even thickness (or thin-ness as J calls it).  Then, rounds, slightly larger than the baking tray holes, were cut from the pastry and these were placed into the tray.  Next Sous Chef J dolloped heaped teaspoons of mincemeat into the cases whilst I cut out small stars from thinly rolled marzipan.


One star was placed atop each mincemeat tart before the tray was baked in a 170ºC oven for about 20 minutes.

Having been cooked, the tarts were cooled in their tray for a few minutes before being placed on a cooling rack.

We then added a dusting of icing sugar and the Mince Start was ready to be taste tested...