It’s official – ‘tis the season to eat indulgently and wrap up in cosy clothes. It’s also the perfect time of year to keep warm by the oven with a bit of baking. To inspire your culinary endeavours, we’ve put together some exciting festive recipes that will put shop-bought treats to shame and impress your colleagues in the staffroom.
DISCLAIMER: it’s not easy to resist temptation and get these treats from the kitchen to school.
Festive orange and cranberry brownies
Makes 16 bite-sized squares
Whether you like them barely cooked and oozing middle or almost like cake, adjust the cooking time accordingly. Add your own touch by including chunks of chocolate, nuts or other dried berries in the mix.
Ingredients:
200g dark chocolate
150g butter, cubed
3 eggs
150g caster sugar
100g plain flour
Zest of 1 small orange, or as much as you like
75g orange cranberries
1 tsp ground cinnamon
A few drops of vanilla extract
Pinch of salt, optional
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4. Melt the chocolate in a bowl, either in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time or over a saucepan of simmering water – make sure it doesn’t get too hot. Once melted, add the cubes of butter, pinch of salt and orange zest, then stir. If the butter doesn’t completely melt, put it back over the heat for a minute or so. Taste to see if you want to add more zest.
Beat the eggs in a separate bow, add the sugar then fold in the sieved the flour and cinnamon. Add the chocolatey mixture to this and stir until smooth. Then add the cranberries.
Pour into a 20cm squared tin, lined with baking paper (see tip below), and cook for 20-30 minutes in the middle of the oven. A crust should form on top but it’s up to you how cooked or gooey you want your brownies. When you give the tin a shake, if it wobbles like jelly, it’s not cooked enough in the middle. Leave to cool in the baking paper out of the tin.
Once completely cooled, either cut into pieces at home, or transport it in the baking paper and let people take as much as they want.
Top tip: make 4cm long cuts in the corners of your square sheet of baking paper, diagonally towards the middle and use oil to stick the sides to the tin. This helps it fit snugly in the corners.
Christmassy cupcakes
Makes six – easily doubled
Although you can’t enjoy a cheeky mulled wine at work, you can still enjoy the same flavours in the form of a cupcake. Buy some decorated cupcake cases or why not add even more colour by topping them with fresh or dried berries. As with the brownies, you can add whatever dried fruit and nuts you fancy, after the flour has been added.
The only forward planning you need to do for this recipe is to leave both quantities of butter (150g in total) out of the fridge for a few hours so it’s soft, but not melted. Don’t be tempted to use the microwave for this or the cakes won’t be as sumptuously light as they should be.
Ingredients:
100g self raising flour
100g butter
110g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of a small orange
¼ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt, optional
A few drops of red food colouring, optional
For the icing:
100g butter
200g icing sugar
A few drops of lemon juice, to counter the sweetness, or a splash of water
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4. Cream together the butter and the sugar, either by hand or using electric beaters, until pale in colour and looking fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and vanilla essence, and keep beating until fluffy again. Don’t worry if it looks like it has split, just keep mixing.
Next, sieve and fold in the flour, salt and spices. Be careful not to over mix – this will lose the air incorporated into the eggs. Quickly stir through the food colouring and orange zest to taste – add more if you like.
Spoon the mixture into some festive cupcake cases in a tray and bake for 12-15 minutes in the oven until they smell delicious and feel springy in the middle. You can also put a skewer into the middle and it should come out clean.
Meanwhile, make the butter icing by creaming the butter and sieved icing sugar in a bowl. If it’s too runny add more icing sugar, or a drop of water if it’s too thick. It should be thick enough to stay on the cupcake and hold it’s shape. Add lemon juice to taste.
When the cakes are completely cooled, spoon or pipe on the icing, and enjoy.
Mira Manek’s festive date truffles
Makes 10 balls
Here’s a tasty alternative for the slightly more health-conscious among you. It also doubles up as the perfect recipe to have ready for a January detox.
Cookbook author Mira Manek says: “These date and almond butter truffles with cinnamon and turmeric covered in raw chocolate and coconut flakes, are rich in iron and fibre. Dates are a great source of energy and strength, while almond butter is high in protein and calcium. What really makes these truffles unique and perfect for the colder months is the addition of the warming, healing and flu-fighting turmeric, just enough to add goodness, but not so much that the truffles taste bitter. Lastly, the chocolate I’ve used to dip these in with is made with raw coconut cream and sweetened with coconut sugar, full of absolute goodness. You can use any chocolate you like, of course!”
Ingredients:
15 dates
4-5 tbsps almond butter (or any nut butter of your choice)
¼ tsp turmeric (add less if you prefer)
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 tbsps almond milk
1 tsp coconut oil
1 small bar (35g) of Ombar Coco Mylk chocolate
2-3 tbsps fine coconut flakes
Combine together the dates, almond butter, turmeric, cinnamon, almond milk and coconut oil in a high-speed blender until smooth. The almond milk and coconut oil help to create a paste; if still not blending, add a little more almond milk.
Once a thick paste has formed, you can start rolling into balls between your palms. Now melt the chocolate in a bowl above a pan of boiling water. Dip each truffle in the chocolate sauce and leave on a plate. You can either roll these chocolate-covered truffles in coconut flakes immediately or after leaving the truffles in the fridge for just a few minutes. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
For more recipes and information on the release of Mira’s book, Green Daal Stories, go to her website or find her on Twitter: @miramanek.
