Easy Christmas Treats
This Christmas Balmuir teamed up with a young catering entrepreneur Erika Poussa from the catering company Bakerika to share three delicious and easy Christmas recipes with you. How about a cheese platter for Christmas Eve snacks, pistachio chocolate fudge as gifts for friends or chocolate chip cookies for Santa?
Pistachio chocolate fudge
Makes: 64 pieces
Ingredients:
350 g of solid dark chocolate (minimum 70%)
397 g of condensed milk
30 g of butter
pinch of salt
150 g of pistachios, no shell
A small baking tray
1. Chop the chocolate and pistachios into small pieces. The pistachios can also be put inside a ziplock bag and crushed with a rolling pin for more chunky, asymmetrical texture.
2. Put the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, butter and salt into a pan and stir to melt on low heat.
3. Add the pistachio pieces into the pan and stir well to mix.
4. Prepare a tray for the fudge by lining it with parchment paper. (This way the fudge is easy to pull out once it has set.
5. Pour the mixture into the baking tray and smooth out the top. We recommend using a spatula.
6. Let the fudge cool and refrigerate until set, for at least two hours. If you have time, we recommend leaving the batch in the fridge overnight.
7. Once the fudge has set, pull the fudge out and unwrap from the parchment paper.
8. Start by cutting the uneven sides so that the fudge looks like a large rectangle.
9. Cut into pieces of your preferance. We recommend approx. 3 x 2.25cm. A tip: With the edge of the knife you can lightly draw the grid you want into the fudge before cutting through fully.
10. Once cut, the fudge pieces can be stored in the freezer.
11. Tip: Wrap the pieces in cellophane and finish off with a beautiful ribbon for a perfect gift idea!
Cheese Platter
For 4–6 people
Ingredients:
3-4 blocks of cheese based on your preferance. Balmuir and Bakerika used blocks of Manchego, Blue Cheese and Brie
A base of different crackers. The more types you have, the fuller the plate looks. Balmuir and Bakerika used:
o Dried archipelago bread
o Two different types of rye crackers
o Ginger bread
A jar of olives and a jar of cherry jam
o Tip: Choose visually pleasing glass jars for more aesthetic effect
Grapes
Roasted almonds and other nuts of your choice
Dark chocolate with a touch of seasalt
Figs cut in half
Rosemary branches
Assemble as you like! Start with the cheeses and the cracker base and start building from there.
Decorate the table with candles >>
Salty and Sweet Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes: 10 large cookies
Ingredients:
100g of sugar
165 g of brown sugar
1 tsp of salt
120 g of coconut oil or any other plant-based alternative
60g oat milk
185g flour
½ tsp of baking soda
125 g of milk or baking chocolate
125 g of white chocolate
A tsp of vanilla extract
Sea salt for the finishing touch
1. Whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt, and coconut oil together in a large bowl.
2. Whisk in oat milk and vanilla, until all sugar has dissolved and the batter is smooth.
3. Sift in the flour and baking soda, then fold the mixture with a spatula, being careful not to overmix.
4. Fold in the chocolate chunks evenly.
5. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 180°C.
7. Scoop the dough into small balls with a special cookie scoop or by using an ice cream scoop. You can also scoop by using two spoons.
8. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and place the dough balls on it. Make sure to leave enough space between the cookies and the edges of the pan so cookies can spread evenly.
9. Press down on the dough balls gently and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top of each ball.
10. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until cookies just begin to brown.
11. Let the cookies cool down completely.
Inspiration for table setting >>
