More Gifts From the Kitchen

Nigella's Peanut Butter Cups

Caramel Crackers

Rocky Road

Vanilla Shortbread

Not a very good photo of the packed goods

I thought I should get these posted as time is marching on very quickly and if I don't do it now, I will totally forget about them. I made this selection of treats for our lovely neighbours. I think it's much nicer and thoughtful to give something you have made instead of buying something they may or may not ever use. We are lucky enough that the few bad elements in our neighbourhood are far outweighed by the good. Therefore at Christmas time I like to acknowledge that and take over some treats to have with a cup of tea or coffee. This year I made these Peanut Butter Cups from Nigella's Christmas book. They are very easy and are basically a mix made up of 220g smooth peanut butter, 200g icing sugar, 50g brown sugar and 50g soft butter. This is all mixed up, pressed into the bottom of small cupcake holders (the only ones I had were colourful ones so they didn't look as tasteful as they could have), and melted chocolate (a mix of milk and dark), poured on top. I also put some gold edible glitter on mine and even though the photos don't show it, they looked very pretty and sparkly. They also tasted delicious especially if you love that American treat the Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. 


The Rocky Road which was based on a recipe I saw on the Trade Me message boards. Rocky Road is one of those things that can be made with whatever you have on hand and with what you think might taste good. This one had marshmallow, fruit jubes and toasted nuts. The shortbread was a yummy one found on the Foodlovers website called Crisp Shortbread. They were fantastic if you like, as I do, a shortbread with a bite to it. You can find the recipe here. The Caramel crackers you can find here and you can put whatever you like on the top. These ones had toasted slivered almonds, dried apricots and pistachios. These are well worth making and are so easy yet taste so amazing.


Anyway after a busy Christmas and New Year it will be nice to return to some normalcy and regular food blogging....now what to make for work tomorrow night...if I wake up in time and with the energy to do so?.....

Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen

Homemade Mini Xmas Mince Pies

Cupcakes waiting for a home

Xmas Bark 

I know this is late in the posting but with the frantic rush and madness of Harry's birthday followed quickly by Christmas I just haven't had the time for posting anything. This year for the Xmas presents I gave to teachers like Harry's school teacher, the two lovely ballet teachers (Helen and Kate), as well as to my lovely friend and florist extraordinaire Leon, decorated cupcakes. I also made this delicious Xmas bark which is just dark melted chocolate left to cool and harden, topped with white melted chocolate and crushed candy cane sprinkled on top. It sounds and is simple to make but it is also really delicious for how easy it is to whip up. I think it also looks really pretty.


The cupcakes are one of my favourite recipes which you can find here. I made a lovely and buttery chocolate frosting and topped them with various decorations I made. I bought some cupcake boxes from one of my favourite online stores Kiwicakes where I have to be careful to regulate myself or else I would go mad and spend a small fortune. I thought they turned out pretty well.


I also posted a photo of my homemade Christmas Mince Pie's which are delicious too. I make the Xmas mince the year before so it can sit in the fridge and improve with age. The pastry is my favourite as it is nice and short and not too sweet. You can find the recipe for these here. 


I will post some more photos of the yummy things I made for Christmas shortly.

Russian Fudge

I have never really been much of a sweet making person. I'm sure though, that once I invest in a candy thermometer which doesn't break when it is put into the hot mixture as my first one did, that I might well change that. From all accounts Russian fudge seems to be one of those things that is quite difficult to make. However it would have to be my most favourite fudge to eat as well as my family's, which was why I made it for Mother's Day when the family were here fore lunch. I often go onto the Foodlovers website to check out the recipes and the forums. In fact I couldn't help but buy the cookbook Helen Jackson has written for a Mother's Day present to myself. Anyway there is a recipe on the site for Marys Russian Fudge which Helen had said was easy to make and tasted good too. Well I had to give it a go. I think I beat my fudge for too long as although it tasted great it broke up when I cut it into squares. If anyone knows why it might have done that I would love to know. Anyway you can find the recipe here.