Deck the Halls, Ring the Bells, Come All Ye Faithful and Make the Night Silent because Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year! Before we know it, we will be picking our fresh Christmas tree or dusting off the one in the garage and decorating it to the sounds of Christmas Carols, eating all of our traditional treats and setting up our advent calendar ready for a month of fun in the countdown of celebrating the birth of Jesus.

As part of our advent calendar (which you can find on bushchurchaid.com.au/bca4kids) we include a fun thing to do with your family each day. One of the activities is to spend time cooking together. To help you with an idea for what you could make, I thought I would share with you one of my favourite recipes – Mini Christmas Puddings. These little puddings are great to take along to Christmas parties as you can make them ahead of time and put them in the fridge.

Christmas Cooking
Please make sure you have an adult helping you as this recipe requires the use of heating in the microwave and blending in a food processor. From memory I ate these beautiful treats at a church event then got the recipe from a lovely lady named Hilary. Hilary, if you’re reading this; please forgive me if I have missed a step, but this is the way I have been making your mini puddings for years, so thank you for inspiring me with your delicious cooking.

Ingredients

• One Fruit Cake (I usually buy a cheap one from the supermarket)
• A dash of Orange Juice
• A block of White Chocolate
• A packet of Red Raspberry Lollies
• A packet of Spearmint Leaf Lollies

(You could also use Christmas sprinkles instead of Raspberry and Spearmint Lollies or even a Christmas chocolate).

Method
(Make sure you have parent help for this)

• In a food processor, blend the cake with a dash of orange juice until the mixture just comes together. Have an adult bring out the mixture and place into a bowl.
• Melt the chocolate. You can do this in the microwave, my trick is to reduce the power to about half and heat for two minutes then give it a stir, this should ensure the chocolate doesn’t seize.
• Shape the fruit cake mixture into small balls using about a tablespoon at a time, then place on a tray covered in baking paper.
• Once you have formed all the balls, use a spoon to drizzle them in white chocolate.
• Once coated, place a Raspberry and Spearmint Lolly on top of each ball until they look like mini puddings. Allow the puddings to set in the fridge.