Giving the gift of food; part two!

So, with a week left until Christmas it seemed only right to actually start baking some presents! Although, unfortunately I've still got a way to go! 

First up; Shortbread biscuits. It was a bit of a cop out really, but when you're posting them to friends and family, it makes a lot more sense. I've just used the same recipe as the Halloween ones, so head over there and you'll be sorted. But of course, use Christmas cutters, not Halloween ones! 

Secondly (and a lot more fiddly), miniature Christmas Puds! 
I'll come clean and admit that I've pinched the idea from a certain Mrs Lawson, but when I saw them I thought, "ugh, amazeballs!". So they were added to the list of baked presents. 
It's actually quite a simple recipe, but it requires a little bit of patience. 

What you'll need:
-350g of Christmas Pud (last years left over, or one from the shop)
-125g dark chocolate
-60ml of sherry
-2 large tbsp of golden syrup
-100g of white chocolate
-green + red icing/glacier cherries 


And....GO!
-First up, the pudding. If you've brought one you'll need to cook it and then let it cool completely. If not, crumble it up into a bowl. 
-Melt the dark chocolate ban-marie style.
-In the bowl: mix the pudding, syrup, sherry and chocolate together. Mix until it's all gloopy and folded into each other. 
-Now comes the fiddly part. Scoop up little handfuls of the mixture, and roll into neat balls. Neat being the operative word, as you'll see, mine aren't. But then, at least you can tell they're handmade! ha!
-Once they're all rolled, pop them on a plate, cover in cling film and whack in the fridge for about 15mins to harden up. 
-Whilst they're toughening up, you can melt the white chocolate and then let that sit for about 10mins. Makes it a little easier to play with. 
-Get your puds out, put a dollop of white chocolate on each and then decorate with either the icing or cherries. Nigella seemed to make it harder for herself but cutting out tiny holly and ivies; I went for the easier route and used the little tubes of piping icing. Personally, I think they look pretty darn cute!

I'm not giving these away until the end of the week, so to make sure they're truly set, I'm leaving them in the fridge. Nigella doesn't say how long to leave them in the fridge, but I'm guessing, if you're planning on the distributing them sooner than myself; leave them at least a day. You don't want to risk them falling apart!


Now, go share your baking wonders!