Yummy Christmas

Count down : 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 boommm!!! boommm!!! boommm!!! Merry Christmas! Am sure most of you are planning already what to bake and serve on Christmas Eve. Alright! I have listed few yummy recipes for you to consider. Without sweets the table is incomplete, am i right? So here we go:

FRUIT CAKE

Yield: 48 to 60 squares.

200 g. of dried sultanas and 200 g. of walnuts
1-1/4 c. of butter, softened to room temperature
5 c. of lightly (not loosely) packed dark brown sugar
3-3/4 c. + 1 tbsp. of all-purpose flour
5 tsps. of baking powder
2-1/2 tsps. of salt
5 eggs
2-1/2 tsps. of vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 350^oF.

Place the sultanas on a chopping board and sprinkle with one tablespoonful of flour (the flour prevents the sticky sultanas from sticking together, and to the knife, during chopping). Chop coarsely (depends on your preferences). Transfer the chopped sultanas to a bowl and set aside.

Chop the walnuts to roughly the same size as the chopped sultanas. Add to the sultanas in the bowl.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla essence. Add the flour in batches, mixing with a wooden spoon. The batter will be very heavy. Finally, stir in the sultanas and walnuts.

Cover the bottom and sides of a 12-1/2 x 17-1/2 x 1 jelly roll pan with non-stick baking paper. Allowing overhangs on the long sides is useful so that you slide off the baked food for the gods on a cooling rack in one piece.

Pour the batter into the pan scraping the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure you get all of the batter into the pan. Level off with a spatula. Bake in a preheated 350^oF oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Watch the last few minutes closely so that just as soon as it’s sufficiently baked, you can turn off the oven at once and take out the pan.

Then, cool in the pan for 10 minutes to firm it up a bit. Holding one end of the baking paper overhang with one hand and holding the pan at a 45^o angle with the other, pull out the baked food for the gods and slide onto a cooling rack. Cool for another 15 minutes or so. While still a bit warm, cut into 1-1/2 or 2-inch squares. Cool completely. Place on festive colored paper cups or wrap in colored Japanese paper.

Source: http://www.pinoycook.net/food-for-the-gods-a-better-recipe/

GADU GUWA

2 cups self rising flour
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1 cup milk
1 tea. vanilla
2 cups berries (Huckleberry or blueberry)

Cream eggs, butter and sugar. Add flour, milk and vanilla. Sprinkle flour on berries to prevent them from going to the bottom. Add berries. Bake at 350
for 40 minutes.

WILD APPLE CORNBREAD

1 c Wild apples, peeled & grated
2 c Yellow cornmeal
1 T Cold water
2 Eggs, beaten
2 c Buttermilk
1/4 c Granulated sugar
1 ts Baking soda
2 T Margarine, melted
1/2 ts Salt
Honey

Mix together in top of double boiler the cornmeal, sugar, salt, milk and margarine. Set over hot water and cook for 10 minutes. Cool. Add eggs, soda (dissolved in water), and apples. Pour into greased baking dish and bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with wild honey.

HOLIDAY COOKIES

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup carnation milk

Mix thoroughly shortening, sugar and eggs. Stir in milk and vanilla. Mix in salt, flour and soda. Blend in nuts. Chill one hour. Bake on greased sheet 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Contributed by: Night Walker - http://groups.myspace.com/turtleislandbraves