When you hear the word ‘Christmas’ it’s most likely that the first thing you imagine is a table full of ravishing desserts and savories. You can probably even smell the swirls of sweet, warm and delicious goodies. Christmas is incomplete without some mouth-watering homemade food. From rich cakes to roasted meats and vegetables, everything feels like a warm hug on Christmas day.
To add to this blessed occasion, here are some of the best recipes you can use to make the perfect Christmas feast for your loved ones!
Plum Cake
Ingredients:
All-purpose flour (Maida) - 125 gms
Butter - 80gms
Sugar - 125 gms
3 Eggs
Oil - 40 ml
1/4 tsp Baking soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp spice mix
1 cup dry fruits and nuts
Rum as needed to soak fruits
How To Make It:
Soak all your dry fruits well beforehand, the best method is to leave them soaking for a month. Plum cakes are moist and sweet, this flavor comes from the caramel syrup added to it. Caramel is simple to make, with sugar and water. Heat the two on a low medium flame till it's dark and thick. Next, beat your butter and sugar until it is fluffy, then add caramel to the mix. Sift all the dry ingredients and mix them in along with the soaked fruits and nuts. Fold everything into the batter. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until it's done. And voila, it’s done!
Rum Balls
These small boozy treats are perfect for quick bites and super easy to make. Here’s what you’ll need.
Ingredients:
Leftover cake
Powdered Sugar
Nuts (Pistachios & Pecans)
Vanilla Essence
Honey
Rum
How To Make It:
Knead your leftover cake till it’s smooth enough to roll into balls. Add in all your other ingredients, except the rum, save the best for last! Mix in everything and then add in your rum as per the size of your dough. As you pour in the rum, go in with a slow hand and mix after every pour. While doing this, make sure to taste it and make sure you’ve got the rum proportions right. There you go, your rum balls are ready to serve. Refrigerating them for 15 minutes gives them the best taste!
Roasted Chicken
What good is a Christmas dinner without an appetizing main course? So here’s an easy option for the perfect highlight of the meal. Here’s what you need:
Ingredients
1 whole chicken with skin
200 gms mushrooms
2 tsp butter
1 tbsp oil
150 ml chicken stock
1 glass white wine
3 spring onions, blended into a paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp basil
1 tbsp tomato puree
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp herbs, chopped
1 tbsp cream
How To Make It:
Put your chicken in a roasting tin and cover it with butter. If you feel like adding more butter than suggested, feel free to. Pour over the wine and stock on the chicken. Then, let it roast at 220 degree Celsius for an hour or till the chicken is tender and brown. Meanwhile, heat oil on a pan and saute the spring onion paste, garlic and basil until it’s fragrant. Add in the mushrooms, wine, seasoning and tomato puree, stir it around till the wine evaporates. Lastly, add in lemon juice, herbs, salt, pepper and cream. Once your chicken is ready, pour over the sauteed vegetables and you’re all set
Christmas Cake
Christmas means deserts galore, and here’s a staple that’ll never let you down. A good ol’ Christmas cake to bring in that festive feeling. Here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredients:
200 gm all purpose flour
150 gm dried cranberries
150 gm raisins
150 gm butter
200 gm chopped prunes
150 ml orange juice
1/4 teaspoon clove powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
175 gm brown sugar
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
3 egg
10 cashews
1 lemon
2 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
How To Make It:
Soak your dry fruits in the orange and lemon juice and leave it for an hour or more. Once this is done, boil the soaked dry fruits in a pan, let it cool for 5 minutes. Then, mix your flour with baking soda in one bowl and the sugar and butter in another bowl. Give it a good mix and add the cashews, vanilla essence, cinnamon and clove powder to it. Add the dry fruits mixture along with the juice and flour mixture. Fold it all together till it’s the right consistency. Pour the batter in a greased mould and preheat the oven at 160 degrees celsius, bake it for 50 minutes or till it’s ready. Feel free to top it up with some dusted powdered sugar or dry fruits.
Bebinca
A traditional Goan delicacy to seal the deal! Here’s what you’ll need.
Ingredients
200 gm Refined flour
500 gm Sugar
5 gm Nutmeg powder
200 gm Butter
10 Egg yolks
200 ml Coconut milk
How To Make It:
Mix your coconut milk, flour, sugar, nutmeg and egg yolks to create a batter. Grease your mould with a spoonful of melted butter and pour 75 ml of batter into it. Bake this till it's golden brown, and then repeat the process till you’ve used up the batter. Keep layering your batter in the same tin as the baked batter. Once you’ve used up all your batter and baked it, turn over the bebinca onto a wire rack. Let it cool and it’s ready to feast on!
