Sunbeam Christmas Cake

Preparation 30 MINS + Soak Time

Cook 90

Serves 12

Method

Soak fruit overnight in brandy, if you warm the brandy it infuses faster and you can soak for a few hours instead of overnight.

Place soaked fruit, water, butter, maple syrup and sugar in a saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil then remove from heat and add bicarbonate of soda mixed with one tablespoon boiling water. Cool for 15 minutes.

Add lightly beaten eggs, mixing thoroughly. Fold in sifted flours, spices and vanilla essence.

We used a 21cm bundt tin. Bake at 160°C for 75 to 90 minutes. Cool in tin.

Decorate with Caramel glaze and Sunbeam flake almonds.

Ingredients

375g Sunbeam Mixed Fruit

125g Angas Park Diced Dates

1 cup brandy

1 cup water

125g butter

2 tablespoons S&W Maple syrup

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 tablespoon boiling water

2 x eggs

1 cup self raising flour

1 cup plain flour

½ teaspoon mixed spice

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Recipe Collection

Rocky Road

Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm square baking tin.

Mix together raisins, cherries, marshmallows and pistachios.  Pour 1 cup of the mixture into the base of the prepared tin.

Combine chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl, microwave for 30 seconds, stir then microwave in 10 second bursts until melted.  Allow to cool for about 5 mins before adding the remaining fruit and nut mixture.  Toss to coat then pour into the prepared tin, gently flattening the surface.  Refrigerate until firm (about 2 hours).

Remove from tin and slice into 4 long rows.  Wrap in cellophane for Christmas gifting.

Fruit & Nut Clusters

  1. Pre-heat oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced). Combine nuts and seeds with coconut and sultanas.
  2. Heat honey and pour over nut mix, combine well.
  3. Drop spoonfuls onto oven tray and bake for 15 mins until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing from tray.

Cherry Ripe Slice

Line 27 x 18cm slice tray with baking paper, leaving 2cm of paper above edge to make removal of slice easier. Put biscuits in a bag and crush well. Combine biscuits and butter and press into base of prepared tray. Refrigerate for 20min till firm.

Combine coconut and icing sugar mixture in a bowl. Put white chocolate extra butter and cream in a small pan and cook gently over low heat. Stir frequently until chocolate has melted. Stir in food colouring.

Gently stir white chocolate mixture into coconut mixture, add cherries spread firmly on biscuit base, chill for 30min or until firm. Spread dark over the slice, refrigerate until firm, cut into squares to serve.

Bread and Butter Pudding

Pre-heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced).

  1. Combine sultanas and juice in a small bowl and set aside.

  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, sugar and vanilla.

  3. Sprinkle some of the sultanas and chocolate over the base of a rectangular baking dish. Arrange half of croissants in the baking dish, slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with more of the sultanas and chocolate. Top with remaining croissants, sultanas and chocolate.

  4. Pour egg mixture over croissants allowing time for it to be absorbed, approximately 30 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds. 

  5. Bake pudding for 35-40 minutes or until set. Serve warm with cream or ice-cream.

Sunbeam Raisin Toast

Gather the ingredients.

Yeast needs warm water to activate, not hot. Just warm. Sprinkle your packet of yeast over the top of the warm water. You don’t even need to stir it in.

Once you get the yeast on the water, add about a teaspoon of granulated sugar.

After a couple of minutes it will start to look cloudy and have a little bit of foam on top.

Once you see the foam, & bubbling you’re ready to use your yeast in this recipe.

In a large bowl, combine the Sunbeam raisins, warm milk, butter, sugar, and salt; stir to dissolve the sugar. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm.

Stir 1 1/2 cups of the flour into the milk mixture and beat until smooth.

Add the yeast mixture and the beaten eggs to the milk mixture and mix to blend well.

Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft but stiff dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Butter or oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the greased bowl. Turn it over to grease the entire surface of the dough.

Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it stand in a warm, draft-free place until it has doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Punch the dough down and divide it into two equal portions. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Shape the dough into two loaves and place them in two greased 8-by-4-inch loaf pans.

Cover the pans with a kitchen towel and let the loaves rise for about 45 to 60 minutes, or until the dough has almost doubled in bulk. Then preheat oven to 180c.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Place foil over the loaves for the last 10 minutes if they look overly brown.

Remove the loaves from the pans and let them cool on racks.

Toast & enjoy!

Christmas Slice

Preheat oven 150°C (fan-forced).

  1. Line a loaf tin (20cm x 10cm) with baking paper.
  2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until well combined.
  3. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and bake for 40mins. Allow to cool. Dust with icing sugar and slice thinly.

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