Enjoy sharing these tradional Christmas Recipes over the holiday period

Grandma's Christmas recipes help make Christmas a really fun time for all the kids.

Christmas recipes you will be proud to present to your family and guests to make this time a happy and memoreable occasion. These days it is quite acceptable to vary the Christmas recipes to be better suited to our climate, doing away with the traditionally hot meal. However, a homemade touch incorporating some of the traditional dishes can help bring back the warmth to Christmas and lessen the commercialism that is so often associated with Christmas today. Xmas should be fun, not a chore.

Rum Balls

• 8 Weetbix, 1 tin condensed milk, ½ cup chopped raisins, ½ cup coconut, 2 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon rum.
• Mix all ingredients together and shape into small balls. Roll in coconut. Chill before serving

Boiled Christmas Pudding Step - by - Step

• Chop fruit so that all pieces are the same size, about the size of a sultana.
• When fruit is ready, make up recipe as directed,then prepare pudding cloth
• Use a square of unbleached calico approx 75cm. Drop it into a large pan of boiling water; boil for 30 minutes. Remove for water; wring out well (protect hands with gloves. Spread out cloth and cover with plain flour(about half a cup). Bring flour to within 10cm of edge of cloth.
• Put mixture into centre of the cloth; it should be round in shape, moulded into a slight peak at the top
• Gather corners and sides of cloth round pudding mixture as evenly as possible. Pull corners tightly and firmly to give pudding a good round shape. Make sure that all edges of the pudding cloth are pulled up in hands; so that no water can get into the pudding during boiling
• Tie firmly with string about 2.5cm above the top of the pudding; to allow room for expansion during cooking. Twist string around cloth about 10 times to give good, firm seal. Make handle from strings to lift out pudding when cooked.
• Put pudding into large boiler three quarters full of boiling water; there must be enough water for pudding to float. Put lid on immediately; boil rapidly for the time stated in the recipe. Replenish with more boiling water, as necessary, about every 20 minutes. Water must never go off the boil
• When cooked remove from boiling water and hang up to drain. If storing, cool overnight, then remove cloth, wash and dry cloth, then retie the pudding in the cloth. Both pudding and cloth should be dry. Rehang pudding in dry place. In hot weather it may be better to store in it's bag in the refrigerator. On Christmas day, reboil as recipe directs. After pudding is reheated, remove it from the water; let stand about 5 minutes. Cut string with knife; carefully and gently pull cloth away from pudding. It may be necessary to ease pudding from the top with a knife, then gently pull of remainder of cloth

Christmas Pudding

• See Step-By-Step above
• 500gms plain flour, 4 eggs, 1 cup of milk, 500gms of sultanas, 500gm raisins, 250gm of currants, 125gm peel, mixed spice, 250gm butter, 250gm brown sugar, 1 teaspoon bicarb of soda, 1 tablespoon rum.
• Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, and beat well. Dissolve soda in milk and add to creamed ingredients, stir in fruit, flour, pinch of salt, spices and add rum. Dip cloth in boiling water when hot remove and drain off hot water cover one side in plain flour, place flour side up in bowl, pour in pudding mix and pull cloth up around pudding and tie with string. String must be tight enough not to allow boiled water to entry whilst cooking. Pick up pudding in bag and place in pot of boiling water. Boiling water should be at least 3/4 way up side of pudding. Put on lid. Check ever now and then and add more boiling water if needed. Boil for 31/2 to 4hours. On the day you can remove cloth and eat cold or reboil in cloth for ½ to 1 hour.

• 2 ¾ cups (500gm) mixed dried fruit, ¾ (120gm) dried dates, seeded and chopped, ¾ cup (120gm) raisins chopped, 1 cup (250gm) water, ½ cup (110gm) caster sugar, ½ cup (100gm) firmly packed brown sugar, 125gm butter, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 2 eggs, lightly beaten, 1 cup (150gm) plain flour, 1 cup (150gm) self-raising flour, 1 teaspoon mixed spice, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons rum.
• Grease 2.25ltr (9 cup) pudding basin that has the base lined with baking paper. Combine the fruit, water, sugars and butter in a medium saucepan; stir over heat until butter is melted and sugars are dissolved. Bring to boil then immediately simmer, uncovered 8 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in soda; cool.
• Stir in eggs, sifted dry ingredients and rum; spoon mixture into prepared basin; cover with baking paper then foil, secure with lid or string. Place pudding basin in large pan or boiler with enough boiling water to come halfway up side; cover the pan or boiler with tight fitting lid. Boil for 5 hours, adding more boiling water to pan or boiler if necessary. Take from pan or boiler after 5 hours and stand for 15 minutes before turning out the pudding. Store covered in fridge. Can made up to one month ahead. Can freeze.

• Position the oven rack so the top of the tin will be in the centre of the oven.

Prepare the Tin

• For the perfect shaped cake and to protect the cake during the long cooking time the tin must be lined correctly.
• Cut 1 strip of brown paper and 3 strips of baking paper or greaseproof paper long enough to fit around the pan and about 8cm higher than the height of the pan. Place the baking paper strips on top of the brown paper strip; fold about 2cms along the length of the paper strips and make diagonal cuts about 2 cm apart up to the fold. Fit strips around the corners of the tin, with the brown paper pressed against the tin and the cut section resting on the bottom of the tin. So there is 6 cm of paper above the tin. Staple the ends of the paper together at the top. You do not need to grease the tin. Using the base of the tin cut 3 paper shapes to cover the base.
• To Make the Cake:
Use scissors to cut the raisins and the sultanas to the same size. Combine the sultanas, raisins, currants, mixed peel, cherries rind and rum; mix well then cover tightly. This mixture can be stored up to 7 days. Make sure that the eggs and butter are at room temperature. Over beating the butter and sugar can result in the cake being crumbly. So beat the butter only until it just clings to the side of the bowl then add sugar and only beat until just combined.
• Add the fruit mixture to the butter mixture and mix the ingredients together with your hands. Mix in the sifted flour and spice. Drop the mixture in small amounts into the prepared tin, being careful to keep paper lining from slipping. Smooth top of cake. Tap the pan against the bench top to settle the mixture and remove any air holes.


• To check if cooked gently push a thin sharp knife into the centre of the pan and check. If the knife has any moist cake mix on the blade of the knife, return to oven and check again in about 15 minutes. If the knife is just sticky from the fruit in the cake, the cake is cooked and can be removed from the oven.
• To Cool the Cake:
Cut slits in the paper that is above the tin and fold the paper over the cooked cake. Cover the hot cake tightly with alfoil then wrap tin and all tightly in a towel to cool.
• To Store:
When the cake is completely cool (best to leave about 12 hours) remove the cake from the tin, leaving the paper around the cake, wrap in plastic wrap and place in airtight container or freezer bag. Store in cool place or the fridge.

• 3 cups (500g) sultanas, 1 ½ cups (250g) raisins chopped, 2/3rd cup (140g) red glace cherries, quartered, ¾ cup (125g) dried currants, ¾ cup (125g) mixed peel, 2 tablespoons marmalade, ½ cup (125ml) rum, 250g butter, softened, 1 teaspoon grated orange rind, 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind, 1 cup (250g) firmly packed brown sugar, 4 eggs, 2 cups (300g) plain flour, 2 teaspoons mixed spice, 1 cup (160g) blanched almonds, 2 tablespoons extra rum.
• Method:
Line base and sides of deep 19cm square or deep 22cm round cake tin with 3 thicknesses of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above the top of tin. Mix, fruit, marmalade and rum in large bowl. Beat butter, rinds and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until just combined: beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until just combined between additons. Stir butter mixture into fruit mixture; mix in sifted flour and spice. Spread mixture into prepared pan, decorate with blanched almonds. Bake in slow oven 3 ½ hours. Brush extra rum over top, cover hot cake in pan; with foil and allow to cool. Can be made three months ahead. Store covered in fridge.

• 2 1/3 cups (375g) Raisins, 1 ½ cups (250g) pitted prunes, chopped, 2 ½ cups (250g) dates chopped, 1 cup (150g) sultanas, 1 cup (125g) currants, ½ cup (100g)glazed cherries, 1 cup (130g) almonds, ¾ cup (75g) almonds, ¾ cup (75g) walnuts, 1 cup rum (or brandy) 250g butter, cut into small pieces, 1 ½ cups brown sugar, 1 tablespoons vanilla essence, 4 eggs, 200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped, ½ cup apricot jam, ½ cup apricot nectar, 2 cups plain flour, ½ cup self raising flour, 1 tablespoon cinnamon. String for tying.



• Method:
Mix the dried fruits & nuts in a bowl and add rum (or brandy) and leave for 2 hours. Line a 23cm deep cake tin with a double layer of baking paper on sides and bases. Wrap outside of tin with a double thickness of brown paper and tie with string. Preheat oven to 160C. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy, then add in the eggs one by one, beating well after each egg is added. Add to fruit mixture and mix well. Add chocolate, apricot jam and nectar. Mix well. Fold in the flours and cinnamon and tip the mixture into the lined cake tin. Smooth the top and tap tin on the table to settle the cake contents and remove air holes. Bake for 2 ½ to 3 hours, until cooked. Leave cake in the tin, wrap in tea towels and leave overnight.

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