Main ingredients
- Fruit
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
- 4 – 6 branches with leaves of your choice, to create wreath with
- 100g fresh cherries
- 100g almonds
For the fruit cake:
- 225g self-raising flour
- 110g butter
- 110g caster sugar
- 150g mixed dried fruit
- 50g almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
- 1 egg
- 90ml milk
- 15ml mixed spice
- Icing sugar for dusting
For the cinnamon popcorn:
- 100ml canola oil
- 100g popcorn pips
- 50g caster sugar
- 20ml ground cinnamon
For the shimmery chocolate balls:
- 200g chocolate balls
- Gold dust
For the chocolate pretzels:
- 80g milk chocolate
- 200g pretzel rings
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Method
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1To make the fruit cake, sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the flour, to resemble breadcrumbs. Add the castor sugar, mixed fruit and toasted almonds.
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2In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir well. Pour the batter into a small, greased loaf tin and place in a preheated oven of 160ºC for 40 ? 50 minutes, or until cooked through.
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3Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Dust liberally with icing sugar and slice.
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4Make the cinnamon popcorn, by heating the canola oil and popcorn pips in a large, heavy-based pot. Cover securely with a lid. As soon as they start to pop, shake the pot from side to side every 30 seconds, until the popping has ceased.
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5Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and season the hot popcorn.
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6Add the chocolate balls and gold dust in a bowl and swirl around to cover the chocolate in gold. Set aside.
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7Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave by choosing the defrost function, checking every 30 seconds for 3 minutes. Add the pretzels to the bowl of melted chocolate and cover. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes, to allow the chocolate to set.
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8Create the wreath by placing the branches on the platter in a circular shape, so that it resembles a wreath.
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9Arrange all the ingredients around the branches, including slices of the Christmas cake, piled in the centre of the platter.