Christmas is just around the corner and what better way to celebrate the season than cooking up some real treats for yourself, your family and guests? We thought you might want to get started with the holiday preparations early, so here’s a list of 4 amazing recipes and one special something at the end of the article.
You can thank us later!
#1 Chocolate Cake (using a pressure cooker)
Ingredients:
• Flour – 1 cup
• Cocoa powder – ¼ cup
• Butter – ¼ cup
• Eggs – 2 nos
• Vanilla essence – ½ tsp
• Salt – 1/8 tsp
• Baking powder – ¼ tsp
• Caster sugar – ¾ cup
• Baking tin (round, greased) – 6 inches
Preparation time: 5 minutes (approximately)
Cooking time: 1 hour (approximately)
Recipe:
1. Mix the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder in a bowl.
2. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the eggs) and use a whisk to mix them together.
3. Now, add the eggs and beat the batter until you have a smooth mixture.
4. Pour this mixture into the baking tin.
5. Take the cooker (covered with a lid but without pressure) and heat it on a high flame for approximately 5 minutes.
6. Place the baking tin in the cooker (no water required).
7. Cover the cooker (without pressure) and cook the mixture for about half an hour on a low flame.
Your mouth-watering, spongy chocolate is ready to be served and savored!
#2 Mince Pie
Ingredients:
• Flour – 350 grams
• Butter – 225 grams
• Caster sugar – 100 grams
• Mincemeat – 300 grams
• Egg or milk
• Salt – A pinch
• Icing Sugar
Preparation time: 15 minutes (approximately)
Cooking time: 40 minutes (approximately)
Recipe:
1. Mix the flour, butter and caster sugar together with a pinch of salt.
2. Knead the mixture to form a firm dough.
3. Preheat your oven to 180C and line the holes of patty tins by pressing small balls of the pastry.
4. Spoon the mincemeat into the pies.
5. Take smaller balls of the dough and pat them between your palms so you can make the lids for the pies.
6. Make sure you press the edges of the lids together with the pies to seal them.
7. Brush the top of the pies with a beaten egg or milk.
8. Bake the pies for 20 minutes and then leave them to cool down in the tin for about 5 minutes.
9. Remove the pies on a wire rack and dust them with icing sugar.
Your irresistible mince pie is now ready to be served!
#3 Mashed Potato Croquettes with Parmesan Cheese
Preparation and cooking time: 1.5 hours
Ingredients:
• Starchy potatoes – 300 grams, peeled and cubed
• Flour – 2 tbsp
• Chives – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
• Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
• Breadcrumbs – 50 grams
• Egg yolk – 1
• Parmesan cheese – 50 grams, grated
• Nutmeg
• Salt and pepper
Recipe:
1. Boil the potato cubes in salt water for 15 minutes.
2. Drain the cubes and mash them according to your preference.
3. Leave the mashed potatoes to cool for an hour.
4. Mix the mashed potatoes with the egg yolk, cheese, flour, and chives.
5. Season this mixture with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
6. Preheat your air fryer to 200C.
7. Mix the breadcrumbs and vegetable oil.
8. Shape the potato mixture into croquettes by hand and roll them into the breadcrumbs and oil mixture.
9. Air-fry the croquettes for 5 minutes.
Serve the croquettes with ketchup, chilli sauce or green chutney.
#4 Italian Pizza/Dough
Ingredients:
All-purpose flour – 1 kilogram
Yeast (fresh) – 25 grams
Extra virgin olive oil – 6 tbsp
Warm water – 600 milliliters
Salt – 1.5 tsp
Sugar – 2 tsp
Topping ingredients – As per your choice
Recipe:
1. Sprinkle the yeast in a bowl of warm water and stir until it dissolves.
2. Place the flour on the table like a mountain.
3. Pour the yeast-and-water mixture on top of the flour mountain.
4. Knead the mixture for 15 minutes until you get a smooth and elastic dough.
5. Grease a bowl with the olive oil and place the dough in it.
6. Cover the bowl and let it rest for five hours.
7. Preheat your oven to 200C.
8. Take the dough out of the bowl and punch it down into the remaining flour on your table. Make sure there are no bubbles.
9. Divide the dough into two halves and roll each one into a disc that would form the pizza base.
10. Put the dough on a pizza pan (oiled) and brush the edges of the base with some more olive oil.
11. Bake the pizza base for about 10 minutes.
12. Add cheese and other ingredients for the topping.
Make sure your pizza is baked well (check if the crust has gone a little brown and the cheese has melted). Garnish the pizza with your choice of leaves or spices and have a great Italian dinner!
#5 Holiday Potpourri: Christmas Fragrance
If you want your house to smell like the holiday season is on, this lovely preparation can definitely add to the festivities. If you want a bit of holiday fragrance in your house, this aromatic potpourri is what can set the tone for Christmas. P.S. This is not to be consumed!
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
• Fresh cranberries – 2 cups
• Cinnamon sticks – 3
• Cloves – 1 tsp
• Fresh ginger – 1 inch
• Tangerine leaves – 3, halved
• Vanilla extract and vanilla bean – 1 tbsp
• Fresh pine • Cranberry juice – 1 cup
• Water
Instructions:
• Take all the ingredients and put them in a medium-sized saucepan.
• Fill three-fourths of the pot with water.
• Boil the mixture and then reduce the heat.
• Keep adding more water as it keeps evaporating.
• Let the mixture simmer for 4 hours.
• Leave the pot to cool overnight and then heat it on a low flame the next morning.
• Don’t forget to keep adding more water to the pot throughout the day.
Surprise your guests and make them feel warm and welcome at your place this Christmas with these beauties! And if you need cooking tools or utensils, look no further – Seniority offers a wide assortment of handy cooking equipment and kitchen accessories online.
