Baking Mad

 

Yes, this post is about Christmas. I know, I know, it's only October. But I am a huge believer in organisation and planning so they'll be a few christmas posts popping up on the blog in the next few months. Besides, it's my favourite holiday!

This post shows you some Christmas baking recipes. Last year I did a lot of baking for friends and family as little token gifts. For my Grandparents, I find Christmas gift hampers are hugely popular and last year me and my siblings clubbed together to buy one. But if you're looking to save money and add a personal touch, I think it's a good idea to make your own! My sister created some hampers for her boyfriends parents and they looked great. She bought boxes and filled them with goodies that were personal to the recipients and then bought some cellophane cheap from amazon and wrapped it all up with ribbon!

If I was making a personalised hamper, I'd fill it with handmade goodies like sewn gifts, paper crafts and of course, some yummy baked goods. I think biscuits would be popular, gingerbread recipes and a Christmas pudding recipe would be a good choice too. Below are some examples I've made to give you some ideas! They were so easy to make and they are simple and popular recipes that I've simply added a christmas touch to. The Rice Crispie Wreaths can easily be done with children (and make you feel nostalgic) and the Angel Cakes are probably more suitable to be made by older children and adults. They can both be made within an hour so they can be easily made the night before you gift your hamper so they don't go stale!

Chocolate Rice Crispy Wreaths

This was a very nostalgic recipe for me, it reminds me of primary school but this is with a bit of grown up twist. I followed the simple recipe, and you can decorate these however you like. I really think this would be a great one to do with children, but be warned it gets very messy! It takes a bit of time to shape them into the wreaths and you need patience while they set in the fridge but they taste delicious! You can decorate them with edible decorations like they have here, but I found the most effective was spooning over some white chocolate. I think they look pretty good :)

Butterfly (Angel) Cakes

These are definitely my favourite. I took the classic butterfly cake recipe and my Mum had the great idea of turning them into angels. I followed the recipe and simply used extra decorations to decorate. The only change I made was to add jam when cutting the tops off the cakes because that's how we make them in my family! White and milk chocolate buttons were used for the faces with some melted down for the details, and then I simply popped some edible silver balls on for the body. I think these look so effective and I can't wait to make some more closer to christmas and give these as gifts!