Christmas Treats for the Yuletide Table

Christmas Treats.
Only 9 days till the big feast

Here are two recipes that you may like to prepare for Christmas Day
Or the day before...or the Day after

First the Meringue Roulade

This recipe came from Tony Astle from Antoines Restaurant in Parnell
Thank you Tony for sharing this
It is so easy and a real crowd pleaser
My guests thought, I was ever so clever!

Ingredients
5 large egg whites at room temperature
340 gms white sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
30 gms cornflour

Wet and line a sponge tin with baking paper
Set oven 180c

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks
Add 340 gms white sugar quite quickly
Beat full speed  for 2 minutes

Add 1 tsp white vinegar and 1 tsp vanilla extract
Straight  away, turn machine down and
Fold in 30 gms corn flour 
Combine well quickly be careful not to lose that air

Pile into prepared tin
Spread roughly
Place in oven bake for 12 minutes only
Remove and cool to room temp 

Sprinkle plenty icing sugar on a sheet of baking paper
Then invert meringue onto paper
Spread with stiffly whipped cream leaving about 2 inch space at far end

Roll as a sponge roll
Serve in thick slices with some beautiful berries

Christmas Bark is not a New Zealand tradition, but it doesn't take long for us to introduce new foods to our feast. This a lovely gift to take to a friend.
So pretty and so so simple to make

I saw this recipe on a Facebook Friends post.
A link from the New York Times
Submitted by a gentleman called Tom Faglon.

Those Pomegranate Seeds are just like glistening jewels
Set in Dark Chocolate with pieces of Crystalised Ginger
Then finished off with a sprinkling of crunchy sea salt flakes

The first time I made it, I ceased the chocolate.
I forgot about adding cold and wet into hot chocolate
So, when I made it yesterday I was more careful and cooled the chocolate
a little and dried the seeds.
Voila, it worked

Nigella has a foolproof way of removing those seeds from the Pomegranate
Cut it in half
Over a large bowl
Bash it with a big wooden spoon
after the third bash they will start to fall out
Just like ruby rain
Keep on bashing
Squeeze the fruit to get the rest of the juice out
Turn them into a sieve and drain the juice

Set that Juice aside, I have a recipe for it at the end of this post
A Christmas Cocktail

Gently dry the seeds, so that when added to the chocolate they won't seize it

So let's start
Line a small baking tray with baking paper
Ingredients
    •    200 grams dark (bittersweet) chocolate pieces (1 cake)
    •    40 grams finely chopped crystallized ginger 
    •   The seeds of a fresh pomegranate  (1 cup)
    •    6 grams flaky sea salt (1 teaspoon)
 
Preparation
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it
Either over a pan of simmering water
being careful not to let the bowl touch the water
Or do as I did, whack it into the microwave
Keep stirring it till it cools slightly

Add the ginger, then

Add half of the pomgranate seeds
Quickly turn out into the prepared tray
Spread quickly to a thin  layer
Throw the rest of the pomegranate seeds over the top

Sprinkle with Sea Salt
Chill for at least an hour

Break up into pieces and devour

Now for the  Christmas Cocktail

Grab a glass
Add several Ice Cubes
Then
2 parts Vodka
1 part Cacao White Liqueur
1 part Pomegranate Juice
Stir

Sip away
Merry Christmas Everybody