Angel Snow Globe Cake with Brandy Butter Frosting

One of my favourite parts about Christmas, is putting up the Christmas tree. While the rest of my family seems to be totally over the novelty, my sister and I still keep up the tradition. Our tree isn't just any old plastic jobby though, since my parents live on a farm, we make a mission into the pine forest to pick the perfect tree - which often involves heated debates on what exactly the 'perfect' tree is, but always involves us bringing home one that is WAY too big (hey, they look a lot smaller in a forest, okay!).    I always end up covered in tree gum, my mom always moans about the pine needles that fall everywhere, finding a pot big enough to put the darn thing in is impossible and of course, by the time you string the fairy lights up, you realise that in the past year they've stopped working. But all of that is completely forgotten when my favourite moment arrives and I get to climb up on a ladder and put the angel right on the tippy top of the tree. 

Recipe and Image Originally Created for Food & Home Entertaining Magazine

 So, if an angel can make a plain old tree special, just imagine what it can do on top of a cake! I decided to appropriately put this angel on top of a spiced angel food cake, which is really light, airy and not very sweet - basically the opposite of traditional fruit cake - but of course, this idea would look equally as gorgeous on whatever cake you decide to serve this year. Just make sure that when you serve it, you dust the snow globe with icing sugar at the table - then just wait for everyone to go 'oooooooh!'

Of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without surprises so I stuffed some pretty gold-wrapped chocolate balls in the middle (come on, I had to find a way of incorporating chocolate somehow!) so that when you slice the cake open, they tumble out and your guests are wow'ed again and go 'aaaaaaaah!'

Angel Snow Globe Cake with Brandy Butter Frosting

Serves 8-10 

ANGEL CAKE

12 egg whites, at room temperature

1 tsp cream of tartar

275g Natura Golden Caster Sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g cake flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp mixed spice

BRANDY BUTTER ICING

170g butter, softened

255g Natura Demerara Icing Sugar, sifted plus extra for dusting

4 tbsp brandy

Gold-wrapped chocolate balls or other sweets, for filling

Angel and glass dome, to decorate

Chiffon cake tin

Preheat the oven to 180C. Do not grease or line the chiffon cake tin - this helps the cake stay light and fluffy (I promise the cake won't stick!)

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in an electric mixer and whisk until soft peaks form. Gradually add half of the sugar and all the vanilla and whisk until glossy and thick. Sift together the flour, spices and remaining sugar twice and then gently fold through. Spoon into the ungreased chiffon cake tin and smooth the top with a palette knife. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake comes away from the sides and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Turn the cake upside down onto a cooling rack and allow to cool for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the tin and set aside.

Make the frosting by whipping the butter, icing sugar and brandy together until light and fluffy.

To assemble the cake, place it on a cake stand then fill the middle with the chocolate balls or sweets. Frost the top with the brandy butter icing then dust liberally with icing sugar. Place an angel decoration in the centre and cover with a glass dome.

TIP: You're wondering about the dome though, aren't you? They are so easy to find! Most decor shops or florists have them (the one's with the hole in the front which you can hang up are perfect for placing over the angel!). But if you have a beautiful glass dome, or an upturned round tumbler it will have the same effect. 

Spiced chocolate cheesecake with Christmas cake crust & Festive Decor ideas

Christmas decorations in our family home have always been the responsibility of my sister and I - as children we would decorate and redecorate the Christmas tree no less than 3 times before the 25 December, which not surprisingly drove our mother nuts! It was a happy coincidence then when my sister, Sarah-Jane and I were asked to team up and put together a very special feature for Food and Home magazine last month; 'A Guide to the Perfect Stress-Free Christmas' which ironically, was a not-so-stress-free experience creating it! But we did have tons of fun and hopefully, if you're feeling a tad stressed out about hosting Christmas lunch or dinner, it may give you an idea or two. 

A showstopper succulent wreath, rosemary napkin rings and hand-painted napkins for guests to take home as momento's.

I thought I'd share some of the great ideas my sister-dearest came up with (especially for an African-inspired Christmas), my favourite being the gorgeous succulent wreath she created as a centrepiece. Oh, and the paper origami! 

The perfect roast potatoes,  French-roast turkey and beautiful origami star string lights

The menu was all about tradition with a twist, my grandmother's French-roast turkey was the highlight - steam-roasted so it's juicy and falls off the bone - and stuffed with sage and dried pear bulgar wheat stuffing. This year, serve your turkey on a bed of fresh bay leaves, rosemary and sage - it looks so ridiculously royal and fancy with so little fuss! 

Three pea salad with mint dressing, Naartjie (citrus) and ginger beer gammon and Lemon-cured trout with herby mayo

My favourite recipe on the menu though, was this gorgeously rich and velvety spiced chocolate cheesecake which I really like not just for the decadence but because it's something a little different but still nods to tradition with the addition of a Christmas cake crust. Great for using up any leftover Christmas cake you have hanging around! 

Spiced chocolate cheesecake with Christmas cake crust

Spiced chocolate cheesecake with Christmas cake crust

Recipe originally created for F&HE Magazine December 2014 issue

Serves 12 

100g ginger biscuits, crushed

100g Christmas cake, crumbled into pieces

50g butter, melted

200g full-fat cream cheese

400g ricotta cheese

75g castor sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

40g cocoa powder

30ml (2 tbsp) brandy (optional)

5ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon

100g good-quality dark chocolate, melted

200g dark chocolate, melted, to decorate (optional)

cocoa powder, to dust

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a 22cm springform cake tin.

In a food processor, blitz the crushed biscuits, Christmas cake and butter until combined then press into the base of the lined tin.

Place the cream cheese, ricotta and sugar into food processor and process until smooth.

Add the eggs, cocoa powder, brandy, if desired, cinnamon and the cooled melted chocolate and mix to combine. Pour the mixture over the biscuit base and bake in the oven until just set, 25 – 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow to cool in the tin. Once completely cool, refrigerate overnight.

To serve, unmould the cheesecake onto a cake stand and allow the cake to come back to room temperature before decorating with melted dark chocolate and dusting with cocoa.

Roast vegetable crumble and origami Christmas trees

Festive milk tart & Hertzoggie mince pies

Working on a daily breakfast show on any given day, my colleague Zola and I churn out close to 5 recipes a day which amounts to about 25 recipes per week, 100 a month. That is a lot. And with that many recipes being developed, we sometimes have to get a little more creative (and sometimes - okay most times- we have some down right crazy ideas). This morning's show was all about 'Christmas with a South African twist' because although we love traditional dishes like mince pies and christmas cake, let's be honest, they're not our traditions but rather very European. Enter our local 'n lekker milk tart and hertzoggies. Zola had the genius idea of crumbling up Christmas cake and blending it into the pastry of milk tart; imagine all that fruity flavour stuffed into the crust with the creamy cinnamony smoothness of the milk filling. Yummo! I could eat a whole tart. But then I'd have no space for the pies. I loooove mince pies but sometimes the flavour of the filling can be overpowering and it just needs that something extra - enter the coconut meringue topping which I borrowed/stole (thank you Afrikaans tannies) from the humble hertzoggie. Our camera crew devoured them all with gusto and they're always our harshest critics. So, why not serve something traditional (because, let's face it, for some of us Christmas isn't Christmas without the fruit cake or mince pies) but with a local twist and let's start our own South African festive food traditions!

Photography by Günther Schubert of www.vorsprungstudio.com

Zola's Festive milk tart

Makes 2 tarts

Pastry:

125g butter, softened
½ cup castor sugar
1 egg
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup Christmas pudding, crumbled
Pinch of salt

Cream butter and sugar together and add the egg, beating well to combine.
Add all the other ingredients – to form a stiff dough.
Divide the dough into two, then press into 2 round sandwich cake tins.
Dock the pastry base then blind bake at 180C for 30 min or until the pastry is golden and crispy.

Filling:
4 ½ cups milk
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 ½ Tbs flour
2 ½ Tbs corn flour
1 tsp vanilla paste
Large Tbs butter
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Place milk, cinnamon stick and cloves into a pot and bring to the boil.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, corn flour and vanilla.
Pour the boiling milk into the egg mixture, while continuously whisking.
Pour the mixture through sieve to remove the spices and return to the pot and cook on medium heat until the mixture thickens.
Add the spoonful of butter and stir through.
Pour into the baked pastry shell and sprinkle with the ground cinnamon.
Allow to cool completely cool at room temperature before storing in the fridge.

Photography by Günther Schubert of www.vorsprungstudio.com

Katelyn's Hertzoggie mince pies

Makes 30

210g cake flour

90g corn flour

100g icing sugar

pinch of salt

zest of 1 lemon

250g soft butter, in blocks

1 cup fruit mince

3 egg whites

1 cup castor sugar

2 cups coconut

Combine dry ingredients in a mixer and gradually add the butter until the shortbread comes together.

Press tablespoon fulls of dough into mini muffin tins. Using your finger, make a hole in the centre of each shortbread and fill with fruit mince.

Whisk the egg whites until soft peak stage then beat in the castor sugar until thick and glossy. Fold in the coconut and spoon small amounts on top of the fruit mince (just enough to cover).

Bake at 150˚C for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool in the tin before removing and dusting with icing sugar.