Guest Posted November 22, 2007 Posted November 22, 2007 Hi Just a quickie - I'm helping to deliver training for childminders tonight - Christmas ideas - and I'm putting together a recipe book. Does anyone out there have some brilliant recipes I can add please? I'll post the finished version so you can download it. Thanks! Janine
Guest Posted November 22, 2007 Posted November 22, 2007 We are going to do individual Christmas Cakes again as they are very popular and also manageable. Start saving tuna fish tins now though! Use a safety tin opener that seems to unglue lids rather than cut them and leave a sharp edge. Decorating the top with ready roll icing and small cutters is really easy and makes each cake different and special. Older ones can also cut simple patterns into a cake band, eg snip a little frill around the edge of some shiny paper or tin foil. Lakeland sell little cellophane christmas bags for a reasonable price to make them look fab when you send them home. Christmas_cake_recipe.doc
AnonyMouse_2157 Posted November 22, 2007 Posted November 22, 2007 we do the mini christmas cakes at our inspire workshops which are next week. LJW I love your idea of the band Instead of bags or as well as we get the children to cut christmas paper to size and wrap a small piece of thick cardboard to act as a base. We also print off lots of little images of Christmas things from microsoft clipart, laminate them and then the children can attach these to cocktail sitcks to add to the top of the cake. I searched on the internet for plastic things like Holly and small bells etc but too expensive so came up with the clip art idea. Seemed to work a treat last year.
AnonyMouse_4177 Posted November 22, 2007 Posted November 22, 2007 We make mincemeat and then use it to make a mince pie to leave out for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve. To make mincemeat you need 250g each of raisins and sultanas, two or three peeled chopped apples, 100g chopped glace cherries, 2 teaspoons mixed spice, and juice of 4 oranges. Combine and put in fridge in a covered bowl until needed (we've left it for up to a week before using). To make mince pies, either make or use ready made short crust pastry, or (my particular favourite) roll slices of white bread very thinly and use as an alternative. Brush with a little milk and bake. We then put the finished mince pie into Chrismas cellophane bags from Lakeland and the children write a label 'to Father Christmas love from Millie'. Posy
AnonyMouse_832 Posted November 22, 2007 Posted November 22, 2007 we do the mini christmas cakes at our inspire workshops which are next week. LJW I love your idea of the band Instead of bags or as well as we get the children to cut christmas paper to size and wrap a small piece of thick cardboard to act as a base. We also print off lots of little images of Christmas things from microsoft clipart, laminate them and then the children can attach these to cocktail sitcks to add to the top of the cake. I searched on the internet for plastic things like Holly and small bells etc but too expensive so came up with the clip art idea. Seemed to work a treat last year. Hi Apple, I am intrigued at how you go about cooking them? Do you do this while the parents are there? How long do they take? Do you use tuna tins? We'd need 50 if we wanted to do it! Sue
Guest Posted November 22, 2007 Posted November 22, 2007 We've made mini xmascakes using the small baked bean type tins. As a veggie I wouldn't want to use tuna tins!
Guest Posted November 22, 2007 Posted November 22, 2007 What a good idea!! I'll have to start collecting tins now. I have a parent helper who would love to 'get her teeth into this'
Guest Posted November 24, 2007 Posted November 24, 2007 I should have said all the tuna fish tins do go through my dishwasher so they have no fishy traces!!
Guest Posted December 5, 2007 Posted December 5, 2007 We made them this morning, lovely smell all around the nursery They only took an hour in the oven
Guest Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 There was question a bit further up the page about how we cook them all..... These are done in batches with the tins going back through the dishwasher in between! I usually take the cakes home to cook them as I can keep an eye on them better there and hopefully not cremate them. I wonder if you might like me to attach the recipe for a no cook white christmas cake I found in Practical Preschool? (Incidentally, I've not renewed my subscription again - found it a bit boring really, not that helpful. What do you think? I would rather spend my money on the sub for this site )
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Posted December 9, 2007 Here's the recipe for White Choc Christmas Cakes plus the labels. They are considerably less hastle than the cooked kind. Enjoy! White_Christmas_Cake.doc White_Christmas_Cake_labels.doc
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Posted December 9, 2007 I have just finished all of mine, all wrapped in cellaphane and big red bows on, they look lovely. Incidentally ours are egg-free because of a child with a severe allergy.
Guest Posted November 20, 2008 Posted November 20, 2008 I'm really hoping to be able to make mince pies with the children in my reception class and love the simple recipe - just wondering how much mincemeat does the recipe make in terms of the number of mince pies - I have 25 children in my class. Also does anyone know of a good gluten free pastry recipe as I have a child with Coeliac disease in my class so we tend to use gluten free flour in all baking recipes. Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you. Becky
Recommended Posts