Happy's Cook: Christmas special Recipes

Showing posts with label Christmas special Recipes. Show all posts

Friday, December 22, 2023

Lamington Reindeer Recipe | Christmas Party Snack

This is the season to savor and celebrate! Before we dive into today's recipe, I want to extend my warmest wishes to you. May your Christmas be filled with laughter, your holidays be brimming with joy, and your tables adorned with culinary delights! Advanced Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, dear readers!

Let's move on to today's festive delight – Lamington Reindeer! Now, to be frank, it's not so much a recipe as it is a creative assembly of readily available treats. The Lamington Reindeer is a delightful twist on the classic lamington, infusing a touch of holiday whimsy into these delectable delights. So, get ready for a playful and stress-free way to add a dash of festive charm to your celebrations. Let the assembling fun begin!

If you can't find lamingtons in your area, why not make them yourself? Simply cut sponge cakes into cubes, coat them in melted chocolate, and generously roll them in desiccated coconut.

Caramilk Snowballs Recipe | Caramilk Balls | No Bake Caramilk Balls | Christmas Special

December is here and it is the most wonderful time of the year. To celebrate this holiday season, I am planning to post some yummy treats. To begin with I am sharing a no-bake caramilk balls. We can make these balls with just a few ingredients and it keeps well in the refrigerator for a week. You can easily modify this recipe as per your sweet and flavour preference.

Eggless Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe | Non Alcoholic Eggless Christmas Fruit Cake | Kerala Plum Cake | Christmas Fruit Cake | Christmas Special Recipes

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and waiting for the Christmas. When I posted the Traditional Christmas Fruit Cake last year, many of you mailed me asking for the eggless and non-alcoholic version. As promised, I am sharing the easy peasy eggless fruit cake soaked in orange juice. If you forget to soak the dry fruits, then no worries, this recipe requires only one-day soaking. I followed the recipe from here and it came out super awesome. I packed the cake to Jany's office and his teammates really loved it. I am planning to make my next batch tomorrow if everything goes well. Let's see the preparation steps and do check out my other Christmas special recipes too.

Christmas Special Recipes

Marble Cake Recipe | Chocolate Marble Cake | Chocolate and Vanilla Layer Cake | Christmas Special Recipes

I made this cake for Jany's birthday in November and frosted it with mint butter cream and chocolate ganache.(I will be posting it soon) The cake looked very good and it tasted super good with the frosting. However, without frosting the cake seems to be very dry and less sweet. When I was planning to post it on the blog, I made it again with few changes in the recipe and it turned out very well this time. Let us learn the preparation steps:

Traditional Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe | Kerala Plum Cake | Christmas Fruit Cake | Christmas Special Recipes

The word plum cake is bringing me nostalgic childhood memories about Christmas. I grew up eating plum cakes from 'Greatest Bakery', 'Cake World' and 'British bakes' in Nagercoil for Christmas. When I was very young, I don't like the taste of plum cakes and hence, dad buys Vanilla Tutti Frutti Cake for me. After few years, I realised the taste of the plum cake and from then, I love it to the core. Making this delicious cake at home is a real dream come true moment for me and to my surprise it came out super awesome.

This time I wanted to follow the traditional method and hence I soaked the nuts and fruits in rum. If you are looking for alcohol-free version then you can follow the same recipe by soaking the nuts and fruits in apple juice or orange juice or grape juice. In this case, just soak it for one day in the room temperature. I too will post the non-alcohol version as soon as possible. Do check out my Homemade Grape Wine too. Let us move on to the recipe:

Homemade Grape Wine Recipe | Grape Wine | Christmas Special Recipes

Hello everyone, I am here with an unusual recipe in the blog and it is apt for this Christmas Week. Also, I am extremely sorry for posting this recipe a little late. I know you will not be able to make wine for this Christmas following this recipe. However, please bookmark this recipe and plan to make it for Easter. This process of wine making requires a minimum of 42 days to get a clear and matured wine. I started this preparation by November 1st week and being a first timer, I was very much scared about the outcome. As days past, I got the confidence and now, I am super excited with the result. The preparation is very easy and it is a no-fail recipe if we follow the steps carefully. The homemade wine and a piece of plum cake is a yum combo. The colour of the wine purely depends on the colour of the grapes used. I used light purple grapes and hence the colour of the wine is not very dark. Believe me, there is no compromise in the taste and I am waiting to get the feedback from our friends here.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffin Recipe | Blueberry Muffin | Christmas Special Recipe

I have not planned this muffin for Christmas Special recipes. However, it was in my drafts for a long time now and hence thought of posting it. I made this when blueberries were in season this year. This can be served as a breakfast muffin, it is extremely moist and has a bread like texture. Instead of blueberry, you can replace it with any available berry (chopped strawberries, raspberries or blackberries). The batter for this muffin can be prepared in no time, it doesn't require too my beating. The wet ingredients are mixed in one bowl and the dry ingredients are mixed in another bowl. Now, mix both of them together and you are done with the batter.

My daughter 'Happy' loves making muffins and she will be in the kitchen until it is out of the oven. If I make something for blog sake, I will not involve her since she doesn't allow me to click the step-wise pictures properly. This time she was very much reluctant and was with me throughout the preparation. Somehow I managed to click the pictures, though you can see a glimpse of her.😅 The muffin turned out super moist and delicious. Let us move on to the preparation steps:

Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe | Choco Chip Cookies | Christmas Special Recipes

I love to make traditional snacks for Christmas rather than Cakes and Cookies since mum does it that way. Apart from making snacks like Achu Murukku, Munthiri Kothu, Adhirasam, Mullu Murukku and Sweet Diamond cuts, the only cake we focus for Christmas is Plum cake and we buy it from a famous bakery in Nagercoil. On the day of Christmas, we make many non-veg dishes along with Fruit Custard and Payasam, etc. I am receiving many requests for more cookies and cakes as Christmas special recipes. I tried few baked goodies this year too and I will be posting it in the coming days. Check out my other Cakes and Cookies too.

Eggless Walnut Brownie Recipe | Chocolate Walnut Brownie(Eggless) | Christmas Special Recipes

We are going to celebrate our first Christmas in Sydney. Happy is really excited with the Christmas activities happening. She already met Santa a few times and got her Christmas presents. Though I am very much busy, I have a few recipes in hand to post it here. Two years back when I posted Chocolate Walnut Brownies for Christmas, I received many requests from readers asking for an eggless version. I wanted to try it from that day. However, I couldn't make it. When I was getting ready with Christmas recipes this year, these eggless brownies top the list. I made it a few weeks back and it turned out well. I am here with the simple and delicious brownie which doesn't require too much mixing. Do check out my peanut butter banana fudge brownie recipe as well.

Achu Murukku Recipe | Kerala Acchappam | Rose Cookies | Christmas Special Recipes

As I mentioned in my Munthiri Kothu post, Achu Murukku is also my native special (Kanyakumari Dist) snacks made for Christmas. This sweet crispy murukku is made using a special mould in the shape of a flower with a long handle to hold. I made this murukku last January and it was waiting in my drafts until this Christmas :). I got the recipe from Vanitha Akka who helps us with the household work in my native after mum. She learned many recipes from mum since she was with us for a long time now. I am learning the recipes that I missed from mum through her. Let us move on to the recipe:

Munthiri Kothu Recipe | Roasted Green Gram and Jaggery Balls | Kanyakumari Special Snack | Christmas Special Recipes

Munthiri Kothu is one of the traditional snacks we make in my hometown (Kanyakumari District) for Christmas. In Malayalam 'Munthiri' means grapes and 'Kothu' means a bunch. After deep frying, this snack tends to stick to each other and it resembles a bunch of grapes. Maybe, that is the reason behind the name 'Munthiri Kothu'. Though my mum is a teacher, she finds time to make many traditional snacks for Christmas without missing it. She always makes Munthiri Kothu, Adhirasam, Achu Murukku and Mullu Murukku in the beginning of half early holidays (a few days before Christmas) and stocks it up. Like mum, I wanted to make all the traditional snacks for Happy. I am in the process of learning all the snacks. I got this recipe from my mom-in-law and it turned out super awesome. Do try this for this Christmas and share me the feedback.

Sweet Bonda Recipe | Wheat Flour Unniappam | Fried Whole Wheat Banana Cake | Kerala Bonda | Tea Stall Sweet Bonda | Undampori | Christmas Special Recipes

The tea stall unniyappam brings me so many childhood fond memories of my native. My grandfather, while returning home after his evening walk brings me a pack of unniyappam, parippu vada or omapodi from the nearby tea stall. My grandmother, mom and I relish it with evening coffee. It tastes so yum and still I can feel its taste. When I was planning for Christmas recipes, this snack comes to mind since mum used to make it during our Christmas vacation. I tried this a month ago when our friends visited us and they gave us a thumbs up. I have few more traditional Christmas snacks from my native that I will be posting it soon. Let us see the step-by-step preparation:

Peanut Ghee Cookies Recipe | Peanut Cookies | Christmas Special Recipe

Merry Christmas !! May you and your loved ones be blessed with joy, love, peace and happiness. On this special occasion, I am here with my wonderful peanut cookie recipe. I am very much excited to share you this recipe, it is such a huge hit in my home and it is my maami's recipe. I have heard it from my cousins that she bake excellent cookies.

Recently, I started to explore her recipes and immediately the cookies strike my mind. I got the recipe from her and I tried this last week. It is a no-fail recipe with very minimal ingredients. Do give it a try and share me the feedback. If you don't have an oven then follow the recipe and bake in a pressure cooker. Follow the steps to bake in a pressure cooker in the post-Vanilla Sponge cake using a pressure cooker. Let's see the steps:

Note: Images of the final outcome is updated on 14/12/2018

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipe | Christmas Special Recipes

I haven't planned any special cake recipe this year for Christmas. Luckily, I had this cake in my drafts for a long time now. Finally, it is coming here as Christmas Special recipe. I have tried few cookies which I will be posting it soon. This recipe is a little time-consuming, but the net result satisfies you. Do give it a try and let me know the results. Here we go for the recipe:

Tuticorin Macaroon | Thoothukudi Macaroon | Christmas Special Recipes | My 150th Post

You are reading my 150th post!! It's been a wonderful ride and this blog gives me so much energy in my day-to-day activities. When I started this blog, I often wonder if my interest in the blog would wane after the initial enthusiasm. Here, I am with 100+ posts in this lovely space of mine. I'm still not posting as often I would like, but it's definitely better. I take this opportunity to thank all my friends and family who encourages me with their support.

Today's post is about my childhood favourite Tuticorin Macaroon. This special type of macaroon is available in Tuticorin, a place in southern Tamil Nadu. Macaroons in general are made from ground almonds. Tuticorin macaroons are different since they have cashew nuts as their major ingredient. One kg of Tuticorin Macaroon costs around Rs 600. My chithi is from tuticorin and whenever she visits us, she brings macaroon. The last time she even couriered us this to chennai on request of my mom for Happy. I tried this for Christmas and it came out really well. I packed few for my team mates and I got good feedback from them. With the measurement given below, I got 250 grams of Macaroon.

Happy and Jany enjoys it to the core. When I was editing the pictures, Happy was asking "Maco venum"(Need Macroon) :) So Planning for a next batch in the coming weekend for her.

Vattayappam Recipe | Vattayeppam | Sweetened Steamed Rice Cake

Happy New Year 2015 to all my friends and their families. Hope everyone is having a wonderful time!!! To begin this year, I am presenting the traditional Kerala tea time snack, Vattayappam recipe. Vattayappam is a steamed round cake leavened with yeast, flavoured with cardamom, sweetened with sugar or jaggery and garnished with ghee fried cashews and raisins. Here, we go for the step-by-step preparation.

Chocolate Cupcake | Chocolate Cupcake with Whipped cream frosting | Christmas Special Recipes

Cupcakes may come in many flavours, but the chocolate cupcakes are still everyone's favourite. It's my dream come true to make cupcakes decorated with frosting and sprinkles. Since we don't prefer butter cream frosting, I tried it with whipped cream. The cakes turned out to be super spongy and looks adorable. Though the decorations I made are not professional, we loved it. This is one of the best holiday dessert in this festive season. Let's go for the preparation steps:

Vanilla Tutti Frutti Cake | Tutti Fruit Cupcake | Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake| Christmas Special Recipes

Tutti Frutti brings back beautiful childhood memories. Mom always had tutti frutti in her pantry. Whenever she makes vanilla ice-cream, the simple topping she uses is the tutti frutti. She even uses tutti frutti along with coconut and sugar as stuffing when she makes kozhukattai. I am obsessed with this now and grab a pack whenever I find it in the supermarket. Already I have posted tutti frutti cookies and this time I made a loaf cake along with some cupcakes. The cake is absolutely soft, moist and fluffy. Let's go for the step-by-step preparation of this delicious plain sponge cake.

Final pictures updated on 14/12/2020

Chocolate Walnut Fudge Brownie Recipe | Christmas Special Recipes

Yet another recipe from Gateway's Pastry Chef Joe Francis. I prefer to have milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate. Jany, on the other hand, has always been a dark chocolate addict. So I always wanted to try a brownie for him. When Joe gave the recipe, I was super excited and gave it a try. The chocolate brownie is very rich and can be served as a dessert with a dollop of vanilla icecream. These brownies are very soft, moist, dense, fudgy and chocolaty. The walnuts add extra zing to the brownies. So this is for all the chocoholics out there.

The only challenge with all Brownies is how long they should be baked. This is a fudgy brownie and these brownies are done when the toothpick inserted still has a little batter clinging to it and a few moist clumps. The top of the brownie will have cracks. The brownies are over baked if the toothpick is clean. Always use cooking dark chocolate for this recipe. If you are looking for a cakey brownie, then you should bake my Eggless Walnut Brownie. I have a peanut butter banana fudge brownie recipe as well in the blog.