FESTIVE FAMILY TREATS

The festive season comes but once a year, so go on - indulge your loved ones with these devilishly delicious treats from Foodies of South Africa.

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MELT-IN-THE MOUTH LAMB SHANKS
Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS
4 large lamb shanks
About 6 large cloves garlic, peeled and each one cut into thick slivers
Butter, softened – enough to rub all over shanks
3 sprigs fresh rosemary or ²/₃ tsp dried rosemary
4 sprigs fresh thyme or
1 tsp dried thyme
Generous amount of salt and ground black pepper
Juice of ²/₃ lemon
Optional:
¹/₄ cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tblsp brown sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Rinse the shanks and dry very well.
2. Make slits in the shanks and insert the slivers of garlic, pushing in well (about four slivers per shank).
3. Mix the butter with the herbs, salt, pepper and lemon juice (if using fresh herbs, pull leaves off stalks).
4. Rub the butter mixture all over the shanks and place in an oven dish with the thickest parts towards the middle of the dish.
5. Cover with the lid, place in the oven and allow to cook for about 20 minutes.
6. Without opening the oven, turn down to 180˚C and cook for about an hour.
7. Remove from oven and baste shanks with juices.
8. Cook for another hour, remove and pour over the balsamic/sugar mixture if using. Baste again and return to oven, uncovered.
9. Continue cooking until done to your liking. Serve with plain yoghurt mixed with salt, black pepper, crushed garlic, chopped mint and lemon juice.

GARLIC ROAST CHICKEN
Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken
Half a lemon
Half an onion, peeled
2 heads garlic, bulbs separated but left unpeeled
¹/₄ cup olive or vegetable oil of your choice
1 sprig fresh thyme or
½  tsp dried thyme
About 10 fresh rosemary leaves or pinch dried rosemary
1 tsp salt and generous amount freshly ground black pepper
4 carrots, washed, peeled and diagonally chopped into 3cm chunks
6 potatoes, washed, peeled and halved

1. Preheat oven to 220˚C. Wash chicken and pat try.
2. Put the half lemon and half onion into the chicken’s cavity.
3. Place the whole, unpeeled cloves of garlic on the bottom of a large, heavy oven dish that has a lid.
4. Place chicken, breast side up, on top of garlic cloves and push them in under the chicken.
5. Mix the olive oil with the herbs, salt and pepper and stir well.
6. Arrange the carrots around the chicken and pour the olive oil mixture over chicken and carrots. Cover with lid and place in oven. After 20 minutes turn heat down to 180˚C and continue cooking.
7. Boil potatoes in salted water until tender outside but still firm inside. Drain well.
8. Remove dish from oven and add potatoes, basting with the juices.
9. Cover with lid, return to oven and cook until done to your liking – around 45 minutes.

CHRISTMAS CAKE
A super simple chocolate Christmas cake made using a pack of muffin mix!

INGREDIENTS
For the cake
4 eggs
3 ¾ cups milk
1¾ cups oil
1 kg (or 2 x 500g packets) Sasko chocolate muffin mix
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
200g Safari pecan nuts
200g Moir’s glacé cherries
500g Safari sun-dried cake mix

For the icing
3 egg whites
500g icing sugar
50g sweetened cocoa powder

1. Preheat the oven to 160˚C.
2. Mix the eggs with the milk and oil in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the chocolate muffin mix with the ground cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Pour in the liquid mixture and combine with a hand-held mixer until smooth.
5. Roughly chop the pecan nuts and cherries.
6. Fold the nuts, cherries and cake mix into the cake batter.
7. Pour the cake batter into a greased 25cm cake tin and bake for 60–90 minutes in the preheated oven.
8. For the icing, combine the egg whites in a bowl with the icing sugar. Be sure to use a sieve for the icing sugar to avoid lumps. Mix until smooth.
9. Once the cake has completely cooled, spread the icing over the cake and place it in the fridge for 10–15 minutes to set.
10.Place a stencil over the iced cake. Spoon the sweetened cocoa into a sieve and shake over the stencil until it is completely covered. Slice and serve.

FESTIVE TRIFLE
Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS
Sponge cake and
4 Tblsp raspberry jam or
1 Swiss roll with jam
6 Tblsp sherry or juice from the fruit below
350g frozen berries of your choice (thawed) or 350g chopped fresh fruit of your choice or
1 can fruit salad (drained and juice reserved)
12 finger (boudoir) biscuits
1 packet raspberry and
1 packet cherry jelly, made according to package instructions (to give a stiff jelly that can be cut into chunks).
1 litre ready-made long-life custard or stovetop custard made according to package instructions
250ml fresh cream, whipped with 1 tsp vanilla essence.

1. Cut the sponge cake in half and spread each half with the raspberry jam. Sandwich the cake back together and cut into quarters. (If using a Swiss roll, cut into 2cm slices).
2. Place sponge cake or Swiss roll in the bottom of a 3-litre glass bowl.
3. Sprinkle the sherry over the sponges or Swiss roll and top with the fruit of your choice, or use some of the canned fruit juice in place of sherry, or juice of your choice if using fresh or frozen fruit.
4. Break the finger biscuits roughly and sprinkle over the fruit.
5. Pour half of the custard over the top.
6. Chop the jelly into bite-sized chunks and place over custard.
7. Pour remaining custard over jelly and top with whipped cream

PEPPERMINT CRISP TRIFLE CUPS
This easy-to-make dessert idea features custard and is sure to be a family favourite!

INGREDIENTS
For the cake
1 pack of chocolate cake mix with the necessary ingredients
Butter and flour

For the trifle cups
(makes 4)
1 can caramel treat
2 cups Parmalat custard
3 x 49g Peppermint Crisp chocolate bars
1 cup whipped cream
4 mason jars for assembling
Caramel sauce for serving

1. For the cake, preheat the oven to 180˚C.
2. Prepare the cake batter according to the instructions on the pack.
3. Grease a rectangular baking tin with butter and dust with flour. Pour in the cake batter to make a layer about 1cm thick.
4. Bake for 25–30 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
5. Use a mason jar as a cookie cutter to create round cut-outs of the cake. These will be used as the cake layers in your trifles.
6. To assemble the trifle cups, add a spoonful of caramel to the bottom of each jar and top with a slice of cake. Add a layer of the custard.
7. Crumble Peppermint Crisp over the custard.
8. Add a second slice of cake on top of the crumbled Peppermint Crisp and top with more caramel, custard, a dollop of whipped cream and more crushed Peppermint Crisp.
9. Drizzle with caramel sauce before serving. (NOTE: Make the caramel sauce by heating some of the caramel.)



RAINBOW POPSICLES
Deliciously refreshing treats, packed with goodness, colour and creativity. Rope in your kids to help you make these!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup blueberries
1 cup kiwi fruit, cut into quarters
1 cup orange segments, halved
1 cup cubed pineapple
1 cup strawberries
1¾ cups Liqui-Fruit clear apple juice
1¾ cups Liqui-Fruit mango and orange juice
4/5 cup Liqui-Fruit berry blaze juice

1. Chop the blueberries, kiwi fruit quarters, orange segments, pineapple and strawberries into small pieces.
2. Place all the fruit pieces on a tray and freeze. Keep each type of fruit separate on the tray.
3. Place the frozen blueberries into a blender together with half of the clear apple juice. Blend until smooth.
4. Spoon the mixture into the bottom of each popsicle mould and freeze until set. You will need about 8 moulds.
5. Blend the frozen kiwi fruit pieces with the remaining clear apple juice, layer the mixture over the first layer and return to the freezer to set.
6. Blend the frozen orange segments with half of the mango and orange juice. Spoon the mixture into the moulds as the third layer and freeze again.
7. Blend the frozen pineapple with the remaining mango and orange juice. Spoon the mixture into the moulds as the fourth layer and freeze.
8. Blend the frozen strawberries with the berry blaze juice and spoon the mixture into the mould as the fifth and last layer.
9. Freeze until all layers have set and serve.