Seasonal meals with Annabel Karmel
Family Cooking App
Get your little helpers together to bake some festive treats this winter. Dig out their aprons, roll up their sleeves and cook up some festive-spirit in the kitchen.
With the help of leading children’s cookery author and food expert Annabel Karmel, these fun and simple recipes are sure to wow your willing little ones.
For more recipe inspiration download Annabel’s Family Cooking App. Access more than 120 delicious recipes, as well as a special Kids Rule the Kitchen cooking course designed to feed young imaginations whilst teaching essential cooking skills. Available via the App Store or www.annabelkarmel.com.
Fun, Festive Recipes
With thanks to Annabel Karmel for the recipe content.
Santa Claus at the Ritz
Ingredients
- 6 Ritz Crackers
- 3 Slices Chorizo
- 100g cream cheese
- Capers
-
1 stick celery
Method
- Arrange the Ritz Crackers spaced apart on a serving plate.
- Cut the slices of Chorizo in half and then shape each half into Santa’s hat and place on top of the crackers.
- Put the cream cheese into a piping bag. Pipe a squiggly line of cream cheese where the Chorizo meets the Cracker, pipe a beard at the lower end of the cracker and pipe a star of cream cheese for the bobble on Santa’s hat.
- Add capers for the eyes and nose. Cut the celery into slices and arrange on top of the cream cheese beard to form whiskers.
Makes 6 crackers
Sausage Stockings
Ingredients
- 6 Vienna sausages (approx. 9cm long)
- 150g cream cheese
- Quarter red pepper
- A few sprigs parsley
Method
- Cut the sausage on the diagonal and cut off the top of the sausage. Arrange the two halves to form a stocking and stick a wooden skewer through the halves to secure.
- Fill a small piping bag with the cream cheese and using a small star nozzle, pipe cream cheese stars around the top of the stocking.
- Cut out tiny circles from the red pepper using a small cutter or the top of a pen. Stick these onto the side of the stocking together with a sprig of parsley.
Makes 6 stockings
Baked Potato Snowman
Ingredients
- 1 x 250g potato (oval)
- 1 x 90g potato (round)
- 180g butternut squash peeled
- 1 to 2 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 baby carrots
- Frozen peas
- A slice of red pepper
- A little cream cheese
Makes 1 snowman
Method
- Prick the potatoes with a fork. Cook the potatoes in the microwave for 10 to 12 minutes on full power or in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour 200C/400 F (Gas 6) until cooked through in the middle.
- Cut a thin slice off the bases of the potatoes. Scoop out some of the cooked potato, making sure you leave a 1.5cm border.
- Slice the butternut squash into small cubes. Cook in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes until soft. Mix half of the squash with the scooped out potato flesh and mash together. Season to taste and add the Parmesan cheese.
- Stuff both of the potatoes with the squash mixture.
- Put the large potato onto a plate and put the small potato on top to make the snowman’s head.
- Attach a small baby carrot for the nose and for the hat, attach peas for the eyes and for the buttons (you could use a dab of cream cheese as glue) and cut a smiley shaped mouth from a strip of red pepper.
Chocolate Christmas Trees
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 175g self-raising flour
- 150g caster sugar
- 25g cocoa powder
- 175g soft butter
- 50g plain chocolate melted
- 50g milk chocolate melted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Decoration – Writing icing pens
- Candy canes
- Mini Smarties
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160C Fan. Line a square tin 24 x 24cm with parchment paper and grease.
- Measure all of the cake ingredients into a bowl and mix using an electric hand whisk until smooth.
- Spoon into the tin, and bake for 20-25 minutes until springy to the touch (a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean). Leave to cool.
- Slice into 9 squares and then slice into triangles, then decorate with writing icing pens or piped icing and Mini Smarties. Push short lengths of candy canes into the base of the chocolate triangles to make the tree trunks.
Makes 9 Christmas trees
Read our interview with Annabel Karmel here.