10 fun and mostly easy Christmas Treats to make

I'm not sure how Christmas sneaks up on me every year, but it's only weeks away and I have a list as long as my arm of fun Christmas Treats I would love to make.

Today I'm doing a round up of some of my favourite treats from Christmas Past here on the Bubble and Sweet Blog.

They are mostly easy fun and easy to make with the exception of the ruffle Christmas Tree and Rudolph Macarons (well they are still fun just a teensy bit harder to make).

Links to the recipes and instructions below:

Ruffled Christmas Tree - I called this the Anit-fruit cake, pretty much as I am not a fan of fruit cake. Made with layers of white chocolate mud cake and chocolate ganache filling, decorated with layers of fondant ruffles and finished with fruity bon bon candy. Find instructions on how to decorate your own pretty ruffled 3D Christmas Tree cake HERE

Pinata 'Fake' Pudding Cake - Chocolate cake decorated to look like a pudding, filled with candy and chocolate coins. Can it get much more fun, I'm not sure but you can find out for yourself by watching this you tube tutorial:


Or clicking over to the blog instructions HERE

Elegant Ornament Cookies - ok these cookies are seriously pretty and pretty easy to make.  CLICK HERE for instructions.

Christmas Nesting Doll Cookies - so seriously these are some of my favourite Christmas cookies ever. I liked working out how to use the same cutter to come up with a set of fun holiday cookies. The snowman ones are super dooper easy to make, trust me ;)

Santa Nesting Doll Cookie CLICK HERE
Snowman Nesting Doll Cookie CLICK HERE
Penguin Nesting Doll Cookie CLICK HERE

Double Sided Christmas Tree Cake Pops - yup you heard right. Double sided cake pops, well ok you've probably seen more around now, but back when I created these it was pure genius! Check out the instructions HERE.
 

Peppermint Candy Cake Pops - these are cute, fun and easy to make. Oh plus delicious, that is always important for me - instructions HERE.

 

Elf in my tummy Cookies - yes once I started with those nesting doll cookies, I couldn't stop. If you could resist you could store these cookies on your shelf ;) Instructions HERE.

Elegant Snowflake cookies - these cookies are a favourite. I love the shape and simplicity and I remake them every year, sometimes with a different flavour, sometimes with a decoration variation. Click HERE for last years version.

Rudolph Macarons - Who could resist these delicious Rudolph macarons. I'd say they were the sweetest thing, but I already have a sweetest thing reindeer cookie (HERE) so that would be dumb. Anyhoo just CLICK HERE to see how I made the Rudolph Mac's.

Peppermint Cookie Fudge - Totally delicious, this fudge make a perfect gift if you can manage to not eat it all. Or perhaps you should do what I we do around here and make up 2 batches right from the start. If you want to whip up your own irresistible fudge Click HERE 

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.

Christmas Pudding Pinata Cake

Please don't hate me, but I don't like Christmas pudding.

I'm just not that into it.

I guess you probably had a bit of an inkling a few years back when I confessed I didn't care for Christmas fruit cake and created the anti-fruit cake.

It's not the pudding, it's me, I love the idea of it.

So I've come up with a compromise and I think this pudding and I can agree to work together.

I've made a simple buttercream covered chocolate cake shaped like a pudding, covered with some simple fondant decorations and it's filled with chocolate and lollies (CANDY).

Oh yes I think me and this Christmas pudding pinata cake can get along just fine.

I've done up some quick instructions below, but I would recommend checking out my you tube tutorial here:


This cake was inspired by my dislike of pudding and this pinata cake on a subtle revelry.

Christmas Pudding Pinata Cake Instructions.
Although the cake will last for a few days, any coloured candy might bleed a little after a few hours. You can solve this by making as close to serving as possible or filling with wrapped lollies/candy (like the chocolate coins) or you can spread a thin layer of chocolate or ganache over the cut inside of the cake and let set before adding the candy.

I recommend watching the you tube tutorial CLICK HERE which shows me cutting the cake and hollowing it out.



 
Ingredients and Equipment

Chocolate cake baked in a bowl (mine was a mix that would normally make a 22cm chocolate buttercake)
Chocolate butter cream (I used Italian Meringue Buttercream as I had it handy but I would recommend a denser regular buttercream)
Large knife
Chocolate coins
Various lollies (candy)
small knife
spatula
White fondant, red fondant, green fondant
Corn flour/cornstarch
Large irregular cutter (Mine from an Ikea cookie cutter set)
holly cutter

*Note that blue cutter above is from a set of cutters from Ikea. I actually used the larger one. If you don't have one just cut out the shape you want by hand using a sharp knife.

Cut the top off the cake to make a flat base, then cut through the cake around 2 cm (just under an inch) from the bottom to get a flat base.

Using the sharp knife cut into the top domed cake to hollow out the top (see my you tube tutorial)

Place the base onto a cake stand or plate, pile up lollies and coins (candy) into the center.

Spread chocolate buttercream around the edge of the chocolate dome and stick it to the base ensuring the candy stays inside. Then cover the whole cake with chocolate buttercream. Chill if necessary.

Dust workbench with corn flour (cornstarch) and roll out the white fondant. Use cutter (or a knife) to cut out irregular shape to look like the sauce on top of a pudding (see picture). Carefully place onto the top of the buttercream covered cake.

Roll out green fondant onto workbench and cut out 3 holly leaves, use a knife to make indents to look like leaves. Place on top center of cake.

Roll a small piece of red fondant into a ball and place on the top center of the cake.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.

A modern shabby chic corner

It's been a year now since I put in my new creative space, so I thought I would show you a bit of an update on the corner I've been adding to lately.

I had some extra stuff sitting around - some Ikea chairs we got from the clearance corner for $15 around 20 years ago, a 10 year old Ikea mirror (there are pic's of it on the wall in the before photo's of the creative space) and a couple of pieces of furniture from Loot I picked up in the last few months.

As I'm going with a modern shabby chic look I thought I would give most of it a bit of a paint to match it in with the rest of the stuff I have.

Paint notes - Ikea chair Taubmans Melody Mint, sideboard Dulux seafoam

It's not so much that I must have Ikea furniture, 

it's more that they are 5 minutes down the road and have free child care. 

Other furniture shops take note what some mums will do to for a few minutes of quite.

I'm using the draws in the sideboard as ribbon storage at the moment until I come up with a better idea. I just cut up some pieces of wooden dowel to the size of the draw, stuck it through the middle of the ribbons and popped the whole lot into the draws. I stuck down the ends of each ribbon so they don't untangle, it's not perfect but it's working for now.

 small bowls from Greengate

Oh and check out this super cute bird topped twine spool and scissors I picked up at Holy Sheet Springwood. Oh my goodness - cuteness much???

If you did not see my original creative space transformation make sure you click here and check it out. Eeek the before photo's are totally embarrassing, but I feel comfortable with y'all so I'm ok with you taking a peek.

Oh and make sure you check out the latest issue of  Tickle the Imagination magazine. I have a marshmallow recipe on page 67. It only took me 8 goes until I was happy with it....phew, I never thought I might be tired of marshmallow but even I have limits to how much sweet soft billowy clouds of yumminess I can eat :)

CLICK HERE to link to the free online magazine and my recipe.

Rose marshmallow variation pictured

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.

Chocolate dipped mint variation link to recipe above