Christmas Recipes for the Road
Guest blog by Viv Moon
Happy holidays from Cooper Tires! To celebrate Christmas this year, we’ve asked Viv Moon (the fairer half of Ron & Viv Moon’s Remote Australia, intrepid explorer by 4WD and cookbook author) to share some of her festive favourites with us. Here are her handpicked Top 3 Christmas recipes, all of which can be easily done at home or on the road – or off it!
Mini Christmas Puddings
1. Crumble the cake in a large bowl and moisten with enough brandy (or juice) to hold the mixture together well.
2. Roll into walnut or golf ball-sized balls.
3. Place on tray lined with baking paper and refrigerate until set and firm. (It shouldn’t take too long.)
4. Cut up the red/green cherries or jellies into small pieces.
5. Melt the white chocolate and place about half a teaspoonful on top of each pudding. Before it sets, top each pudding with a piece each of green and red cherries or jellies, then allow to set before serving.
Viv’s hint: If using a packet fruit cake, get one that has a decent amount of fruit in it. If you get the really cheap type, they usually don’t have enough fruit in them and these little morsels won’t turn out as well.
Rich Pumpkin Fruit Cake
Viv describes this cake as “Always delicious and moist, and a great way of using up some pumpkin.”
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F /180°C or get your camp fire going and line a 20cm (9”) square (or round) cake tin with baking paper.
2. Combine fruit, nectar and honey in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.
3. Gently fold the pumpkin through the fruit mix, along with flour, spice and bi-carb and mix through. Don’t overmix or you’ll make the cake ‘rubbery’
4. Spoon cake into tin
5. If cooking in the fire place on a trivet inside a pre-heated camp oven on a small bed of coals, lid on, top with more coals and bake for approx 45 mins to 1 hour – cook time will depend on the heat from your coals. Test cake with a skewer to ensure cooked through.
6. Cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a cake rack.
S’Mores
A simple but delicious treat that kids will just love to make on their next camping trip (or even at home). They are called ‘S’Mores’ because the kids will keep coming back for ‘some more’!
1. If using Nutella, spread the Nutella onto one digestive biscuit and keep one plain.
2. Skewer one or two marshmallows onto a metal skewer and gently toast over warm coals until golden brown and slightly gooey – you’ve got to be able to get them off the skewers and onto the biscuits, so don’t overdo the toasting.
3. Be careful handling the toasted marshmallows – they will be very hot, on the outside and inside!
4. Place the now-toasted marshmallow on top of the chocolate or Nutella and place another biscuit on top, creating a S’More sandwich, and enjoy!
Viv’s hint: Another more ‘modern’ way to make S’Mores is to assemble the biscuits with the marshmallows and chocolate and wrap each biscuit in some foil and place that either in the fire on some embers, or in a hot oven (preheated to 180°C) and bake for 5 – 6 minutes, or until the marshmallows and chocolate have heated and softened.
If you are at home, you can even put the biscuit together with the marshmallow and chocolate and microwave on a high setting for about 20 seconds or until the marshmallow has softened.
For more great recipes like these check out Ron & Viv Moon’s website at www.guidebooks.com.au, where you will also find details on both her cookbooks (and how to order a copy): Viv Moon’s OUTDOOR Cookbook and Viv Moon’s TRAVELLERS’ COOKBOOK. If you’re ready to rumble down the trail and just need some tyres to get you there and back again, view the Cooper Tires range or give us a call on 1300 COOPER.
Merry Christmas!