Christmas Cake Wreath Recipes

CHRISTMAS WREATH CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a tube pan with 2 layers of brown paper or parchment, and grease well.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in raisins, dates, cherries, pineapple, walnuts, and coconut. Stir until all fruit is coated.
• In another large bowl, cream the butter with the white sugar. Add lemon rind, lemon juice, and eggs; mix well. Stir in fruit mixture. Spread batter into prepared pan.
• Bake for 2 hours or until a tester comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

RAINBOW CHRISTMAS WREATH

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Generously grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening or cooking spray. Make cake mix as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs. Pour half of the batter into medium bowl; set aside. Divide the other half of batter equally between 2 small bowls. (You will be left with 3 bowls of batter.) Add red food color to 1 of the small bowls and mix well. Add green food color to the second small bowl and mix well.
• Pour half of the white batter from medium bowl into cake pan. Carefully pour red batter over white batter in pan. Carefully pour green batter over red batter. Then pour remaining white batter from medium bowl over the top. Do not mix the colors.
• Bake as directed on box until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet; remove pan. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Place cake on serving plate.
• Divide frosting between 2 small microwavable bowls. Microwave 1 bowl on High about 5 to 10 seconds; mix well with spoon until smooth enough to drizzle. With the spoon, drizzle white frosting back and forth around the whole cake in a striping pattern until you use all of the frosting (allow some frosting to drip down onto plate in middle of cake, if desired).
• Microwave second bowl of frosting; stir in a few drops of green food color. Drizzle over cake, scattering back and forth in the same type of striping pattern. Decorate with sprinkles. Let stand until frosting is set before serving.

NO-BAKE CHRISTMAS WREATH TREATS

Steps:

• Place marshmallows and butter in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave, uncovered, on high until butter is melted and marshmallows are puffed, about 45 seconds. Tint with green food coloring. Stir in cornflakes. , On a waxed paper-lined baking sheet, divide mixture into 8 portions. With buttered hands, working quickly, shape each portion into a 3-in. wreath. Decorate immediately with M&M's, pressing to adhere. Let stand until set.

CHRISTMAS WREATH BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the butter, milk powder, sugar, egg, salt and 3 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 18x12-in. rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with chopped almonds and cinnamon to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal., Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet; pinch ends together to form a ring. With scissors, cut from outside edge to two-thirds of the way toward center of ring at 1-in. intervals. Separate strips slightly; twist to allow filling to show. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes., Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Combine confectioners' sugar, water and extract; drizzle over warm bread.

CHRISTMAS WREATHS

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows, and cook until melted, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in the food coloring, vanilla, and cornflakes.
• Quickly drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto waxed paper, and form into a wreath shape with lightly greased fingers. Immediately decorate with red hot candies. Allow to cool to room temperature before removing from waxed paper, and storing in an airtight container.

CHRISTMAS CAKE WREATH

Steps:

• For the cake, place the apricots, sultanas, raisins, cherries and stem ginger into a bowl and pour over 100ml/3½fl oz of the whisky. Stir in the orange zest and juice to combine, then cover and set aside overnight until the fruit has absorbed all of the liquid.
• When the fruit has soaked, preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1. Grease the inside of a 20cm/8in non-stick savarin cake tin with butter. Fold a large sheet of baking paper into a strip that is 3 layers thick and big enough to wrap around the outside of the tin making a high 'collar' (this will help the cake bake evenly and prevent it over-browning as it bakes). Secure the collar with string.
• Beat the sugar and butter in a free-standing food mixer or large bowl for at least 3-4 minutes, or until it has turned a light caramel colour and is fluffy. Crack in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Fold in the flour, mixed spice, ground ginger and the soaked fruit until completely combined. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top using a palette knife.
• Bake the cake for 1½ hours, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (if it does not, cook the cake for a further 10 minutes and check once more).
• Remove the cake from the oven and drizzle with the remaining whisky. Set aside to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack (see tip about feeding the cake).
• For the icing, in a free-standing food mixer, whisk together the icing sugar, egg white and glycerine until thick enough to hold its shape - this will take 3-4 minutes.
• When the cake is cold, dollop the icing on top and spread all over the cake using a palette knife. Decorate with the glacé fruit.

CHRISTMAS WREATH CAKE

Steps:

• Make sure the cake has completely cooled, remove from its tin and peel off the baking parchment. Use an 8cm round cookie cutter to cut a hole through the middle of the cake, pushing down as far as you can, then cut all the way down using a small sharp knife. Carefully remove the centre by lifting the cake and pushing the smaller cake up through the middle (you may need to get someone to help you with this). Keep the smaller cake to decorate and give as a gift (see 'goes well with').
• Spread a little runny icing around the edges of a cake board or stand and invert the large cake on top.
• On a clean surface dusted with icing sugar, roll out 100g marzipan into a long rectangular strip, about 8 x 20cm. Trim the edges, then use this piece to line the central hole of the cake. Trim away any excess. Roll out the remaining marzipan to a circle large enough to cover the cake - use a piece of kitchen string to help you check. Melt the apricot jam in a small pan with 1 tbsp water, then sieve and brush a little all over your cake. Use the marzipan to cover the cake, then trim any excess from the bottom and the centre.
• In a large bowl, mix the royal icing sugar with enough water to make a thick, spreadable icing. Use the food colouring to dye it a rich leaf-green colour. Working quickly, spread the icing all over your cake - don't worry about being too neat as most of the icing will be covered. Break the fondant icing into 2 lumps and dye different shades of green. Roll the icing out and cut out lots of holly shapes with cutters. Use a little runny icing as glue to stick the holly leaves all over the top of the cake. Put a big red bow at the top to finish the look.