
Thursday was Christmas baking today - rum balls, apricot balls, festive cupcakes and florentine slice. James and Bella have their cousins over for Christmas, so it was the perfect opportunity for them to apron up and spend the morning cooking together.

There was a whole heap of crushing, chopping and mess going on. James worked independently to bake up his own batch of goodness for Christmas gifts, while the girls all cooked treats to share over the next few days.


A couple of hours passed and the goodies started to pile up on plates and dishes. Yum!

{Apricot balls + rum balls}

One of my favourite Christmas recipes is florentine slice - super easy and so good. I don't think I've blogged this one before, so here we go:
Florentine Slice...
Base:
200 grams chocolate + extra chocolate to drizzle over entire slice.
Middle - mix these together in a bowl.
2 cups cornflakes, lightly crushed
100 grams (1/2 cup) glace cherries, chopped
1/2 cup chopped nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts or whatever tickles your fancy)
6 dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup plain flour.
Middle - Melt together on a stove top.
90 grams butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Method:
Line a slice tin with baking paper.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees (moderate).
Base ---> Melt the chocolate, pour into the slice tin & let set.
Middle ---> Pour the melted ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix & press onto the chocolate base. Cook for 15 minutes. Let cool.
Topping ---> Melt a little bit of extra chocolate and drizzle over the top. Slice up and enjoy.

{Florentine slice}
