RECIPES FOR CHRISTMAS CAKES RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Trim and finely chop the spring onions, and pick and finely chop the parsley. Beat the egg.
  2. Combine the crabmeat, potatoes, spring onion, parsley, white pepper, cayenne and egg in a bowl with a little sea salt.
  3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then shape into 6cm cakes.
  4. Dust with flour and shallow-fry in oil over a medium heat for about 5 minutes each side or until golden-brown.
  5. Serve with pinches of watercress and a dollop of tartare sauce.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Put about 18 foil paper cases into 2 muffin or fairy cake tins. Put the butter into a bowl. Add the sugar and orange zest, and beat well using a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy. You can use an electric whisk instead of a wooden spoon. This is called creaming.
• Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk well. Gradually add them to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour over the mixture and carefully fold in with a metal spoon. The mixture should be soft enough to drop easily from the spoon – this is called dropping consistency. If it isn’t, stir in the milk to soften it slightly.
• Fill the paper cases three-quarters full with the mixture. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden. Ask an adult to remove the tins from the oven and transfer the cakes to a wire rack. Put the icing sugar into a bowl, add a little hot water to mix to a thick pouring consistency. Spoon the icing onto the cakes and decorate with silver balls, candles and fondant icing. Leave to set. Store in an airtight container.