Christmas Recipes Every Chocoholic Will Love

Christmas is a time for indulgence. It's a time when you can tuck into whatever you want and know that everywhere else in the world, other people are doing the same. For some this means guilt-free mince pies and cola-baked ham. For others it means turkey, brie and cranberry sandwiches washed down with eggnog. But for many, it means chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.

Whether you're a white, milk or dark fanatic, your chocolate cravings can well and truly be covered come Christmas time. From rocky road slice to peppermint hot chocolates, there are thousands of chocolate Christmas treats to indulge in. Made with the kids in mind, as a Christmas gift, or as a dinner party centrepiece, you're spoilt for choice with recipes like these.

Chocolate Christmas pudding with white chocolate custard

If you're not a lover of a rich and dense Christmas pudding, you'll love this chocolate alternative that's full of flavour – without the heaviness. For traditionalists, it still looks the part, meaning you really can have your cake and eat it too.

Ingredients

Pudding:
1 cup sultanas
½ cup currants
½ cup brandy
125g butter
⅔ cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Rind of one orange, finely grated
1½ cups SR flour
¼ cup milk
¼ cup cocoa
½ cup chocolate chips

White chocolate sauce:

4 egg yolks
2 tbs cornflour
½ cup caster sugar
1½ cups thickened cream
1 cup milk
100g white chocolate, broken
2 tbs brandy

Method

Pudding:

• Combine fruit and brandy in a bowl, cover, and stand overnight.
• Grease a pudding bowl and line with baking paper.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well in between.
• Fold in the rind, sifted flour, cocoa, fruit mixture, milk and chocolate chips.
• Spoon mixture into pudding basin and cover with a double layer of foil tied with string.
• Upturn pudding basin onto a small plate and insert into a large saucepan. Pour boiling water halfway up the sides.
• Cover and steam for 1 hr 30 minutes, topping up the water as it evaporates.

White chocolate sauce:

• Whisk together the yolks, cornflour and sugar.
• In a small saucepan, add cream and milk and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, add yolk mixture and whisk until smooth. Continue to stir over low heat until slightly thickened.
• Remove from heat, add chocolate and brandy, then pour over pudding to serve.

Chocolate tiramisu

Who doesn't love Tiramisu? The popular coffee-flavoured Italian dessert is a firm favourite and delicious in itself, but here it is made with a chocolate twist. Served in a nice glass bowl, this makes an excellent dessert to take when visiting friends. Then again, you might not want to share it!

Ingredients

400g sweetened condensed milk
500 g mascarpone
½ cup Kahlua
1 tbs instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 cup boiling water
20 sponge finger biscuits
1 tbs cocoa
1 cup milk chocolate, grated

Method

• Beat together condensed milk and mascarpone until smooth. Fold through ¾ of the grated milk chocolate.
• Combine Kahlua and coffee mix and allow to cool.
• Add sponge fingers to coffee mix to soak.
• Layer soaked biscuits and mascarpone cream in a serving dish. Sprinkle grated chocolate over dish and dust with cocoa.
• Place in the fridge for one hour before serving.

Chocolate log

A take on the traditionally sweet French dessert, Buche de Noel, this dessert is rolled, filled and oh-so-tasty. Used as a dessert centrepiece and topped with holly, it's quite the show stopper. Have lots coming for dinner? Double the quantity and instead of cutting the log in half, stand two whole logs on each other.

Ingredients

⅔ cup pure cream
150g good quality dark chocolate
4 eggs, separated
½ cup caster sugar
¼ cup cornflour
2 tbs cocoa
250g spreadable cream cheese
2 tbs Irish cream liqueur
100g dark chocolate, melted then slightly cooled
50g dark chocolate, coarsely grated
6 Cadbury flakes
Icing sugar for dusting

Method

• In a small bowl over simmering water, melt the chocolate and cream. Set aside for two hours, then refrigerate to firm.
• Meanwhile, grease a lined baking tray and preheat oven to 200 degrees.
• Beat the yolks and sugar until thick and creamy. Sift in the cornflour and cocoa and fold.
• Beat egg whites to stiffen and gradually add to yolk mixture. Pour into baking tray.
• Bake for 15 minutes, turn out onto a clean towel and roll lengthways. Set aside to cool.
• Beat cream cheese and liqueur until smooth. Add melted chocolate and beat until fully combined.
• Unroll the sponge, spread evenly with cream cheese mix and roll up again.
• Lightly beat chocolate ganache with a metal spoon. Spread over sponge and decorate with shards of flake to resemble bark. Refrigerate until firm.
• Cut log in half and arrange one half slightly on top. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with holly.

White chocolate pudding balls

For bite-size Christmas fun it doesn't get much tastier than these delicious pudding-inspired balls. Take them to work, share with friends, or give them in a cellophane bag as a gift.

Ingredients

125g sweetened biscuits
400g condensed milk
3 mint chocolate bars, chopped
150g white chocolate, chopped
1 cup coconut, plus extra to serve
1 tbs cocoa
80g white chocolate melts
1 packet spearmint leaf lollies, cut into strips
1 packet silver cachous balls

Method

• In a food processor, combine biscuits, cocoa, condensed milk, peppermint bars, chocolate and coconut.
• Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll into balls then into extra coconut and return to fridge while you melt the white chocolate.
• Dip each of the balls into the chocolate to coat.
• Decorate with strips of spearmint leaves and cachous balls to resemble holly.

Super easy, super chocolatey recipes for the kids

Chocolate does have a habit of tasting better when shared with others, and can be particularly delectable when used as an ingredient for baking with the kids. Why not make some extra big batches of these delicious recipes and give them out as gifts?

We've included a few ultra simple recipes here specifically designed to get the kids involved. Be warned: hands will get dirty!

Christmas tree pops

Cut up wedges of chocolate sponge, slather them with some green butter icing and simply decorate to look like Christmas trees.

Chocolate gingerbread house

Because no Christmas is complete without a gingerbread house! Click here for the recipe to make the gingerbread house from scratch – but there are a myriad of delicious pre-made gingerbread houses on the market these days. The kids will love having a go at piping the icing on the house. Include as many sprinkles, chocolate chips and lollies as possible to fully decorate your house.

Reindeer cake pops

It's not just the kids that will love these little festive treasures. To form the reindeers, make, buy or use any leftover chocolate cake. You just need to break it all up into fine crumbs – the kids will love just how hands-on this recipe is! After the cake is broken down into crumbs, mix with some chocolate icing to bind. Form your reindeer heads by moulding in your palm, insert a cake pop stick and chill for a couple of hours to make sure the mixture really sticks together.

Remove from refrigerator and gently dip the heads into another chocolate icing mixture. Use halved pretzels as antlers, and mini marshmallows with small chocolate buttons as eyes. Add a red reindeer nose, and there you go! Inexpensive, easy and totally fun.

Merry Christmas chocolate lovers!

The festive season is that time of year where we indulge in our favourite foods and share incredible experiences with our loved ones, and chocolate makes treats just that bit more fantastic. So have fun experimenting with these recipes, because we just know you'll love them. Merry Christmas chocophiles!

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Mireille Kilgour

Mireille Kilgour has been an entrepreneur for 35 years in the hospitality sector. French born, she has been an accomplished business owner and operator for a number of Sydney venues. Leading the industry with high profile institutions such as Lamrock Café Bondi, she has endless passion for the industry, and now has the pleasure of supporting restaurants to fill their tables with the new Good Food Gift Card program.

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