4 Decadent Christmas Desserts

These sweet recipes and holiday treats will put you in the Christmas spirit, and satisfy your sweet tooth.

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp salt 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar ½ cup molasses 1 large egg 1 cup icing sugar

Method: Preheat oven to high. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and salt. In another bowl beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the molasses and egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually fold in flour mixture. Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes. On a floured surface, roll the dough to ¼ inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut into shapes. Place on buttered baking trays and bake until firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, tip icing sugar into a small bowl, gradually whisking in 1 tbsp water at a time until a thick icing forms. Spoon into an icing bag and decorate cookies as desired. Leave to set before serving.

[caption id="attachment_396761" align="alignnone" width="640"] Gingerbread cookies.[/caption]

Waffle Cookies

Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1 cups brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 sticks butter, softened 6 eggs 3 cups flour

Method: Heat up your waffle iron. Mix sugars, butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, gradually adding flour in batches. Cook in hot waffle iron in batches (about 1 minute for each). Serve with some fresh strawberries and a candy cane.

Coconut Balls

Ingredients: Knob butter, to grease baking tray 2 cans condensed milk 1 can condensed cream 1 cup desiccated coconut ½ cup icing sugar, for coating

Method: Preheat oven to medium-high. In a large bowl mix milk, cream and coconut well blended. Roll into 24 balls and place on greased baking tray. Bake 10 minutes, until crispy on the outside. Cool 5-10 minutes before rolling in icing sugar. Add a marzipan holly leaf or Santa figure for decoration.

[caption id="attachment_396762" align="alignnone" width="640"] Coconut balls.[/caption]

Pepper Cake

Ingredients: 3 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 2 1/2 cups sugar 5 large eggs, separated 2 tablespoons honey 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon salt Finely grated zest of 1 orange 1 cup buttermilk ½ cup oats

Method: Preheat the oven to high. Butter and flour two cake mold trays. In one bowl, sift flour and baking powder. In another bowl beat butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, honey, pepper, ginger, salt and orange zest into the butter mixture. Beat in the sifted dry ingredients and oatmeal in batches buttermilk. In a third bowl, beat the egg whites until firm peaks are formed. Using a spatula, stir one-third of the beaten whites into the cake batter until well mixed. Fold in the remaining whites until just blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn over it onto a rack and let cool completely before slicing.

[caption id="attachment_396763" align="alignnone" width="640"] Pepper cake.[/caption]