Chocolate Christmas Recipes

Steps:

• In 1-quart saucepan, mix 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar and 3/4 cup water. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes. In small bowl, place cranberries. Pour syrup over berries; stir to blend. Refrigerate, uncovered, 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• Remove berries from refrigerator and drain; discard liquid. In small bowl, place remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Working with a few berries at a time, roll one by one in the sugar to completely coat. Place on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. Let stand at room temperature about 1 hour or until dry. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Spray bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, beat Cake ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour 1 2/3 cups of the batter in each pan.
• Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• In large bowl, beat marshmallow creme, softened butter, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk with electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Beat in powdered sugar until fluffy. If necessary, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time, until spreading consistency.
• Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread 3/4 cup frosting on top; top with second cake layer. Spread 3/4 cup frosting on top; top with third cake layer. Frost sides with a thin layer of frosting so sides are covered but cake still shows through. Spread remaining frosting on top.
• Place sugared cranberries around base of cake, and press in slightly to adhere to frosting. Place remaining cranberries on top, mounding in center of cake; garnish with sprigs of rosemary. Loosely cover and refrigerate any remaining cake.

Steps:

• Mix the flour, cocoa, icing sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Rub in the butter and then mix in eggs. Knead quickly with your hands to a smooth dough. Wrap in foil, press into a flat disc and chill for 30 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking parchment. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured worksurface to about 3mm thin. Cut out shapes from the dough. Put the biscuits on the baking sheets - it's best to put similarly sized cookies together. Bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on the size of the biscuits.
• Knead the off-cuts of the dough together and chill again for 15 minutes. Roll, cut and bake as before. Cool completely.
• When cooled, the cookies can be decorated with chocolate or icing and sugar pearls and sprinkles.