On the Tenth day of Christmas, my True Love baked for me…
Christmas Cracker Bonbons.
Also known as Something Else to do With Your Christmas Mince.
Imagine Christmas Mince mixed with cream cheese. Now imagine that encased in perfectly crispy, buttery, filo pastry. I dare you to make these and then try to eat only one. It’s not possible. It’s just not possible.
I’m having a hard time remembering where the recipe for Christmas Cracker Bonbons came from, all I know is that my sister Linley first put them into action, probably more than 15 years ago. And they were (and still are) an instant hit.
Served warm or cool, they are just about the scrunchiest treat you could ever have on the 25th of December.
Christmas Cracker Bonbons
makes 24
ingredients
12 sheets filo pastry
100g butter, melted and cool
250g cream cheese, softened
250g Christmas Mince
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 tbsp chopped pistachios
2 tbsp sliced preserved ginger
2 tbsp sliced candied cherries
a few mini silver cachous, to decorate
mixing
Combine the cream cheese and Christmas Mince, with the vanilla and orange zest in a bowl.
Working with two sheets of filo pastry at a time, brush one sheet liberally with melted butter (the more butter the better, really), and place the next sheet on top of the first. Repeat the buttering process. Cut each sheet of pastry into half lengthwise and then half widthwise, so you have four smaller rectangles.
Place about 2 tbsp of mixture in a log shape at the short end of each rectangle. Roll up, and pinch the open edges of the pastry together just next to the filling so that you have a bonbon shape.
Place the bonbons, with the pastry join facing downwards, on a baking sheet lined with bake paper. Brush liberally with more melted butter. Top with a mix of the pistachios, ginger and cherries.
Bake the bonbons for about 15 minutes 200 degrees Celsius or until the pastry is golden (more golden than the ones in the pictures really – I don’t know what happened to the colour in these photos!). During the baking process, some of your fruit and nuts might have slipped off the top of the bonbons, if that happened, press carefully back in place. Also, the cream cheese mixture expands during baking and sometimes causes the pastry to burst. Just tuck the filling back as much as you can and think of it as part of the delicious charm of your Christmas Cracker Bonbons. Allow the bonbons to cool on a wire rack.
Sprinkle with silver cachous for an extra decorative touch just before serving. You can also give them a snowy dust of icing sugar if you like.
Enjoy!xxx
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