Welcome everyone to the Shabby Art Boutique
. . . especially to all my new followers; I’m slowly making my way around to visit you all.
Also a very warm welcome to anyone visiting for the first time today from the Decorating Forum. I’m humbled and thrilled to announce that the Shabby Art Boutique is being featured at the Decorating Forum this week. I highly recommend a visit to check out all the amazing things they have going on over there.
So, it’s week 7 of Simply Christmas and with only 12 days until the big day, can you feel the magic in the air. . . the Christmas spirit?
This is a busy time of the year for most people. . . with a mix of hectic work schedules and end of year activities it wouldn’t take much to stress out. . . but there is something magical about this season that makes people more selfless, more friendly, more kind, and generally much nicer people.
It’s not hard to spread Christmas cheer. . . a simple greeting of ‘Merry Christmas’ will bring a smile to most people’s faces, singing along to Christmas carols is always very infectious. . . and what about volunteering to help others. Even if you only have one hour to spare, every bit helps.
One of the ways I like to spread cheer is with baking and today I’m sharing my super quick, but very impressive ‘cheats’ cake pops recipe.
You may remember them from back here when I served them at my Crafternoon Tea. I got a lot of emails following that post to tell me how super easy and yummy they were. Even though I used the Australian Tim Tam and Mint Slice biscuits, overseas readers tell me they found alternatives that worked just as well. Really, you just need a good quality fancy chocolate biscuit.
So here’s my new take on an old favourite. . . Easy Christmas Truffles. . . or cake pops if you use the sticks.
You will need just 4 ingredients: a 200g packet of Arnott’s Tim Tams or Mint Slice biscuits (or equivalent biscuit), 80 g of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, good quality cooking chocolate (milk and white), glace cherries.
To make the pops, you simply crush the packet of biscuits in a food processor. Add the 80 g of cream cheese and mix again until combined.
Roll balls (about 1 tablespoon each) from mixture and pop in the fridge for a bit to firm. Insert sticks in top of pop using a little bit of melted chocolate (if using sticks). Dip balls in melted chocolate. To make little puddings, add some extra melted white chocolate to the top of each ball and drop a 1/4 of a chopped glace cherry on before the chocolate sets.
I made this cute little basket for my truffles from one sheet of scrapbooking paper following the instructions from this post over on Amy’s ‘Then She Made…’ blog. Amy has very graciously allowed me to link to her tutorial for two paper baskets, so please pop over and check them and Amy’s other creative projects out.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
