Nigella's Christmas Bonbons

If like our family you spend a good share of the week visiting family and friends during Christmas, lots of tins of chocolates and biscuits are distributed and redistributed. Here is a great edible gift which will help you make use of leftover Christmas pudding. It's an adaptation of Nigella Lawsons Christmas Puddinis. Nigella is a genius in my eyes, and these sweets are up there with the best of her. She does warn that they are a bit fiddly to make, so here I need to warn likewise. At times I cursed them so much I contemplated just forgetting about them. But that is probably more to do with my extreme impatience, than these being too hard to handle. As Nigella also points out, once they are made.....man was it worth it, and yes I'll definitely make them every Christmas now.

Makes approx 30 sweets

Ingredients

• 350g of leftover Christmas Pudding
• 4 tbsp of golden syrup
• 125g of dark chocolate
• 1 tbsp of brandy
• 100g good quality white chocolate
• 6 red glacé cherries
• 6 green glacé cherries

Method

1. Melt the dark chocolate over a bowl of barely simmering water.
2. Crumble the pudding and mix with the brandy and golden syrup.
3. Add the melted chocolate and mix well until combined.
4. Lay a baking sheet with baking paper.
5. Put on a pair of disposable gloves and roll 30 little balls of the mixture.
6. Lay them in a row on the baking sheet and cool in a fridge until they are firm.
7. Melt the white chocolate and then allow to cool for 5-7 minutes.
8. Cut the red cherries to resemble berries from holly branch, and cut the green cherries into strips to resemble holly leaves.
9. Pour the white chocolate over the bonbons and place one piece of red cherry and two pieces of green cherries on top.

10. Return to the fridge to firm completely then place in tins or cardboard boxes and you have a great gift for visiting family and friends for New Years.