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My Manchester Food Monthly

Published on 6 December 12

Kick off the festive season with some ideas to treat your friends, simple two-ingredient recipes and an indulgent, Christmas inspired recipe from Great British Bake-Off winner, John Whaite

As Christmas is fast approaching, you may be starting to think about how to treat your friends and family on a budget. We’ve got a few ideas for thoughtful gifts that you can try, for next to nothing. Simple recipes If you fancy having a play in the kitchen but your cupboards are looking a little bare, then take a look at these simple, two ingredient recipes. Have you ever thought of making a cake with just nutella and some eggs? Did you know that you can make peanut butter banana ice cream with just two ingredients? Neither did we, until we stumbled across this article of 34 insanely simple two ingredient recipes.

Treat your friends for next to nothing

As everyone’s been told time and time again ‘it’s the thought that counts’, it can still be difficult to find a thoughtful present without spending a lot of money. Why not try baking something, you can even customise your sweet treats to make them extra special.

Home made fudge makes a great present, and because you can make it in a big batch, you’ve got a present for a few of your friends and family in one go! Click here for a basic fudge recipe. You can personalise it by adding different toppings before the fudge cools such as nuts, dried fruit or coffee beans or you could be more adventurous with chilli flakes, it’s up to you. Stained glass cookies can look amazing yet they’re very simple to make. You can find the basic recipe here and it's up to you how to decorate them.

Click here for some more DIY food gifts and recipes.

John Whaite’s Christmas recipe

We’ve asked University of Manchester alumni and winner of the Great British Bake-Off, John Whaite, to send us his favourite, simple Christmas recipe. Here’s his Christmas Rocky Road recipe.

 method

1. Line the base of a 24cm flan tin with greased baking paper. 
2. Place the chopped chocolate, butter and syrup into a saucepan over medium heat and allow to melt, stirring occasionally. 
3. Into a large mixing bowl break the ginger nuts into about 1cm pieces, add the chopped marshmallows, the hazelnuts, cranberries and chopped toffee bars. 
4. Pour the melted chocolatey slick over the rubble and ensure that the chocolate coats everything; it takes a little bit of elbow grease. 
5. Push everything into the prepared tin so that the surface is level(ish), and place into the fridge for 2 hours. When cold, slice into 16 pieces and enjoy.