So, every year I make something small to give to close friends and family for Christmas, sometimes a Christmas ornament, sometimes a sweet treat to eat. This year, I decided on eatables; mini Christmas-pudding mignardises. Cute, non?
The idea and the details are probably not new but I did adapt from several sources, so I thought I’d compile here my method for making them…
First up, the Christmas cake…
My standard fruit cake recipe, given to me by my old friend V yonks ago, I’ve been using it ever since. It’s a nice boiled fruitcake, very moist, so a good choice for making the cake-balls. I doubled up the ingredients to make two fruit cakes, and this plus one quantity of rum buttercream icing should make approximately 140 bite-sized balls, if you don’t eat any in the meantime 
Pineapple boiled fruit cake: (these quantities are for one cake, double this quantity is required for the remainder of the method)
Tip the following ingredients into a saucepan:
450g can crushed pineapple, drained but reserving a little of its juice just in case
125g butter
375g mixed fruit
1 cup sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp bicarb f soda
pinch salt (optional)
Boil, stirring, for 10 min, if it starts to stick stir in just a splash of reserved juice. Allow to cool, then add:
1 cup self-raising four
1 cup plain flour
2 eggs
Mix in well. Again, if it seems too thick, add a dash of reserved juice.
21cm square cake tin, 160C for about 40 min or until cooked, leave for 5min in tin, remove to cool completely
As mentioned, this quantity makes just one cake, for this method double up to make two. Once the cakes are cooled completely it’s time to make the balls…
Now; you’re forming the cake into balls using buttercream icing as the binding agent… I found my basic recipe on taste.com but to impart a festive Christmas-sy flavoured air to them I substituted a large dollop of rum in lieu of some of the milk. If you don’t want the alcohol just use all milk and no rum, or just a dash of rum essence, for the flavour. I found this quantity to be enough for the two cakes, so halve this quantity if you’ve only made one cake.
Rum buttercream icing:
125g butter
500g icing sugar
4 tblsp rum + 2 tblsp milk
Cream butter until smooth. Stir in about 1 cup of sifted icing sugar. Add rum + milk and mix. Stir in the remainder of the sifted icing sugar, beating well until smooth.
It starts to dry out straightaway, so use immediately!
I rolled the balls, half a cake at a time,because it’s kinda messy work and this was all I can handle, but whatever works for the individual of course. Anyway, break off a sizeable piece of cake that you can handle and crumble into a large pan. The pieces should be fairly small and crumb-y, but obviously there are going to be some chunky fruity bits, don’t worry too much about a very superfine consistency. To half a cake worth of cake crumbs, add a quarter of the rum buttercream icing and knead and mix it in thoroughly with your hands, then take about a tablespoon at a time, or bite-sized pieces, roll the mixture into balls. No doubt about it, this is messy work, best not pick a day you’ve just had a manicure; although I will say that the butter etc all over your hands impart beautifully soft skin afterwards! When rolled, push them into the bench ever so gently so they have a little flat base, so they can stand upright without toppling over.
Decorating:
I found this quantity of cake to require:
650g white chocolate
400g glace cherries
Melt chocolate in three of four batches for ease of handling, and either dip the balls or drizzle over the cakes, so as to look like custard or brandy sauce as it’s poured over Christmas pudding. Push half a glace cherry on the top or use other glace fruit, if preferred.
Done! Keep them in the fridge until required. They can go individually in mini-patty pans to give away, or not, because I think they look pretty cute all by themselves!
Festive and delicious! good for an after-dinner treat and they go very nicely with a morning cuppa too, ahem. I hope the family enjoys them! 
