Homemade Presents

It seems like a long way off, but Christmas is less than 3 months away. I decided it was time to think about presents so this week I have done a lot of reading and researching and got some great ideas from 'Blog World'. As I am really not a crafty person (never been praised for being persistent so never really became skilled at anything crafty) it took a while to find something that suited me. Finally I found the perfect homemade present- cake mixes in a jar. What a simple, yet practical idea that suits me perfectly. After reading a lot of recipes it became clear that it would be easy to adapt the idea of having dry ingredients in a jar and simply adding a couple of basic wet ingredients. This is what I came up with. Might try to adapt this cookie one this week if I have time.

Rich Chocolate Walnut Brownies
This mix fits perfectly into a size 31 Vacola preserving jar

For the cake mix:
2/3 cup self-raising flour, sifted
2/3 cup cocoa, sifted
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix together in a large bowl, put in jar and seal. (Did try to make it look pretty with layers, but unless there is no air at all the layers will move around a bit and look a bit sloppy. Also with the choc chips and walnut layers the finer ingredients move through them.)



Instructions to go on gift

Preheat oven to 160* and line a square cake tin with baking paper. Tip all dry ingredients into a bowl and make a well in the centre. In the well add 1 teaspoon on vanilla essence, 4 eggs and 330g melted butter and mix well. Pour into cake tin and bake for 40 minutes or until just cooked.

No picture of the finished product I'm afraid, was quite rich and yummy, Lyssie and Ian were both pretty happy with the result!