Christmas Party Food Recipes

Red and Green Christmas Cake
photo by Dianne Smith

Red and green colored dishes are fun and festive to serve during Christmas. The house glitters with tinsel, garland, and red and green ornaments, so why not decorate the food as well? Artfully presented dishes are a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach, and these delectable recipes will earn rave reviews from guests during Christmas for their appearance and taste.

Christmas Food Ideas

Red strawberries and bright green spinach are the perfect combination for a Christmas salad. Here is how to make great tasting Strawberry Spinach Salad.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp. poppy seeds
• 1 ½ tsp. instant minced onion
• ¼ tsp. paprika
• ¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup cider vinegar or raspberry vinegar

Put all the dry ingredients and the Worcestershire sauce in a food processor or blender. With the blender running, add the olive oil and vinegar in a slow steady stream. Mix until the dressing is thick; store a tightly closed container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To make the salad, mix together:

• 1 bag fresh spinach, torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 pt. Sliced fresh strawberries

Pour the dressing over and toss when ready to serve. Serves 6.

After the entree, it is time for dessert. The Red and Green Christmas Cake Dessert sweetly tops off any Christmas meal. The cake also makes a pretty centerpiece on a buffet table when perched on a glass cake stand.

Christmas Cake Recipe for Dessert

Ingredients:

• 1 package (18.5 oz.) white cake mix
• 1 package (3 oz.) raspberry flavor gelatin
• 1 package (3 oz.) lime flavor gelatin
• 2 cups boiling water
• Garnish: red and green sprinkles or cinnamon red hots and green gumdrops

Directions:

1. Prepare the cake mix as directed on the package, baking in two 8-inch layer pans; cool.
2. Place cake layers, top sides up, in two clean 8-inch layer pans; prick each cake with a fork at 1/2 inch intervals.
3. Meanwhile, dissolve each flavor gelatin separately in 1 cup of the boiling water.
4. Carefully pour raspberry flavor gelatin over one cake layer and lime flavor gelatin over second cake layer. Chill 3 to 4 hours.
5. Dip one cake pan in warm water for 10 seconds; then unmold the cake layer onto a serving plate; top with some of the frosting.
6. Unmold the second cake layer the same way and carefully place on first layer. Frost top and sides with the remaining frosting. Chill. Garnish with red and green sprinkles or gumdrop holly.

Cream Cheese Frosting For a Christmas Cake

Ingredients:

• 12 oz.. cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks butter (12 oz.)
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Let cream cheese and butter soften to room temperature. Cream together with the sugar and vanilla extract. This makes a very rich frosting. (If a lighter icing is desired, use 1 8-ounce container of Birds Eye Cool Whip Non-Dairy Whipped Topping. Let it thaw, and ice the bottom cake layer with one cup of it. Use the rest to ice the remainder of the cake.)

To decorate, flatten 3 or 4 large green gumdrops on a cutting board dusted or sprinkled with sugar. Cut into holly leaf shapes. Place on cake and then add cinnamon red hots to look like holly. A great Christmas dinner menu will include recipes like these, which match the red and green colors of the season.