This easy no-bake slice is very sweet and rich so cut it into small pieces to serve. For Christmas gifts, package squares of White Christmas in clear cellophane bags and tie with ribbon.
For accuracy, we use digital scales to weigh ingredients. We have included volume measurements in Australian Standard cups (250ml).
250g Copha
140g (1 cup) pure icing sugar
180g (1 cup) sultanas
100g (slightly rounded 1/2 cup) chopped glace cherries
100g (2/3 cup) finely chopped dried apricots
85g (1 cup) desiccated coconut
106g (1 cup) full cream milk powder
40g (1 1/4 cups) rice bubbles
Line an 18cm by 28cm (inside top measurement) slice pan with baking paper.
Melt Copha in a small saucepan over low heat. © exclusivelyfood.com.au
Sift icing sugar into a large bowl. Add sultanas, cherries, apricots, coconut, milk powder and rice bubbles and stir until well combined.
Add melted Copha to bowl and stir until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.
Firmly press the mixture into the pan using the back of a spoon.
Tightly cover pan with plastic wrap or aluminium foil, and then refrigerate until slice is cold and set.
Cut White Christmas into small squares to serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. © www.exclusivelyfood.com.au
May I know what is rice bubbles? Is it a kind of breakfast cereal?
ReplyDeleteRice Bubbles breakfast cereal is made from puffed grains of white rice.
ReplyDeleteCan I use 1/2 cup sugar instead since it will be very sweet?
ReplyDeleteHi Quinn
ReplyDeleteIf you reduce the amount of icing sugar, you may also need to reduce the amount of Copha. If you make a reduced-sugar version of the white christmas, please let us know how it turns out.
I made these today. And my family loves these! Espeically my mum. And she is a connoisseur of White Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great recipe!
Sam.
I saw this on the SEw Mama Sew blog today. Is the first ingredient, vegetable shortening. Like Crisco. - 100% vegetable fat? This looks so good, I am definitely going to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteHi, these look nice I am definitely going to try them, but have you noticed that the cup measurements are incorrect and are a bit confusing, I will go ahead with the gram measurements and see how I go!
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous
ReplyDeleteWhich cup measurements are incorrect?
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI would really like to try this recipe - however, I am not sure what Copha is? Is it like shortening or some kind of butter? What a beautiful treat it makes!
I know what anonymous is talking about with the cup measurements. The thing is different things have different weights. Eg. one cup of sultans weighs 180g while something lighter like milk powder for one cup you only get 106g. If you measure out the grams and put them into a cup you will find all measurements are correct.
ReplyDeleteAlso - thanks for a great recipe, I made them today and they are great!!!!
Thanx heaps for this recipe. Fantanstic!
ReplyDeleteTo reduce sugar, use instead 1/2 cup icing sugar and 1 1/2 cups milk powder.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering where I can get copha from? I looked in Coles but couldn't find it.
ReplyDeleteHi GailM and Anonymous
ReplyDeleteCopha is a vegetable shortening made from coconut oil and soya bean lecithin. Unfortunately, we are not aware of any suitable substitutes.
Hi Nessa
In Australia, Copha should be available in the refrigerated section of most supermarkets (including Coles).
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThis recipe is meant for me.
My oven blew up two weeks ago. Well gave up really. So I need no bake recipes like this. Plus I need to provide something for a stall at a market.
Thanks heeps.
And have a happy christmas, two weeks to go..................
"Kremelta" vegetable shortening is a New Zealand equivalent to Copha.
ReplyDeleteThis is the same way I've been making white christmas for years, thankyou.
ReplyDeleteFor those who have been asking:
- rice bubbles is a breakfast cereal, it's puffed rice which is pretty much an unflavoured version of coco pops.
- Copha = vegetable shortening, you can usually find it in the same section as the block margarines if a store has it. Try Woolworths.
- yeah if you're going to decrease the sugar, either decrease the amount of copha used, or it's better to increase the amount of another dry ingredient i.e. milk powder, coconut or rice bubbles.
hello - i would like to make this for christmas, just wondering how long it will keep for?
ReplyDeletethanku!!
Hi Melw
ReplyDeleteWe have never stored the White Christmas for more than a few days, so we aren't sure what the maximum keeping time would be. If you wish to make it more than a few days before serving, we recommend storing it whole (or in a couple of large pieces) and slicing it on the day of serving.
To the people with the cup/gram issues: keep in mind that one cup does not always weigh the same amount. A cup of rice bubbles, for example, will weigh much less than a cup of sugar because rice bubbles are much lighter than sugar.
ReplyDeleteLove White Christmas but have never made it myself; am looking forward to trying this recipe!
Yes Copha is vegeatable Shortening.
ReplyDeleteCopha actually solidifies when it cools, so you'll have to get a vegetable fat that does this as it's the key to making chocolate crackles and white christmas.
ReplyDeleteA possible alternative would be white chocolate if you can't get copha, but this would involve a little experimenting in the kitchen.
This was really great. I have already changed it, with the help of my kids. Replace red glace cherries with craisins, sultanas with dark choc bits and apricots with glace pineapple. Still great but with a twist - my kids love pineapple.
ReplyDeleteFantastic to get this recipe. My nana used to make this every Xmas and it was a treat we always looked forward to. I'm going to get all nostalgic and make it today for friends and whanau gifts tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIn New Zealand our Copha vegetable shortening equivalent is called Cremelta.
And this treat usually doesn't hang round long enough to get stored but it should keep in fridge for about a week.
I am in france and i have magically managed to ind all ingredients but milk powder. since there is no water added, im not sure that i can use regular milk as a subsitute and the only milk powder we can find here is baby formula lol
ReplyDeleteAny help??
thanks!
Liquid milk would make the rice bubbles soggy and prevent the White Christmas from setting properly, so it wouldn't be a suitable substitute for the milk powder.
ReplyDeleteAre you able to buy Regilait products? It appears that milk powder is part of their range.
Easy to make with the kids and tastes delicious! Thanks very much.
ReplyDeleteso yummy....although i also added some white choclate bits, my son loved it!!!
ReplyDeleteInstead of glace Cherries use Angas Park Sweetened Cranberries. DELICIOUS!!
ReplyDeletemy nana use to make this, but she also added almonds- flaked or slivered. using them breaks the sweetness down a little.
ReplyDeleteI am in the US. I am planning our Christmas dinner to be a "Christmas around the world" theme. This looks like an amazing dessert recipe, but I am not certain I can get the ingredients here. We do have an English grocery here, but in the event they do not have some of the ingredients are there equivalents in the US?
ReplyDeleteFor example, are rice bubbles similar to Rice Crispies (made by Kelloggs)?
Can I use Crisco for the Copha?
Is icing sugar simply confectioner's sugar or powdered sugar?
Thanks!
For Leslie -
ReplyDeleteCrisco is the same thing; as are rice bubbles. Confectioner's sugar used to make frosting is the same as icing sugar :)
Good luck with this - although if you have a 'christmas around the world' theme, pavlova or lamingtons might be a more 'Aussie' contribution. I'm sure Amanda and Debbie could point you in the direction of a wonderful recipe for those...
Millie
Hi, Can anyone tell me what the equivalent to Copha is in the UK? I am struggling to find a replacement product...
ReplyDeleteTodd
I tweaked this a little as I can't stomach dried apricots & instead made up the volume with pistachio nuts. I also added about 1/2 tsp of ground cardamon ... so yummy they didn't last long at family Christmas lunch ... even got asked for the recipe which is always a good sign. :) I like the idea of halving the sugar as I found them a tad sweet.
ReplyDeleteI tweaked this a little bit as dried apricots don't agree with my stomach. I replaced the dried apricots with pistachio nuts & also added about 1/2 tsp of ground cardamon ... was delicious & went down well with coffee at Christmas time. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, I've moved to the UK from Oz and when I make this I either buy the copha from SANZA, which is an online store selling foodstuffs (sweets, biscuits, cooking ingredients etc) from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. or I use the same amount of vegetable shortening (all the major supermarkets sell it, in the section where all the butter is) and add a few drops of coconut essence/flavouring. Alternatively, substitute 1/2 of the milk powder for coconut milk powder (all the Asian/Indian supermarkets stock it over here). Either works really well :-) tan
ReplyDeleteHi, also meant to note that cup sizes in UK/AUS/NZ are bigger than US at 250ml; US cup is 225ml or 4/5 the size of the other. that may account for any issues US readers might have with the mixture's consistency.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a similar way I make WC. A question was asked about how long you can keep it? I make several trays, slice them up, put them in plastic ice-cream containers and put them in the freezer. We have stored them this way for upto 6 months (Kids couldn't find them), and they were as good as the day they were made!
ReplyDelete