How to make boozy Christmas recipes suitable for small children

[Treats]

I love cooking for Christmas and have my little stock of recipes that I return to each year. This year I'm cooking Christmas dinner for my family, which includes my 1-year old DD and her 1 year old cousin.

Having merrily splashed whisky all over the fruit that I was soaking for my Christmas cake, it occurred to me that I shouldn't really be serving up alcoholic food to my DD or her cousin .

Am planning on making my Christmas pud soon - Delia's - which contains quite a lot of stout and would normally put brandy in the mincepies, port in the cranberry sauce and a splash of Marsala in the gravy. Not to mention making a lovely brandy butter ice cream to go with the pud.

So - two questions to those of you who have form in serving up Christmas dinner to young 'uns - how safe is it to put alcohol in recipes that are going to be cooked before being served (DH reckons the pud and the cake will be OK because the cooking process burns off the alcohol) and what substitutes do you use to add flavour to your recipes when alcohol is off limits?

Thanks.

Use orange or apple juice instead.

If you put alcohol in things that are to be cooked, it isn't a problem because the alcohol evaporates during the cooking process and you are just left with the flavour.

However, if you have been basting your cake after cooking with alcohol, it won't be suitable. Neither will any trifle that has alcohol soaked sponge. Need to be aware of this for non drinkers as well. Fruit juice does just as well.

I don't think there will be a problem, as not many 1yo like Christmas pud or cake, or trifle come to that.

Thanks. I hadn't thought about orange juice, that's a useful tip.

I haven't been feeding my cake for this reason, so hopefully it will be OK as it is. I'll do half and half stout and orange juice in the pud and hopefully this will be OK. I think the other things can manage without the booze - it's just there for flavour rather than texture - or scoop out kiddy servings before adding anything for the adults. I'll make an orange ice-cream to go with the pud and they'll probably prefer this anyway.

My DD LOVES trifle and is usually fairly determined to eat as much as she can of whatever we're eating. I'd like her to try at least a taste of most things, so I'd rather things weren't off limits.