Christmas is coming!

This weekend I decided to make a few things for Christmas, I left it a bit late, but it will still be nice - hopefully! So first of all made some mincemeat.

MINCEMEAT

4 Bramley apples , peeled, cored and grated

350g light muscovado sugar
zest and juice 1 orange
zest and juice 1 lemon
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp allspice
100g sultanas
100g raisins
100g currants
100g mixed peel and glace cherries - chopped
100ml brandy or whiskey
85g flaked almonds
100g light shredded vegetable suet

Put the grated apple and any juices, sugar, and orange and lemon zests and juices into a large saucepan. Bring gently to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has melted. Turn off the heat and stir in the spices, dried fruit and brandy or whiskey. Set aside until cool.

Once cool, stir in the almonds and suet. Divide between sterilised jars. Will keep unopened in the fridge for up to 3 months, or freeze for up to 6 months.

So, now all I have to do is make the mince pies!

CHOCOLATE CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE

I've never made a chocolate Christmas cake before, so a first for me.  This is a Nigella recipe, so should be good!

350 g dried, soft prunes, chopped

250 g raisins
125 g currants
175 g unsalted butter, softened
175 g dark muscovado sugar
175 ml honey
125 ml coffee liqueur - I didn't have any, so used cognac & teaspoon of instant espresso
2 oranges, juice and zest only
1 tsp mixed spice
2 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
3 eggs, beaten
150 g plain flour
75 g ground almonds
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Line the sides and bottom of a 20cm, 9cm deep, round loose-bottomed cake tin with a layer of baking parchment.
Place the fruit, butter, sugar, honey, coffee liqueur, orange juice and zest, mixed spice and cocoa into a large wide saucepan. Heat the mixture until it reaches a gentle boil, stirring the mixture as the butter melts. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 150C/gas 2.

After 30 minutes, the mixture will have cooled a little. Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate soda, and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients have combined.



Carefully pour the fruitcake mixture into the lined cake tin. Transfer the cake tin to the oven and bake for 1¾-2 hours, or until the top of the cake is firm but has a shiny and sticky look. At this point, if you insert a sharp knife into the middle of the cake.



Place the cake on a cooling rack. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin.  I will feed it with a bit more cognac from time to time before it is decorated.

You can then either decorate as usual or just leave it as it is.

I then covered with it marzipan:

Then it was covered in royal icing:

ROYAL ICING

2 egg whites

500g icing sugar

1 tsp glycerine

Lightly fork the egg whites then add the sifted icing sugar and mix well, when well combined add the tsp of glycerine to the mixture and continue to beat for a bit longer.  Then spread onto the cake.

Just needs a bit of tidying up and then I will decorate it.



Finished - not too bad even though unfortunately, I didn't have a red ribbon to put around the side!

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

I haven't made a Christmas pudding for years, but this year decided to make some little ones.  I found this lovely recipe from Gordon Ramsey!  This version is fruitier and lighter than the traditional pudding, plus they take less time to steam.  I used my electric steamer, so hope it's as good!

280g light vegetarian suet

280g golden caster sugar
280g currants
280g raisins
280g sultanas
70g chopped almonds
150g plain flour
150g fresh breadcrumbs
150g mixed peel and cherries - chopped
60ml lemon juice
1 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp marmalade - I used my 'homemade' Orange and Pumpkin Marmalade
3 eggs
180ml Guinness
½ cooking apple , grated

Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well, making sure that there are no pockets of flour or breadcrumbs.



Divide the mixture between 8 individual (about 250ml) buttered moulds or 2 x 1 litre ones. Cut a circle of greaseproof paper and a circle of foil to cover the top of each, lay one on top of the other and make a pleat in the centre. Lay over the pudding basins and tie firmly onto the top of each with a piece of string. Put into a pan on a trivet or upturned saucer, add boiling water to come a quarter of the way up the basins, cover and steam for 4 hours, or longer if you prefer. Top up with water if you need to. The longer you steam the puddings the darker the mixture will get.

I didn't need to tie the string, as I just placed the individual pudding moulds (with greaseproof paper and foil covering) into my electric steamer and steamed for about the same time.  Making sure to keep topping up the water when required.  After cooling, I will place in the fridge until needed.

Steam again for an hour before serving.

More photos to follow!