Christmas 2018

CHRISTMAS CAKE

Here is the Christmas Cake that I've made this year.  It's the usual fruit cake, covered in marzipan and topped with fondant icing and a decorative red fondant bow and green stars!

Bûche de Noël - Yule Log

Here is this year's Buche de Noel that was done for Josh and his family:

The mushrooms are meringue and chocolate.

MERINGUE MUSHROOMS

Makes about 15.

Ingredients:

2 medium egg whites (about 60g), at room temperature

120g caster sugar

A pinch of cream of tartar

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp cocoa powder – for sprinkling on the tops when finished

50g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Heat the oven to 120°C, fan 100°C, gas ½.

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Using an electric whisk, beat the egg whites in a clean bowl. Start with a low speed, increasing to high. Whisk for 3-4 minutes until you have a stiff meringue.

Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking in between additions until all the sugar is incorporated. Rub a little meringue between your fingers to make sure no sugar grains remain.

Once the meringue is smooth, whisk in the cream of tartar, vanilla and a pinch of salt.

On the first baking tray, spoon into a large piping bag with a round nozzle 1cm wide. Use half the meringue mix to pipe 15 mushroom round tops onto the baking trays, a couple of inches apart (use a wet finger to press down any peaks).

Then on the second baking tray pipe the stalks to approx. 6cm long.

Put both trays into the oven to bake for 1 hour.

When the meringues are ready, they will pull off the paper easily – if not, pop them into the oven for a few more minutes. Cool for 1 hour; peel off the paper.

I tend to do these last thing and when cooked, turn off the heat and leave the oven door open and leave in the oven overnight.

To finish, melt the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water; don't allow the bowl to touch the water. Use a teaspoon to dollop chocolate into the middle of each upturned mushroom top. Press a base onto each mushroom top; leave to set at room temperature. Dust with cocoa powder.

You can store them in an airtight container for 2 days.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

This is the gingerbread house that I did last year:  It took a lot of time and patience, but I got there in the end!

This is the Christmas Tree star biscuits that I did for the table centrepiece.

Here is the usual 'fruits de mer' that we have for Christmas Eve, which includes prawns, oysters, crab, whelks and small shrimps.

Merry Christmas!