Tag Archives: christmas

Christmas cherry chocolate orange breakfast rolls

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Christmas cherry chocolate orange breakfast rolls

Sorry, sorry, I know we’re in January now and the ‘C’ word shouldn’t be mentioned for another 48 weeks, but these rolls were so stupidly good I just have to post them now.

I wanted to make something special and a bit festive for the pony to have for breakfast, and inspired by some stolen flavoured cinnamon rolls (that I can’t for the life of me remember where I saw) and the Great British Bake Off Christmas special I came up with these.

I used Paul Hollywood’s recipe for the dough, then created by own filling of ground almonds, glace cherries and chocolate orange bits. The rolls were finished off with a cranberry glaze, which for some reason went perfectly and meant I kept sneaking back to the cake dome again and again…

I definitely doesn’t need to be Christmas to make these but it’s quite likely they will be back on my festive menu for 2013!

Christmas cherry chocolate orange breakfast rolls (basic recipe from BBC Food)

  • 250g strong white flour
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 20g butter
  • 1 medium egg
  • 7g fast action dried yeast
  • 75ml lukewarm milk
  • 45ml lukewarm water
  • 25g ground almonds
  • 50g light brown sugar
  • 100g chocolate orange segments, chopped
  • 50g (ish) chopped glace cherries
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp cranberry sauce

Add the flour, caster sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl, then make a well in the centre for the butter, egg, yeast and warm water. Stir with a wooden spoon until it all starts to come together into a sticky dough, then tip out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.

Leave to rise in a covered bowl for an hour, or until doubled in size. Knock the dough back then roll out on a floured surface into a large rectangle (I would guess about 16″ x 10″). Mix the ground almonds and sugar together and sprinkle all over the dough, then scatter the chopped cherries and chocolate on top. Roll the dough up from the long edge nearest to you into a big sausage shape, then slice into 8 rounds, about 2″ thick.

Place the rolls in an 8×8 square tin, a couple of centimetres apart, and leave to rise for another hour until doubled again and the rolls are all touching. Bake at 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden and smelling amazing. Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar and cranberry sauce and add just enough water to make a thick icing. Pour over the rolls while still warm and serve straight away!

Cranberry swirl cheesecake bars

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Cranberry swirl cheesecake bars

As the pony and I were going to be spending Christmas day at our house with just the two of us this year, celebrations with my family took place a couple days earlier, and I volunteered to cook.

They are all meat eaters, and my step dad in particular feels quite strongly that a meal without meat is really nothing more than an appetiser, so I always relish having the chance to show them that vegetarian meals can be every bit as tasty and satisfying as a big slab of steak.

For the main course, I went with a veggie lasagne – a bit of a cliche, but with homemade pasta and a really good tomato sauce it tastes amazing – roasted cherry tomatoes and green beans and a garlic and mozzarella flatbread/pizza type thing.

For dessert, I thought we would need something light, especially with days of roasts, Christmas pudding and yule log just around the corner, and when I saw these cheesecake bars posted by Handle the Heat I knew they would do the trick.

A buttery biscuit base and creamy vanilla cheesecake is swirled with freshly made cranberry sauce, which cuts through the sweetness perfectly. They’re also light on calories – sliced into 12 bars they’re only about 160 calories each which is pretty good for cheesecake!

They went down very well with my family, as did the rest of the meal – although they’re still a long way from being sold on the virtues of vegetarianism…

Cranberry swirl cheesecake bars (recipe adapted from Handle the Heat)

  • 175g biscuits – I used Fox’s butter crunch
  • 40g butter, melted
  • 400g low fat cream cheese
  • 150g caster sugar (50g for the cranberries, 100g for the cheesecake)
  • 100g fresh cranberries
  • 3tbsp water
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 1 tbsp plain flour

To make the base, blitz the biscuits in a food processor until they turn into fine crumbs, then pour the melted butter in while the mixer is running. Press into the base of an 8×8″ square greased and lined tin and bake at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch. Leave to cool.

For the cranberry sauce, heat the cranberries, 50g sugar and water in a saucepan over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have popped and created a syrupy liquid. Pour into a food processor and blent until smooth. You may need to add a little extra water to thin, or a little icing sugar to sweeten, depending on how tart the berries are.

While the cranberry sauce is cooling, beat the cream cheese with the remaining 100g sugar until smooth, then add in the eggs, vanilla and flour and beat again. Pour over the cooled biscuit base, then drop dollops of the cranberry sauce on top. Use a skewer to swirl the cranberries through the cheesecake, taking care not to over mix, then bake at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until pulling away from the edges of the tin but with a slight wobble in the centre.

Leave to cool completely at room temperature, then transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 2-3 hours before slicing into bars and serving.

Gingerbread truffles

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Gingerbread truffles

More truffles! I’m a big fan of making truffles to go in Christmas hampers as they’re quick, easy, keep well and look pretty packaged up in cellophane bags with festive ribbons.

My first attempt at making these wasn’t perfect – the original recipe from Love and Olive Oil calls for unsulphered molasses, which I swapped for dark treacle, and although I quite liked it I think it would have been too strong for most tastes.

For my second attempt I used just a teaspoon of treacle and swapped the rest for golden syrup, which made a much sweeter, milder dough. Coated in white chocolate, it’s the perfect balance of spicy and sweet, and it’s a good job I gave most of them away or I would have been eating them by the handful!

one ingredient ginger

I’m entering these for the December One Ingredient Challenge, hosted by Nazima at Franglais Kitchen and Laura at How to Cook Good Food. Nazima picked ginger as the festive ingredient, although I have to say it’s one of my favourite flavours and I like to enjoy it all year round!

Gingerbread Truffles (recipe adapted from Love and Olive Oil)

  • 30g butter
  • 50g light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp dark treacle
  • 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp (20ml) golden syrup
  • 75g plain flour
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • pinch salt
  • 150g white chocolate

Beat together the butter, sugar, treacle and golden syrup until light and fluffy. Sift together all the dry ingredients, then fold into the dough until it comes together into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, before rolling into small balls (about 1.5cm diameter). Place spaced on on a piece of baking paper and transfer to the freezer for a further 30 minutes.

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave, stirring after 30 seconds and again at 10 second intervals after that, until completely melted but not hot. Remove the truffles from the freezer and use two forks to roll in the melted chocolate, then place on another baking sheet to set. Repeat until all the truffles have been coated. Because the truffle mix has been in the freezer, the chocolate will set quickly and they don’t need to go in the fridge, just leave them an hour or so before packaging/eating.

How to make Christmas tree cupcakes

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Christmas tree cupcakes

Way back in September, when everyone else was trying to hang on the last glimpses of summer sun (I’m sure there were some, at some point…) I was looking ahead to Christmas, and testing out a few festive recipes, which I’m excited to finally be able to share here!

One of the most fun parts of my day job is helping to produce a magazine called Explore, which is published quarterly in Plymouth. For the Winter edition, we decided to go big on homemade food, drink and gifts, so I ended up making a spiced cranberry and pear chutney, mulled wine, Christmas tree cupcakes, and these way over-decorated gingerbread families that I just have to share a picture of…

If you’re thinking the photography is a step up from my normal pictures, you’d be right – all the photos were taken by a professional photographer called Guy Channing who did a fabulous job making my food look good – thanks Guy!

If you want to see the rest of my recipes, along with top tips for making and decorating the best ever Christmas cake, handmade decorations and a last minute festive shopping guide, you can download a digital version of the magazine here.

I won’t bother giving the recipe as any basic cupcake and icing will do, but here are the step by step pictures and instructions for some fabulously festive Christmas tree cupcakes – enjoy!

Christmas tree cupcakes

What you need:

  • 12 regular sized cupcakes
  • 6 petit four sized cupcakes
  • Sugarpaste or marzipan
  • Buttercream icing
  • Green food colouring – gel is best
  • Edible decorations – I used edible silver balls and multi-coloured chocolate beans

To prepare the cupcakes, use a serrated knife to level the tops of all the cakes, and mix the green food colouring into the icing a little at a time until you reach the colour you want.

Spread a layer of icing on top of the six regular sized cupcakes that you’re going to use as the Christmas tree bases (keep them in the cases). Remove the other six regular sized cupcakes from their cases and place upside down on top of the bases.

Spread another layer of icing on top, then remove the petit four cakes from their cases and place upside down on top to create a third cake layer. On top of that, add a little more icing and a small blob of marzipan or sugarpaste, pressed into a cone shape.

With the remaining icing, completely cover the cakes, using a spatula to spread it down the sides to the top of the paper case of the bottom layer.

Decorate with whatever edible decorations you like – silver or coloured balls, glitter, stars, sweets – it’s up to you!

Christmas tree cupcakes

Goat’s cheese and poppy seed crackers

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Apologies for posting yet another Christmas gift recipe in January, but I baked too much and didn’t have enough time for blogging in December!

These crackers are great if you have a slightly weird person in your family who doesn’t like sweet things – I teamed them with a cranberry and pear chutney and a few other bits and my mum seemed fairly pleased!

The recipe is adapted from The Pink Whisk (a bit of a Goddess when it comes to Christmas treats) but with the parmesan swapped for a vegetarian hard English goat’s cheese – even though they were going to be a gift I still wanted to be able to try them!

Goat’s cheese and poppy seed crackers (recipe adapted from The Pink Whisk)

Makes 12-15 small crackers

  • 150g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp garlic salt
  • 60g butter
  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 tbsp poppy seeds
  • 65ml water
  • 20g hard goat’s cheese, grated

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a food processor, then add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms fine breadcrumbs. Add the poppy seeds, then with the mixer running pour in the oil and then the water (pour the water slowly as you might not need all of it). The mixture should come together into a soft ball.

Chill in the fridge for half an hour, then roll out onto a floured surface, to about 3/4mm thick, depending if you want thick or thin crackers. Use a biscuit cutter to cut rounds – mine were about an inch and a half diameter, but they can be as big or as small as you want.

Place the crackers on a baking sheet, leaving a bit of a gap for them to spread, and prick with a fork. Chill again for half an hour. Sprinkle a little of the goats cheese on top of each, then bake at 190 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until crisp and golden, underneath as well as on top.

 

Chocolate and cranberry Christmas wreath

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This month I attempted my second ever Fresh From The Oven baking challenge – a Christmas Wreath.

I changed up the flavours a bit to suit what I had and what the friendly pony would like to eat – chocolate and cranberry with an orange glaze rather than fruit and nuts – but I think it was quite a festive combination.

I was really happy with how this turned out – I’m still no bread expert and I found the dough quite wet and tricky to work with, but the taste and texture were great, and I thought the twisting pattern looked pretty when the slices were cut!

Chocolate and cranberry Christmas wreath (recipe adapted from Utterly Scrummy Food for Families):

Serves 8-10

For the dough:

  • 3 tsp dried yeast
  • 315ml lukewarm milk
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 50g softened butter
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 420g plain flour

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until combined. The recipe says to knead on a floured surface, but I found the dough really wet and sticky so I just kneaded it in the bowl, for about 10 minutes.

Cover with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

For the filling:

  • 50g softened butter
  • 25g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 100g dark chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl. Tip the dough out onto a well-floured surface, knead for a couple of minutes then roll or stretch out into a large rectangle, mine was about 30cm x 20cm. Spread the filling evenly onto the dough, then roll the dough up from one of the long sides.

Cut the roll in half, lengthways, then twist the two halves together and bring the ends around so it creates a ring. Pinch the ends together, then leave on a baking sheet to rise for 45 minutes, or until doubled again.

Brush with milk then bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees, or until golden and cooked through.

You can use any icing you like to glaze, but I made a simple orange one with 1/2 cup of icing sugar and 1 1/2 tbsp orange juice, and drizzled on top. Cut into slices and serve while warm.

Chocolate Yule Log

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This is a proper, traditional chocolate yule log.

I’ve seen some very fancy looking ‘Buche de Noel’ recipes floating around this year, but I have a feeling that unless you’re from a family of pastry chefs they’re probably not the chocolate log that graced your table at Christmas as a child.

I’m talking about the retro supermarket spectacular, chocolate swiss roll with chocolate buttercream and crisp chocolate coating. This is what the pony wanted for Christmas eve dessert, and I am actually really proud of how it turned out – exactly how we remembered!

It’s really simple but will definitely be coming back again next Christmas!

Chocolate Yule Log (vaguely adapted from a BBC Good Food roulade)

Serves 8

For the sponge:

  • 5 eggs
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 25g self raising flour
  • 40g cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 50g ground almonds

Whisk the eggs and sugar together for about 5 minutes with an electric whisk. They should have trebled in volume and leave a trail when you lift the whisk out. Sift in the rest of the ingredients and fold in lightly, being careful not to overmix. Line a 30x20cm shallow baking tray with greaseproof paper or baking sheet and spread the mixture in, taking it right to the corners. Bake at 190 degrees for 12 minutes.

Turn out immediately onto another sheet of greaseproof paper, dusted with cocoa powder. Peel off the paper the sponge baked on, then roll up, starting from one of the long sides, keeping the cocoa dusted sheet of paper in the roll. Leave until completely cool.

For the icing:

  • 50g dark chocolate
  • 50g butter
  • 150g icing sugar
  • 1tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1tbsp milk
  • 200g milk chocolate

Melt the dark chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water and set aside. Beat the butter to soften, then gradually add in the icing sugar, adding a little milk if it gets too sift. Beat in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder.

Unroll the sponge and spread the icing all over the inside. Roll it up again, without the paper, then trim the ends to neaten it up.

Melt the milk chocolate, then spread a strip as long as the log onto a piece of baking paper. Place the log on top of the strip of chocolate, then pour the rest of the chocolate over the top and spread to cover the whole thing. Use a fork to create lines in the chocolate, for the authentic woody look! Then dust lightly with icing sugar and leave to set.

Mini Christmas cakes – Part 2

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After a month or so of regular feeding with whisky, my little baked bean tin Christmas cakes were ready for decoration.

I won’t go into loads of detail, the photos hopefully speak for themselves, so here we go!

First, cut off the tops of your cakes so they’re level. Don’t throw away the scraps, they can be made into truffles!

Roll out the marzipan about 3mm thick. Cut out a round the same size as the cake top, and a long strip that can wrap around the sides.

Brush the cakes all over with melted apricot jam, then place the marzipan on top, pinching together where the top and sides meet. Leave for a day before icing.

Brush the marzipan all over with vodka (or water). Roll out the white icing using a lot of icing sugar to stop it sticking. Measure the cake up each side and across the top so you know how large a circle of icing you need – i went a lot bigger to be on the safe side!

Drape the icing over the cake, then smooth down on the top. Cup your hands to smooth down the sides until you get to the bottom, then cut around the cake. If you’re cutting out any shapes like I did, you can do this from the scraps around the outside of the cake.

You can decorate these cakes any way you want, but I went simple with cut out stars and white icing (from a tube!).

As I’m giving these as gifts I wrapped in cellophane, tied with a ribbon and added a gift tag. They look prettier in real life than in the picture!

Orange shortbread thumbprints

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For my last day at work this week, baked goods weren’t just expected, but demanded. I made some marzipan chocolate cupcakes which I will post about soon, but as I wasn’t sure if they would be to everyone’s tastes I decided I needed something else that I could whip up fairly quickly as an alternative.

As I still had some homemade orange curd to use up, I decided to give thumbprint cookies a go, as they always look so pretty and I’ve never tried them before.

The recipe I was planning on using needed an egg, which I didn’t have, so that led to me making them with shortbread instead so I wouldn’t need to go to the shops (laziness can lead to the best creations!)

They turned out really well, a lighter alternative to the cupcakes with a nice fruity tang. They were really easy to make, so I would definitely make them again, maybe trying out a few different fillings…

Orange shortbread thumbprints (my own recipe!)

Makes about 20 biscuits

  • 75g caster sugar, plus extra to dust
  • 150g butter, cubed and softened
  • 200g plain flour
  • 25g cornflour
  • Roughly 1/3 jar orange curd

Beat the butter to soften, then add in the caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour and cornflour, then run together with your fingers to make breadcrumbs, then knead into a soft dough. Roll into a fat sausage shape, wrap in clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Take the dough out the fridge, then slice the log into rounds. Roll each into a ball, then roll in the extra caster sugar to cover them. Place on a baking sheet, then make an indentation in the middle of each with your finger or thumb – so they look a bit like this:

Spoon about half a teaspoon or orange curd into each shortbread, filling them not quite to the top as the curd will bubble over when they’re in the oven. Bake at 170 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until they’re firm and just about to start turning golden. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack.

Chocolate crunchie bites

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When thinking about bite-sized bakes I could package up nicely to give as Christmas gifts, these chocolate crunchie bites were pretty high up the list.

They’ve always gone down well when I’ve made them before, they’re one of the pony’s favourites, pretty much foolproof, and they’re incredibly easy to make – no baking required! They should also keep quite well in the fridge, if you can keep greedy hands off them…

Chocolate crunchie bites (adapted from Jam and Clotted Cream):

  • 75g dark chocolate
  • 75g milk chocolate
  • 65g butter
  • 1 1/2 tbsp golden syrup
  • 110g digestive biscuits
  • 2 Cadbury’s Crunchie bars
  • 30g cranberries

Prepare an 8×8″ tin by lining with baking paper, creating a pleat so that the tin has a divider 2/3 of the way across (basically, you need the tin to be approximately 8×5″).
 
Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan over a low heat. While that’s melting, put the digestives and crunchie bars in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin, until mostly crushed but with a few lumpy bits remaining. Pour the crushed biscuit mix into a large bowl, add in the cranberries, then stir in the melted chocolate mixture until well combined.

Spread the mixture into the prepared tin, then leave to set. I tend to leave mine to set a room temperature for a few hours so it’s easier to cut, but you can speed it up by putting it in the fridge. Trim the edges (feed the offcuts to an impatient hungry boy), cut into small squares, then dust with icing sugar to serve.

Makes about 24 mini squares.