Twelve Days of Christmas
Day 7 – Gala Pork Pie
Would you like one of these on your buffet table?
Day 6 – Chocolate and Mulled Wine Tart
An extremely rich mulled wine and chocolate tart – very decadent and something a little bit different to serve this Christmas. I know isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it’s definitely mine!
Ingredients:
Pastry
100g butter, softened
75g caster sugar
1 egg, large
300g plain flour
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
Filling
6 eggs, large
225g caster sugar
350ml mulled wine
100ml double cream
3 tbsps cocoa powder
Makes: 1 x 9” tart
Day 5 – Mincemeat Baklava
A new twist on a Mince Pie – Mincemeat Baklava! No sorry, I’m not making my own Filo, it’s Christmas time for goodness sake and I’m just a little bit busy. Ready made Filo is what it’s all about!
Ingredients:
2 x pkts Filo Pastry
1 x jar of Mincemeat
175g melted butter
200ml water
200g caster sugar
80ml honey
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
5 whole cloves
Makes: 1 x 8” square tray of Bakalava
Day 4 – Chocolate Christmas Cake
A super rich dark Christmas cake. I’ve been making this for a few years now and I’m always asked for the recipe. The chocolate isn’t an obvious flavour but it is what makes this cake so rich and luxurious. It’s a great cake to make as the fruits only have an overnight soaking and it doesn’t need any feeding – bargain!
Mini Cakes – Santa Stop Here!
How about these miniature cakes – teeny tiny cakes made in mini baking cups from Iced Jems. Just like the cupcake sized Christmas cakes then one full batch of 8” Christmas cake mix is going to make a ton, 50+ of these teeny tiny ones so just make a part mixture or mix up your baking with a variety of sizes, unless of course you want to make 50?!
Individual Christmas Cakes
This is a lovely project to make for gifts – Individual Chocolate Christmas Cakes. Waitrose is heading a #BakeItForward campaign, something lots of us do for Christmas – creating something special for friends. I’m sending some of my individual cakes to Helen at Casa Costello and Jenny at Mummy Makes Cakes – lovely cakey friends with great blogs that I met up with recently.
Day 3 – Marshmallow Snowflakes
These seem to be all over the place in the shops at Christmas time so I thought it was time I figured out how we do them at home – and it’s easier than I thought. You will need a sugar thermometer and a silicone snowflake mould (or any other kind of Christmassy silicone mould if you prefer)
They are easier to make in a stand mixer if you have one, it makes the hands juggling a lot easier but it can be done with an electric hand mixer too.
Day 2 – Gingerbread Reindeer Barns
How much fun are these? When Lindt sent me a chocolate delivery (yes I know, that’s a great delivery to get) I knew I had to come up with something Christmassy – there was no way I was melting those Reindeer down for truffles!
Ice White Snowflakes Cake
This is a stunningly simple cake and can be adapted to suit your own selection of cutters and kitchen implements! The snowflakes are made from modelling paste instead of a regular sugarpaste as it dries harder much more quickly and can be rolled extremely thinly.
