Christmas recipes

Hey peeps

My fingers and toes are all crossed at the moment, as tomorrow I am hopefully going to be going on a Christmas holiday (to New York)! Last year we had to cancel as I was ill, and the year before it snowed and our flight was cancelled. So we are hoping 3rd time lucky!

Anyway, we will be away for a week, but I am looking forward to doing some more baking when I get home, so I thought I would do a round up post of the baking that I like to do in the holidays.

I love making a gingerbread house! First of all they smell amazing, and they are just fun to decorate. And I promise not as hard as they look. I cheated this year and bought a kit from Lakeland which contains all the cutters so I won’t have to make my own templates, but even making those is not hard.

I also love making stollen– I am a bit of a marzipan addict I think! Plus it is a good way to use up dried fruit left over from Christmas cakes. The recipe I tried from the Baking Mad website is very easy, and could easily be left as a loaf instead of bites, and I also made stollen whirls one year (like cinnamon rolls).

Of course it would not be Christmas without a Christmas cake. Yum. Although that recipe can be made a long time in advance, it can also be made right before you eat it, so you still have time!

Mincemeat slices are another favourite of mine. I really like mincemeat (especially the meridian one) but I am not such a fan of pastry. A while ago I created these slices (you could leave the marzipan off and just dust with icing sugar) and they are lovely, and also pretty quick.

Fudge is always a great gift to make (I was so shocked when I saw the prices for home-made fudge at the Bath Christmas markets) and this recipe for Christmas pudding fudge is pretty easy to make. I find that if you let it get to the soft ball stage you have to turn it off right away, and don’t beat for too long- the longer you beat it the crumblier it will get (more like tablet), and I prefer it to have a softer texture. You can also adapt the recipe- leave out the Christmas pudding and add cranberries when you beat it, and then sprinkle some white chocolate chips on, or sprinkle some mint dark chocolate over the top. Basically whatever flavour you like you could make.

White chocolate and coconut fudge- pour half the fudge into a pan, sprinkle on white chocolate (it will melt), pour the rest of the fudge over, flatten down and sprinkle on coconut. 

Or how about some spiced nuts with cranberries and coconut? I made them again this year as gifts, and used a mixture of almonds, hazelnuts and brazil nuts. Very pretty too with the bright red cranberries.

Right, most of the packing is done now, so I am off to relax for a bit. One more day of work to go and then hopefully to enjoy the holidays! Have a fab week all (and don’t forget to sign up for the Jantastic team, Run Blog Bake! The more the merrier! And it is just for fun.

Happy Holidays everyone!