Macaroon mince pies

I'd not baked for ages until last week.  There was a Mothers Union coffee morning after church, so I decided to bake some things for the cake stall. It was good to do some baking and it got me into the right frame of mind for making things for Christmas.  I made a chocolate cake and some macaroon mince pies.  These are good if you don't like too much pastry.


Macaroon Mince Pies 

Stamp 18 pastry rounds and place in 18 hole bun tin.
Mix 175gr/6oz golden caster sugar, 175gr/6oz ground almonds and 25gr/1oz flaked almonds
Stir in 3 stiffly beaten egg whites and half a teaspoon of almond essence.
Put 1 teaspoon mincemeat in each pie, top with 1 teaspoon macaroon mixture, finish with 50gr/2oz flaked almonds.
Bake in a preheated oven 180c/gas 6 for 12 to 15 minutes.

Bakeathon

I've been at bit busy for the last couple of weeks. Busy to the point of getting slightly stressed. I took on a baking challenge. I think actually that it was my suggestion, when my husband was counting off the days to his final day at work, that I could make cakes for him to take in for his work colleagues. He didn't want a fuss, no party or retirement buffet, so taking in cakes  seemed a good idea.  Until he said that I would need to cater for about 200 people.  I don't think I showed any emotion at that point. I just said that was fine, then I went away to a quiet place and inwardly screamed.

So I worked out a plan of action.  I would make tray bakes, which could be cut into small portions.  There would be no messy icing which would get damaged in transit and I would have to bake ahead and freeze some cakes.  I decided to make flapjacks, ginger cake, carrot cake, brownies, lemon drizzle cake and shortbread.  These were all tried and tested recipes which I felt confident with.

My husband said that they were a greedy lot at his work and loved cake.  So I then thought that one cake each might not be enough and that some greedy people would probably take two cakes. We realised  that I couldn't cope with  baking any more so to supplement the cakes we would also provide some boxes of chocolates.

After a few baking sessions I said I was fed up with baking and never wanted to see another cake again.  But I carried on.  Sometimes I baked in the morning, sometimes in the evening.  I got quite good at throwing a tray bake together in between doing some gardening and cooking the evening meal or collecting the grandchildren from school.

I kept running out of ingredients so I was constantly popping down to the shops for more supplies. I did start to wonder how many different sorts of sugar there were. There's caster sugar, golden caster sugar, demerara sugar, light soft brown, dark soft brown, light muscovado, dark muscovado.  I never seemed to have the right sort of sugar for the recipe. And eggs, I got through many boxes of eggs.

I did numerous calculations of how many pieces I would get out of the different cakes and when I finally finished the last baking session I had made just under 200 cakes.  Because he was also taking in some chocolates and because I had worked so hard and probably wouldn't want to bake again ever, I felt that I could justify keeping some of the cakes back for ourselves.  We were having visitors at the weekend after all. So at the final count he took in 140 cakes. Along with the chocolates that would satisfy the workers.

Did they like the cakes? Yes they did, they devoured them within ten minutes of them being put out in the kitchens. Will I ever bake again?  Yes I will, I have now mastered the art of rustling up a cake in a short space of time.  I don't recall anything in my marriage vows about baking cakes, but one of my friends said I had worked over and above the call of duty.  I did enjoy the challenge, but don't plan to do it again for a while.

Reflecting on December

I normally do an end of month reflection on the garden.  But really December in the garden hasn't been much different to November.  So I'm thinking here about what I've seen done and enjoyed generally in December.

In the garden a few more plants went brown and flopped, more leaves fell and covered everywhere and some flowers gave up trying to stay in bloom.  The weather  and  preparations for Christmas prevented me from going out doing much in the garden. I  swept up leaves from the paths and will probably continue to clear the borders of leaves during the winter months.  There is some colour around.  The yellow climbing rose at the front of the house which I normally cut back in the autumn to stop it being blown about by the wind is still flowering.  There are bright spots of orange from the calendula which I neglected to cut back, some lovely foliage colour from the grasses and hardy geraniums and  the winter jasmine is now in flower.

The house has been full of activity.  It's been a time for working through jobs lists, for shopping, for baking lovely food, making Christmas decorations and remembering people you only think about once a year when you send and receive Christmas cards.  There have been lovely times with family, carol concerts and nativities with the grandchildren who live nearby and visits from the ones who live far away, tinged with sadness because we don't see them often enough.  The house has been and still is full of colour, sparkle and twinkling lights.  In a few days times all that will be gone and we will move on and make plans for the new year.

Hoping you all enjoyed Christmas and wishing you a peaceful and happy 2012.

Christmas biscuits

A last minute recipe for some really yummy biscuits.  These are really easy to make and would be great for the festive period if you need to stock up on biscuits.

I tweaked the original recipe which used blueberries.  I also put edible glitter in with the caster sugar  to sprinkle on top of the biscuits and add extra sparkle.


Christmas biscuits

175g plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
110g butter
110g caster sugar plus extra for sparkling
grated rind of 1 lemon
75gr dried cranberries
1 egg beaten

1. Sift the flour and spice into a large bowl.  Add butter and rub in with your fingertips. Stir in the sugar, lemon rind and cranberries, then add the egg  and mix to a firm dough.

2. Knead the dough briefly  on a lightly floured surface and shape into a sausage about 20cm long and 5cm wide. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for an hour or in the freezer for half an hour.

3.Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 (180c) and lightly grease a large baking tray. Unwrap the chilled dough and cut into 5mm thick slices.  Put them on the baking sheet, space a  little apart.

4. Bake the biscuits for 15-18 mins until they are pale golden in colour.  Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, sprinkle with a little caster sugar and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Too much to do

This is such a busy time, so much to do and so many  things I want to do. I start off with  plans, but never really achieve all of them.  Perhaps I set myself too many targets.

There were all the crafty things I was going to make for school and church Christmas fairs, well those didn't happen. Then it was  things for the home I  wanted to make.  I was watching Kirsty Allsopp's 'Handmade Christmas' on TV the other week and decided I would  make a vintage heart garland. I have all the fabric ready, but not enough time to make it.

This week I'm watching  all the Christmas cookery programmes on TV ( aren't there a lot of them?) and I'm wanting to make so many delicious looking things. A couple of days ago  I baked. I started with a plan--a list of things to bake,  but only managed  half of it. But I did make mince pies,  flapjacks, carrot cake and a deliciously, boozy, fruity chocolate made from the  left over fruit from the blackberry and raspberry gin which I bottled up last weekend. ( I think that recipe comes from Alys Fowler).  I watched Nigel Slater's 'Simple Christmas' and now I want to make those fruit and nut flapjacks. And I've just watched Kirsty Allsopp's 'Home for Christmas'  (that woman has a lot to answer for!)  Now I want to make a yule log!
 
But  there's still time yet to do more so who knows what I will create.

Home made Christmas

I like to have some home made goodies in the house at Christmas time. They're always useful as Christmas presents. This year I've potted up some Hyacinths, hopefully for flowering at Christmas.  These are going to some friends who I meet up with once a month.  We like to exchange little gifts at Christmas but don't spend a lot.  Then there's the blackberry or raspberry gin which I have yet to strain and bottle up. But I might keep that for the family who I think are looking forward to sampling it!

In the next two weeks  I shall be making fudge, chocolate truffles, and shortbread.  These are lovely packaged up into little boxes or bags and tied up with Christmas ribbon.  Lakeland do some good presentation bags and boxes.  You can make your own boxes or save little boxes to cover with pretty paper.

Last year I made some white chocolate and cranberry fudge.  I thought I'd lost the recipe, but searched on the Internet and found it. It's a Tesco recipe and looks really Christmassy in cellophane bags tied with ribbon. This is great to make for Christmas fairs and coffee mornings, as presents for teachers or friends or just to eat yourself and enjoy!

White chocolate and cranberry fudge

Ingredients

• 350g (12oz) granulated sugar
• 25g (1oz) unsalted butter
• 175ml (6fl oz) can evaporated milk
• 100g (3½oz) dried sweetened cranberries
• 300g (10oz) white chocolate, chopped

What to do

• Cut a piece of baking parchment large enough to line a shallow 25x20cm (10x8in) baking tin or a 1kg (2lb) loaf tin.
• Put the sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in a large heavy-based pan. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved completely.
• Bring to the boil, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. It is a good idea to set a timer for this.
• Immediately remove from the heat then add the cranberries and chocolate. Allow the chocolate to melt, then quickly stir the mixture and pour straight into the tin. It will thicken immediately.
• Spread into the tin and chill for an hour or so until firm. Cut into squares.
• Use a piece of card to make a festive box for the fudge. Line with baking parchment, decorate with ribbon, and attach a message.

• Cost per box: £2·16
• Makes: 500g (1lb)
• Takes: 20mins + 1hr chilling time

So many apples

We have a Bramley apple tree in our garden, which must be quite old as we've lived here for 27 years and it was here when we moved in. Despite its age it still produces lots of apples each year. And each year I struggle to use up all those apples.  They do at least  provide lots of food for the birds throughout the winter. As the apples fall to the ground, I collect any good ones and the rest are left for the birds.  The birds love rotting apples. The good apples left on the tree my husband picks.  We usually end up with several baskets of apples. Some are given away to friends, family  and neighbours, the rest we keep and I try to store them as best as I can.

I'm now at the stage of finding different ways of cooking these apples.
Sometimes I do baked apples. I core them and fill the centres with sultanas, raisins, currants and some syrup or honey. Yesterday I made an Apple Cake using a recipe from Greenside Up. This was easy to make and tasted yummy. I would recommend you try it.

Apple cake

I also made a Spiced Apple and Raisin Crumble based on a Delia Smith recipe but I adapted it slightly.  I put this in the freezer.

 Spiced apple and raisin crumble

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 350F (180C)

1lb/11/2lb (450 gr)  Bramley apples, peeled and sliced
1oz (25g)soft brown sugar
 1/4  teaspoon cloves
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 oz (75g)  raisins
2 tablespoon water

Place the apples, raisins, sugar and spices in a dish, sprinkle with the water.

For the crumble topping:

6oz  (175 g)plain flour
3oz  (75g )butter
3oz ( 75g) soft brown sugar

Place the flour in a mixing bowl, add the butter and rub into the flour lightly, using your fingertips.  When it looks crumbly, add the sugar.
Sprinkle the crumble mixture all over the fruit in the dish.
Place the crumble dish in the centre of the oven and bake for about 40 mins or until the apples are cooked and the top is slightly brown.

Does anyone else have any good ways of using up apples?

Yummy rhubarb

When I picked some rhubarb from the allotment the other day, I remembered that years ago I used to make a lovely spicy crumble. I searched my recipes and was amazed to find I still had the original recipe in an old and battered scrapbook. It really is delicious especially with cream, but also lovely with custard, ice cream, or on its own. So here it is, sorry there are no metric measurements, but it is an old recipe.

Spicy rhubarb crumble

Ingredients

1-1 ½ lb rhubarb

1oz brown sugar (demerara or light brown, not the very dark kind)

¼ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

For the crumble topping:

3oz flour

3oz brown sugar

2oz butter

Pinch of salt

¼ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 400 gas mark 6.

Wash and slice the rhubarb into 1inch lengths then put this into a pie dish

and sprinkle with 1oz of brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon of ginger and the same of nutmeg.

For the crumble top, mix the flour, sugar, salt and spices together, add the butter and work together until the mixture is crumbly.

Then spread it over the rhubarb in the dish so that the fruit is completely covered.

Place in the oven on a baking tray and cook for about 30—40minutes or until the fruit is cooked and the top well browned.

Serve warm or cold.

I've since realised that the crumble mix ingredients need to be doubled in order to completely cover the fruit

Cheese and Vegetable Bake

I found a great recipe today for a vegetable bake which used most of the vegetables I had picked recently from the allotment.  It was delicious and got the thumbs up from my husband, so I thought I would share it with you.


Cheese and Vegetable bake


  Ready in 1 hour 30  mins

Ingredients

Serves: 4

• 4 to 5 potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 50g (2 oz) butter
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 (200g) bag curly kale
• 1 leek, sliced into rings
• 1/2 (300g) bag trimmed green beans
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• For the cheese sauce:
• 15g (1/2 oz) butter
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 250ml (8 fl oz) milk
• 200g (7 oz) mature Cheddar cheese, grated

 

Preparation method

Prep:30  mins | Cook:1 hour

1.

Preheat oven for 180 C / Gas mark 4.

2.

Place half of the potatoes in a large baking dish. Sprinkle the chopped shallots over the top, along with knobs of butter. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the curly kale, leek, green beans and cauliflower.

3.

To make the cheese sauce, heat the butter over medium heat in a frying pan. Add the flour and stir with the butter to combine well. Slowly add the milk to the pan, stirring constantly to ensure a smooth mixture. Reduce heat to low and add half of the cheese. Stir until cheese has melted, remove from heat and pour 3/4 of the mixture over the vegetables.

4.

Layer the remaining potatoes on top of the cheese sauce and vegetables. Cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until vegetables are tender and cheese is crisp.

I halved the quantities because there were only 2 of us, but used the same amount of sauce and it was enough but not too much, so you may need to increase the amount of cheese sauce for 4 people.

I didn't have the green beans so I substituted with broccoli.  Also I parboiled the potatoes for a few minutes, just enough to be able to slice them, because they can take some time to cook.  I think you could adapt this recipe to use  any other vegetables.