Mincemeat Bread and Butter Pudding

Overdue post alert!!!!!!!!!

Now that’s dealt with let’s move on.

This recipe is one that I have been DIEING to cook since Christmas, but you know what? It turns out you CAN have too much of a good thing, and despite everyone telling me how delicious my mincemeat was, they didn’t want to eat mincemeat leftovers. No-sir-y-bob!

In their defence, I think we only got rid of the last of our Christmas mince pies about a week ago. This is down to two main things. Firstly, most of my family were trying to “be good” this Christmas – aka not stuff their faces with all the delicious treats I had made them. And secondly, we tend to make at least two batches on Christmas Eve. This results in many leftover mince pies as people are far too full after Christmas Day/Boxing Day/all the parties in between, to gorge themselves on these little morsels of joy.

Their loss, not mine.

But hey-ho, you live and learn! Note to self: make less mince pies next year.

If you, like me, have found yourself still left with Christmas leftovers in the form of jars and jars of mincemeat, have no fear, because I have just the recipe for you.

I actually managed to serve this up in front of my parents by NOT mentioning the C-word. No, not that C word, I mean CHRISTMAS! Whenever I had mentioned making a Mincemeat Bread and Butter Pudding before, it had always been as a Christmas dish. Something to replace the Christmas Pudding with, or to serve with brandy butter in the main special dinners that make up the Christmas period. Consequently, as we moved further and further into January my parents didn’t want to hear the C word mentioned again, let alone eat anything that tasted so...Christmassy!

So, I had to disguise it!

Fortunately for me, my mincemeat recipe is choc-full of delicious fruits. I helped lift these flavours from the mincemeat by adding the zest of lemons and oranges giving it a lighter, more vibrant flavour. The light, gooey bread and butter texture was still present, but this complemented the succulent mincemeat within, rather than being dominated by it.

They were half way through their bowls before anyone even noticed what I had done! I had successfully served up Christmas in a bowl exactly 4 weeks after the big event.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is dedicated to a rather special niece of mine!
Phoebe, I hope you enjoy cooking these with Daddy.

Forgive me for not calling this something super exciting. You may think there’s not much razzle dazzle in a recipe simply called Chocolate Chip Cookies, but this recipe my friend, does what it says on the tin!

In the UK at Christmas we tend to leave out mince pies and brandy for Santa Claus, other countries however seem to think Santa would prefer milk and cookies... I thought this year I would give him the option and so I set about developing a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies that were fit for the big man himself – Father Christmas!

America to me is the home of cookies. Any American food blog will have a wide variety of cookie creations, from the plain and simple, to those bedecked with sprinkles and glitter, some will have grown up flavours, and others will be jam packed with kid’s favourite sweets. I needed a happy medium.

America also has one great advantage over England in the cookie stakes, and it’s something I’m seriously envious about...Green and red chocolate chips! When making a chocolate chip cookie for Santa, I didn’t want to just use plain chocolate chips, and after a day or two trawling the internet discovered I would have to have festive ones shipped in.

I appreciate for all of my English readers, paying a fortune for chocolate chips to be flown over from America is far from ideal, or even a realistic option, so feel free to substitute in ANY chocolate chips you feel like! I have tried this recipe with every chocolate chip going and they taste amazing no matter what.

Once my American chocolate chips had arrived to the party, it was simply a case of making them...easier said than done when it’s Christmas Eve and you have been at work since 7am, still have to make the Christmas Day starter, stuffing, mince pies, home-made ice cream and MORE!

But hey...Santa deserves the best!

I took another tip from America when baking these cookies and this time it wasn’t advice on the type of chocolate chip to use, it was about the baking method.

In the past, I have tried spooning my mixture on to the tray and letting the cookies cook somewhat “free form”. But higgledy piggledy cookies won’t suffice for Santa. They had to be perfect rounds. So here’s my tip, from America and me to you. Roll out an inch of the cookie mix into a ball in your hands, and place on your cookie sheet (or baking tray) roughly 1-2 inches apart and bake! You might be thinking – “but I don’t want cookies balls” – but as they cook they will sink down and spread out into perfectly circular cookies. Genius!

Once you’ve given them their cooking time (don’t be tempted to cook for longer than golden brown) and they have been left to cool, you will be presented with the perfect chocolate chip cookies, fit for Santa (or any other guests for that matter...)

Bubble and Squeak

The 27th of December - for me, the first day I finally get to sit down and rest. (Well as much rest as can be achieved while revising for Law School.)

The Christmas period is certainly a busy one. Tonight we are entertaining my sisters new boyfriend who is visiting from Nottingham - aka Christmas 2. Tomorrow I will be at Jon's house for Christmas 3 as his sister and brother-in-law come to stay. On Saturday there's another family party to attend before yet MORE family coming to stay on the 30th! And despite all of this, we still seem to have WAY too much food in our fridge! You'd think we didn't feed our guests.

Taking a little respite today, my mother and I decided to try and make a dent on the leftovers in fridge.

We came across cooked parsnips, peas, sweetcorn, roast potatoes and loads of carrots. This means one thing in our house - bubble and squeak.

For those of you who don't know, bubble and squeak is a traditional English a shallow fried potato cake filled with other vegetables leftover from a roast dinner.

For those of you who believe in the saying "waste not, want not" this recipe is for you!

Christmas Canapés – Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese / Brie and Cranberry Blinis



Morning guys and girls! Has anyone else noticed? Christmas party season has begun!!!



Canapés on the Christmas buffet table

We kicked off the party season on Sunday evening with our first festive party of the year. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents all came round to celebrate my Granddad’s birthday and the beginning of the Christmas celebrations.

It will come as no surprise to you guys that my family does Christmas big time. For Christians there is truly something worth celebrating at Christmas and although all of the children of the family keep getting older and older (heck, I’m one of the youngest and I’m 22 next month) Christmas gets bigger and bigger every year! Who said Christmas was just for kids?!

With 20 people descending on our house on a Sunday afternoon/eve food was going to require a bit of preparation. So I sent the parents off to church (it is advent after all) while I stayed at home to get on with the cooking.

This is the first a series of posts. Next to come is a Spinach and Ricotta Pie, and mini-Christmas cakes (the perfect bite sized treat to finish off any Christmas buffet!) But I must admit I do feel a little cheeky posting this “recipe” at all! I think it could probably be better described as arty assembly. Nonetheless, I’m a firm believer that the key to a successful buffet is keeping the cooking simple, but the flavours exciting! You want every mouthful to memorable and hopefully I achieved that this weekend.

So...what are my Christmas Canapés?

I chose to do my canapés in two different flavours. Although smoked salmon and cream cheese is a classic this time of year (I don’t think I know anyone who DOESN’T have smoked salmon as a starter on Christmas Day) I wanted to provide a choice, in particular for those guests who are vegetarian. What’s more Christmassy and veggie friendly than brie and cranberry?

Baked Pasta Florentine

These last few weeks really have been all about clearing out the cupboards and fridge – partly in preparation for all of the yummy Christmas food that we’re slowly starting to build up. Over the last two weeks I’ve posted two risotto recipes, one for Chicken and Tomato Risotto and another for Sausage and Asparagus Risotto both of which went down really well! But with Christmas shopping, Law Exams (Im officially two exams closer to being a solicitor!) and keeping down a part time job, it's been really hard to stick to any sort of meal plan and our fridge is looking a little sad and lost.

 Yet again this week we had a number of ingredients sat at the back of the cupboard that desperately needed eating up in particular spinach and eggs. I’ve always thought that spinach and eggs were a GREAT combination! Whether you’re making eggs Benedict, a spinach omelette, or even on a pizza... Who else loves the Fiorentina pizza in Pizza Express? And it seems that the people of Florentine agree so this dish is inspired by them. It may not be traditional, but it’s my twist on their way of cooking.

With all of these dishes in mind I decided to come up with a pasta dish that would be rich and filling, without going straight to your hips. Portion control is key with this dish; with the cracked egg oozing on top you don’t need to pile your plate high with the pasta underneath, and a little cream goes a long way. We are not looking to have a thick sumptuous sauce, but instead a flavoursome coating which brings all the ingredients together. If you are extra careful and make substitutions like 1 cal spray instead of olive oil, and use a low-fat cream this doesn’t have to spell the end of a diet.

Spiced Cranberry Chutney

An extra large jar of Spiced Cranberry Chutney
ready for some cheese!

This is my second venture into the Christmas kitchen this year and yet again it involves a couple of jars!
I’ve been thinking about “dabbling” in preserves since the summer. In the past we’ve ended up with a huge glut of fruit and I was looking forward to attempting to make jam for the first time. But, summer came and went, and in true British style the weather was disappointing. We had hardly any raspberries on our canes this year so my new jam thermometer never got a look in.

But, as we get ever closer to Christmas, I’ve begun to find festive uses for the jam jars I have collected.

First I attempted my own mincemeat perfect for mince pies and other festive favourites. The recipe was super simple, and I managed to get an airtight seal! Woo hoo! Not too bad for a first attempt.

This time I thought I’d try something a little bit different.

At Christmas my family gets through an UNHOLY amount of Cheese; cheeses of all kinds, from soft to smelly, sheep to goat. Last year my Dad’s present from my sister and I was actually a Cheese hamper complete with 5 types of cheese 2 chutneys and a plumb bread. You can buy these hampers from farmers markets and supermarkets alike but I started to think...how hard can it REALLY be to make chutney?! As it turns out, it’s not very hard at all.

When coming up for the flavour combination, I wanted something that didn’t just go well with cheese, but something that well and truly said CHRISTMAS! So my starting point was cranberries. As I searched the internet for basic cranberry chutney I was a bit concerned about how I would actually find fresh cranberries. Turns out...that’s also pretty damn easy! Who would’ve thought they can found in the fresh fruit isle of Sainsbury’s in a plastic bag by the nuts.

Well that was the first hurdle overcome. Next I had to decide what else I would but in the chutney. For a truly festive flavour it had to be cinnamon, nutmeg and a touch of ginger. This combined with the basic chutney mix (the fruit, red wine vinegar, a little onion) seemed like a good place to start, but I didn’t want to play it too safe. So, to give the chutney an extra kick, you can also find a red chilli in the ingredients list. This works really well to give the chutney a bit of excitement without drowning out the mellow Christmas spices.

National Cupcake Week 17th - 24th September: A cupcake round-up!

It’s that time of year again where you get to gorge yourself on lots of naughty, but pretty treats all in the name of supporting a national celebration week. And what exactly is it we are celebrating………CUPCAKES!

Unfortunately this year I have been celebrating from the side-lines! As close as I got to a cupcake was baking a few batches for a Macmillan Nurses Coffee Morning fundraiser, but even so, I thought I could contribute something to the table.

So here is a round-up of all of the cupcake-y goodness that I've brought to you in the past. They are some of my favourite recipes to cook and share, so please give them a go and share the cupcake love!

Enjoy!

First things first, you’ll need a basic fairy cake recipe! This is my go to recipe for any cakey needs.

These Lemon and Poppy Seed Cupcakes are the perfect grown up cake for a more sophisticated bake.

Kids and grown ups alike will LOVE these American inspired Oreo cupcakes

These Elderflower and Gooseberry Butterfly Cakes won a competition last year! Therefore this recipe is a must have in any cupcake collection.

My Lemon Meringue Cupcakes really are a show stopper!

This is my most favourite recipe EVER – the bakewell muffin is heaven on a plate!

One of my favourite muffin recipes, this is a twist on the classic American muffin – Blueberry and Lemon Curd muffins.

Not quite a cupcake, but these Miniature Carrot Cakes would look good on any cake stand

For a more deep and sophisticated flavour, look no further than my caramel cupcake recipe

The perfect cupcake for Christmas hosting – my After Dinner Mint cupcakes.

Another Christmassy cake, perfect for kids, red velvet Rudolfcupcakes

And that completes my cupcake-y round up for National Cupcake Week! I hope they have inspired you to get creative in the kitchen!

Mince Pies

Happy Christmas Eve fellow food lovers! Tis the season to be jolly...and eat lots of mince pies!

Every Christmas Eve I take part in two of my favourite food traditions! With my Dad, I get up super-early and go to the Butchers to get our Turkey and other meaty-trimmings, then in the afternoon/evening we make mince pies!

If you haven't made any yet, there is still time to make them before Santa comes! I know, normally I work 'til 5pm on Christmas Eve and still manage to get a batch in before we head off out to our annual Christmas party at a family friends. So if you've got an hour to spare follow the recipe below and you will have beautiful mince pies, better than any shop bought variety!

Here's the recipe...