The 11th bite of Christmas ... Strawberry Marshmallow Santas #12BitesOfChristmas

Pin It The 11th bite is one of the cutest, and the simplest ...

Ho ho ho - Merry Christmas!!!

… and more an artist’s impression of Santa Claus rendered in good things rather than a recipe.  Below is how I did it. You may prefer to look at the photo and figure out your own unique strawberry Santa. 

To produce these ones, I used...

Large ripe strawberries

Marshmallows for the face

Bits of liquorice for the eyes and nose

Desiccated coconut for the beard

Whipped cream for the face, beard, pompom (and 'gluing' the bits of Santa together)

Blueberries for the boots – cut them into quarters.

Cut the bottoms off a punnet of large ripe strawberries, so that they have a flat base to stand on.

Slice off the pointy end, about 1/3 of the way from the tip. This will form the hat.

Sit the fat end of the strawberry on a plate. Pipe a little whipped cream onto the upturned face of the strawberry. Top with half a marshmallow – cut it if necessary so that it is about the same size as the upturned face of the strawberry. Press it into place. Add a little more whipped cream on top and place a strawberry ‘hat’ on top. Pipe cream onto the marshmallow ‘face’, giving an impression of a beard.

Sprinkle the beard with desiccated coconut, then press the bits of liquorice into place for the eyes and nose.

Place two quarter blueberries at the base of the strawberry so that they look like shiny boots. (They won't stay there when the Santa is picked up, but they look great until the moment of eating and people tend to collect them up and eat them). 

Pipe a little whipped cream on top of the hat to form a pompom.

Repeat until someone hands you a glass of wine and offers to take over. Merry Christmas!!!

Hmmm - some you win, some you lose - the one on the left looks more like Santa's dog!!!

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For the third bite of Christmas the treat I've made for thee is... Julia Yates' Parkin #12BitesOfChristmas

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For the third bite of Christmas the treat I've made for thee is...

Sticky, spicy, special, and full of laughter and stories

This is a recipe from a lovely English lady I knew, Julia Yates, whose kitchen always smelled of something good. Julia made a supply of her special Parkin every Christmas and served this sticky, spicy treat with tea or something stronger, and always with a kind heart, stories and lots of laughter. Sadly Julia passed away a few years ago but her recipe still lives on.

Julia Yates’ Parkin

For 24 servings you will need…

350g plain flour

350g medium oatmeal or rolled oats

275g soft dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

15g baking powder

10g bicarbonate of soda

5g table salt

150g golden syrup

150g dark treacle (or molasses)

275g butter

2 large eggs

Optional extras

I added a lump of stem ginger, finely chopped, with about a tablespoon of its syrup to add to the gingeriness.

Lightly butter and base line a 30cm X 23cm baking tin and pre-heat the oven to 150°C.

Mix together the first 7 (dry) ingredients in a large bowl.

Melt...

In a medium saucepan, over a low heat melt together the golden syrup, treacle and butter.

Add the 2 eggs to the dry ingredients and mix well. Then add in the contents of the saucepan and mix until combined. Transfer to the prepared baking tin and level the surface. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes. The cake is ready when a cocktail stick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Don't worry if it doesn't rise very much. It is meant to be sticky and brownie-like in texture.

Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares and store in an airtight container. Now the difficult bit - ignore for at least 3 days - longer if possible. During this time a wonderful alchemy takes place and the flavours become richer and deeper, though I understand perfectly if you can’t resist!

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Chocolate Orange Mincemeat – shouts Christmas louder than a chorus of drunken carollers

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For me, chocolate and orange are the two flavours that sing out louder than a chorus of drunken carollers “Christmas is Here! Christmas is Here! “ And guess what? They absolutely love each other’s company.

This year I went through my (now dog-earred) copy of The Flavour Thesaurus and picked out other flavours that adore chocolate and like to hang out with each other as well.  

Don't be put off by the list of ingredients - it's mostly an assembly job.

See? Assembly job!

For approximately 4 jars of mincemeat, you will need...
... to pre-heat the oven to 180°C   

300g sultanas

100g ready-to-eat prunes (e.g. no stone), finely chopped

100g dried sour cherries (or dried cranberries), finely chopped

300g ready-to-eat dried apricots, finely chopped

100g mixed peel (this is finely chopped candied peel of oranges and lemons)

100g walnuts, finely chopped

220g dark brown sugar

200g grated apple (I used Granny Smiths)

125g butter, cut into cubes

finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange

finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)

5 coriander seeds, crushed (or ¼ teaspoon ground coriander)
3 allspice berries, crushed (or ground allspice, but not mixed spice)

2 whole cloves, crushed

2 teaspoons cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons Cointreau (or other orange liqueur) + an additional 2 tablespoons to stir in at the end 

Method

Mix all the ingredients together in a large oven-proof dish with a lid. Cover and place in the preheated oven and cook gently for 3 hours, stirring every half hour or so (set a timer... )

When the cooking time has elapsed, remove from the oven and allow to cool, stirring briefly every half hour until cold. This keeps the butter evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Finally, stir the remaining 2 tablespoons of Cointreau (or other orange liqueur) into the cooled mixture before sealing in clean, dry jars.

It will keep well for up to a year in a cool dark place or in the fridge - but I can’t really see the point in that!

With these fairy-size piece, you can eat three without a hint of guilt!

For the fairy-sized mince pies in the photos, stamp out rounds of short crust pastry using a 5cm (2 inch) scone cutter and use them to line a mini-muffin tin. Fill them to the top with the cooked, cooled mixture. Bake for about 10 minutes at 180°C. 

For regular-sized mince pies, use a 7.5cm cutter (2½ inch) for the base and a 6cm cutter (2¼ inch) for the lids. Fill, seal and bake for 20 – 25 minutes at 165°C or until a pale golden brown. Remember to poke two holes in the top of each with a sharp knife to let the steam out and stop them bursting open.

I prefer my mince pies warm from the oven (the microwave is death to pastry) with a swirl of fresh cream. A touch of Cointreau in the cream is optional.

It's snowing!

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Pecan and Sour Cherry Mincemeat (and pies) - so good they ought to be banned !

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So delicious it ought to be banned!

More than a Ho Ho Ho! from a fat man in a red suit… more than a chorus of The Holly and The Ivy… Mince Pies shout “Hey everyone, Christmas is here. Par-ty!” I love them.

These little pies-with-personality have evolved a bit since they first arrived in England, brought back by returning Crusaders. Originally they contained meat, along with the dried fruits and spices we still use today.

The first written record appears in 1557 – the same year they became an endangered species. The puritan, Oliver Cromwell, decided at this point to put a damper on Christmas  - which he felt had become associated with drunkeness and gluttony. He abolished all fun and feasting associated with the event, outlawing (so legend has it) the mince pie. Christmas festivity was restored with return of the monarchy in 1660. Phew!

By Victorian times, meat had more or less vanished from the pie (although some still include beef suet to this day).

Santa is rather partial to a mince pie or two, and you are supposed to make a wish on biting into your first. Also, apparently it is bad luck to refuse the first offered to you – but I don’t think I’ve ever refused a (homemade) mince pie so that’s not something I need to fret about.

This year, the recipe is a little different to my usual one. I was in my mother’s house when a mince pie craving struck and there were a couple of interesting substitutions as she didn’t have all the ingredients. I think I like this mixture even better.

Add some zest...

For about 4 jars of Pecan and Sour Cherry mincemeat (1.5kg in total) you will need...

... to pre-heat the oven to 100°C

300g sultanas, raisins or currents (or a mixture of all 3)

300g ready-to-eat dried apricots, finely diced

100g dried sour cherries

220g honey

100g mixed peel

50g pecans, finely chopped

50g slivered almonds

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 whole cloves – crushed to a powder

200g apple, grated

125g butter, cut into cubes

grated peel and juice of 1 large orange

grated peel and juice of 1 lemon

6 tablespoons Metaxa (or Brandy, or Whiskey)

an additional 2 tablespoons of Metaxa (or whatever alcohol you choose), to stir in at the end

Measure. Mix. Mmmmm...

Mix all the ingredients together in a large oven proof dish (with a lid). Cover and place in the preheated oven and cook gently for 3 hours, stirring every half hour or so.

When the cooking time has elapsed, remove from the oven and allow to cool, stirring briefly every half hour until cold.

Finally, stir the remaining 2 tablespoons of Metaxa (or Brandy, or Whiskey) into the cold mixture before sealing in clean, dry jars.

I usually have a jar or so left over (for non-seasonal mince pie cravings). I find it keeps well for up to a year in a cool dark place or in the fridge (if my sisters don't discover it).

Merry Mincepies Everyone!

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To make the pies, pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Line a bun tin with shortcrust pastry. Fill with mincemeat. Cover with a pastry lid and seal the edges before punturing to allow steam to escape while cooking. My sister skips the top layer of pastry, preferring to bury the mincemeat in a layer of chopped almonds. Delicious!

(For filo pastry pies, cut into squares a little larger than the hollows of the bun tin. Brush with melted butter and add another layer, slightly off-set. Repeat with a third layer to form a rough star shape. Press into the hollows of the bun tin and fill with Christmas mincemeat. Leave the pies open or twist the edges together to make little purses.

For puff pastry pies, I cut squares, leaving enough overhang to draw the corners together in the middle before sealing the edges.)

Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little before serving with a dusting of snowy icing sugar and a swirl of whipped cream. 

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Wishing you a delicious Christmas and a tasty 2014 !

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