Christmas
Cake
Ingredients
225g/8oz plain flour
1/2 tsp mixed spice
200g/7oz butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp marmalade
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
200g/7oz dark brown sugar
2 tbsp black treacle
100g/3 1/2 oz chopped mixed peel
1/4tsp vanilla essence
800g/1 3/4 lb mixed dried fruits
150g/5oz glace cherries, halved
100g/3 1/2 oz blanched almonds, chopped
1 cup of brandy
Ingredients to Decorate the Christmas Cake:
1-2 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
Royal Icing
600g/1lb 5oz icing sugar, sieved
1 tbsp lemon juice
200g/7oz marzipan
3 egg whites
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas2. Grease a 20cm/8inch
round cake tin and line the bottom and sides with greaseproof
paper
2. Sieve the flour, salt, mixed spice and cinnamon into
a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl
and then mix in the sugar, treacle, marmalade and vanilla
essence until light and fluffy.
4. Mix the eggs a little at a time into the mixture adding
a tablespoon of flour mixture with the last amount.
5. Fold in the remaining flour mixture until well mixed
and then mix in the dried fruit, mixed peel, glace cherries
and the almonds.
6. Turn the mixture into the tin
7. Bake in the oven for 3 hours and then test with a skewer
or similar utensil. If not ready bake for up to another
hour testing every 15 minutes until the skewer comes out
clean.
8. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes.
9. Turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.
10. When cool, make a few holes in the cake with a cocktail
stick or skewer and pour over 3-4 tbspof brandy. Let the
brandy soak into the cake.
11. Storage: Wrap the cake in a double layer of greaseproof
paper and then in double foil and keep it in an airtight
container till needed.
Method to Decorate the Christmas Cake
1. Place the cake on a foil board or cake plate.
2. Dust your hands and the work surface with a little icing
sugar and knead the marzipan until soft.
3. Roll out half the marzipan to fit the top of the cake
and roll out the rest in strips to fit around the sides
of the cake.
4. Brush the cake all over with the warmed apricot jam and
then place the marzipan on top and around the cake.
5. Cover the cake with a clean tea towel and then leave
in a cool place for at least one day.
6. To make the icing, lightly whisk the egg whites adding
the sugar at intervals. Beat well until the icing reaches
soft peaks. Add the glycerine if using and the lemon juice.
7. Spread icing all over cake either flat iced using a clean
ruler or by forming soft peaks. Decorate with Christmas
ornaments.
Christmas Pudding Recipe
900g (2lb) Breadcrumbs
900g (2lb) Soft Brown Sugar
790g (1lb 12oz) Currants
900g (2lb) Suet, finely chopped
680g (1½lb) Raisins
450g (1lb) Sultanas
170g (6oz) Mixed Candied Peel Slices
150ml (¼ pint) Brandy.
1 Pint Stout
25g (1oz) Ground Nutmeg
3 Lemon Rinds
25g (1oz) Ground Cinnamon
15g (½oz) Ground Bitter Almonds
8 Eggs
Mix all the dry ingredients well together.
Moisten with the eggs, which should be well beaten, Stir
in the brandy, stout lemon rinds and juice and mix thoroughly.
Pour into a large greased Pudding Bowl. Cover with greaseproof
paper and tie with twine around rim of bowl. Boil from 6
to 8 hours. Serve with brandy sauce. Sufficient for 12 or
14 persons.
Christmas Mince Pies
Ingredients
8oz shortcrust pastry
3tbs mincemeat
1 egg white
1oz caster sugar
Method
Roll out the pastry thinly.
Cut out 12 rounds with a 2.5 inch cutter and 12 rounds with
a 2 inch cutter (for the lids).
Grease patty tins and press the larger rounds into them.
Place a little mincemeat into each.
Beat the egg white until it is frothy
Brush the edges of the filled pastry with egg white and
put on the pastry tops
Brush the tops with egg white and make a small hole with
a knife in the top of each pie.
Sprinkle with the castor sugar. Bake at 200 degrees C. for
about 25 minutes.
Turkey/Goose/Duck
The most important of our Christmas recipes centres around
the Christmas Dinner. Here are some tip to help you get
that perfect turkey or goose or duck.
- As a general guide, for a turkey under 4.5kg (9lb,
14oz), allow 45 minutes per kilogram, plus 20 minutes;
for one weighing between 4.5kg and 6.5kg (14lb 5oz),
allow 40 minutes per kilogram plus 20 minutes; and for
birds over 6.5kg, allow 35 minutes per kg in a (preheated)
oven at 180C/350F/ Gas 4.
- Goose should be cooked for 35 minutes per kilogram
at 220C/425F/Gas 7. Baste regularly.
- Duck should be cooked for 45 minutes per kilogram
at 200C/400F/Gas 6. Baste regularly.
- Fan-assisted ovens tend to cook foods more quickly
because of increased air circulation. Be sure to so
take this into account and check the manufacturer's
guidelines.
- Cover the bird loosely in foil before placing it in
the oven. This will allow the air to circulate and ensure
even cooking without over-browning. Remove the foil
for the last 40 minutes of cooking time to llow the
skin to brown.
- To test to see if the bird is completely cooked, insert
a clean skewer into the thickest part of the thigh.
If, after leaving for one minute, the juices run clear
the turkey is cooked. If the juices are still pink leave
a little longer.
- Allow the turkey to stand for at least 15-20 minutes
before carving.
- Remember on Christmas day power may be reduced slightly
because of a surge on the grid. This and regular opening
and closing of the oven door will also reduce the heat,
so you may need to adjust cooking time accordingly.
- When roasting your bird, try putting it upside down
on its breast so the juices from the back and legs run
down to the breast keeping it moist.
- If you're cooking a free-range bird, consider cooking
the legs (which cook more slowly) separately from the
breast. The legs of free-range birds tend to be tougher
and cooking it this way means that you won't end up
with dried-out breast and cooked legs - or perfectly
cooked breast and raw legs!
Boiled / Bakes Ham
Ingredients
5½ -7¼kg/12-16lb ham, soaked in cold water
for 24 hours, changing the water occasionally
2 onions, quartered
few cloves
few black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
4 tbsp English mustard225g/8oz demerara sugar, depending
on size of ham
300ml/½pint chicken stock (to make a gravy)
Method
1. Place the soaked ham in a large pan, with the onions,
cloves, peppercorns and bay leaf.
2. Cover with water, bring to the boil and skim away any
impurities.
3. Leave the ham to simmer, allowing 20 minutes per 450g(1lb).
4. Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
5. Once cooked, remove the ham from the pan and stand for
10-15 minutes before peeling away the skin.
6. The fat can be left as it is or scored, creating a diamond
pattern.
7. Brush the ham with mustard and sprinkle well with the
demerara sugar.
8. Bake the ham for 30-40 minutes taking care to baste the
ham with juices and the caramelised sugar.
9. Once golden, remove from the oven and rest for 15-30
minutes before carving, or leave until cold.
10. To make gravy, pour the chicken stock into the roasting
pan to lift any residue in the pan and simmer until reduced
by one-third to one-half and strain. Cooking time 1
to 2 hours.
Cashew Nut Roast with Sage and onion
stuffing
Ingredients
A sixth of a cup/30g/1oz of vegan margarine
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
1 medium leek, finely chopped
1 and a half cups of hot water
1 teaspoon of yeast extract (marmite, vegemite etc.)
3 cups/550g/16oz of ground cashew nuts (or other nuts of
your choice - almonds work well too)
2 Tablespoons of soya flour
2 teaspoons of fresh herbs - winter savoury is great (if
using dried 1 teaspoon)
3 cups/160g/6oz of white bread crumbs
seasalt and pepper to taste sage and onion stuffing (see
recipe further down the page)
Method
Melt the margarine (in a large pan for mixing) and cook
the celery and leek in it for a few minutes. Mix the yeast
extract into the hot water (alternatively you could use
any stock you like) and add this to the leek and celery.
Stir in the soya flour, nuts, herbs, breadcrumbs and salt
and pepper and mix well. Allow to cool slightly while you
grease a loaf tin. Place half the nut roast mixture in the
tin and press down well - then add the sage and onion stuffing
(pressing down well again) and place the rest of the nut
roast mixture on top. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes
at 180/360 then turn out of the tin and slice. Nice served
with all the traditional trimmings.
Variations:- you can substitute wine (red
or white) or soya milk for the water and yeast extract.
The sage and onion stuffing is optional - it works just
as well without it and might actually slice up easier! A
layer of sliced mushrooms and garlic is an alternative to
the stuffing.
Sherry Trifle
Ingredients
6 Trifle sponges
Raspberry Jam to taste (Have the pot of jam handy)
1 Raspberry Jelly (or whatever flavour is preferred)
1 pint of custard
Half cup of sherry
1 small tin of fruit coctail
1 pint of double cream
Method
Smear jam around the sides of a medium sized dessert bowl.
Split the sponges in half and smear each side with jam -
then press the jammed sides around the sides and bottom
of the bowl.
Dissolve the Jelly in three quarters of a pint of boiling
water and when dissolved, add the sherry to make up approximately
a pint of jelly liquid.
Pour over the sponges.
Drain off the liquid from the fruit cocktail and sprinkle
over the sponge and jelly.
Pour the pint of custard on top.
Leave to set overnight in the fridge.
Whip the cream and spread on the top before serving. Serves
6.
Cheese Cake
Ingredients
Eight ounce package of cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 can of cherry topping
Method
Cream cheese should be softened, either by taking out
of the refrigerator an hour or two before you intend to
begin or by microwave. Thoroughly mush the sour cream
with a fork; add sugar flour and salt and mush again.
The mixture should adopt an even consistency. Now add
the remaining ingredients (except cherries). Beat batter
with a beater to thoroughly mix ingredients. Pour into
a pie tin (or a cheesecake dish). Bake at 350 degrees
for about 45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting
toothpick. If pick comes out clean then cheesecake is
done. Let cake cool. When serving, cut in pie shape and
ladle on cherry topping.
