Christmas Bakes 2012
At the moment I'm on maternity leave so I've got more time then most to get stuck into making stuff. That said, I always find myself in a making mood at Christmas time and baking in particular gets me feeling festive. This year I tried a range of new stuff although I didn't take pictures of everything.
Firstly, I made mince pies using this recipe. I'm not a great lover of mince pies usually but this recipe by Nigella is fantastic. Rather than being too traditionally "fruity" this recipe is heavy on the cranberries and gives a different flavour. I loved the fact that they weren't too sweet, just deliciously tangy. The pastry is a bit of a faff (in and out of the fridge and the freezer) but it's worth it. Overall these were a big hit - perhaps too much of a hit with me - I couldn't stop eating them!
I also made my very first gingerbread house. In fact, I made three small ones, so that myself, my hubby and my daughter could all have a go at decorating them. My daughter was so pleased with hers that she left it out for Father Christmas to have as his snack. I used this recipe which I found on the BBC Good Food app (although I had to visit the full site to download the templates), it was easy to follow but I hadn't made gingerbread in such large quantities before, so working the "dough" was a bit tricky. Last year, I tried assembling a shop bought gingerbread house kit and had learnt that in order to get it to stay together, the royal icing has to be really stiff - too much water and you've had it! It was also important to do it in stages and let different parts set before moving on to the next bit. Unfortunately, we didn't have as wide a selection of sweets for decoration as I'd have liked but we found the roll out icing really useful. This was challenging (in a good way) and great fun to do as a family.
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Finally, I had a go at a proper yule log using this recipe by Mary Berry. It was my first swiss roll and I'm not sure if the texture of the sponge was completely correct. However, the rich chocolate ganache really hid any mistakes I'd made and this was truly delicious. I did have trouble piping the ganache onto the log as it kept sliding off. The recipe suggested coating the log with apricot jam to help it to stick. I did this but as I hate the taste of apricot jam on chocolate cake, I used less jam and mixed with a little water. Obviously, this didn't work too well but the whole thing was saved by using a fork to get the bark affect and then leaving in the fridge to set.
A yummy Christmas was had munching our way through these delicious recipes, I would definitely recommend them. Next time I'll take more pics to show you the finished results!
Firstly, I made mince pies using this recipe. I'm not a great lover of mince pies usually but this recipe by Nigella is fantastic. Rather than being too traditionally "fruity" this recipe is heavy on the cranberries and gives a different flavour. I loved the fact that they weren't too sweet, just deliciously tangy. The pastry is a bit of a faff (in and out of the fridge and the freezer) but it's worth it. Overall these were a big hit - perhaps too much of a hit with me - I couldn't stop eating them!
I also made my very first gingerbread house. In fact, I made three small ones, so that myself, my hubby and my daughter could all have a go at decorating them. My daughter was so pleased with hers that she left it out for Father Christmas to have as his snack. I used this recipe which I found on the BBC Good Food app (although I had to visit the full site to download the templates), it was easy to follow but I hadn't made gingerbread in such large quantities before, so working the "dough" was a bit tricky. Last year, I tried assembling a shop bought gingerbread house kit and had learnt that in order to get it to stay together, the royal icing has to be really stiff - too much water and you've had it! It was also important to do it in stages and let different parts set before moving on to the next bit. Unfortunately, we didn't have as wide a selection of sweets for decoration as I'd have liked but we found the roll out icing really useful. This was challenging (in a good way) and great fun to do as a family.
.JPG)
Finally, I had a go at a proper yule log using this recipe by Mary Berry. It was my first swiss roll and I'm not sure if the texture of the sponge was completely correct. However, the rich chocolate ganache really hid any mistakes I'd made and this was truly delicious. I did have trouble piping the ganache onto the log as it kept sliding off. The recipe suggested coating the log with apricot jam to help it to stick. I did this but as I hate the taste of apricot jam on chocolate cake, I used less jam and mixed with a little water. Obviously, this didn't work too well but the whole thing was saved by using a fork to get the bark affect and then leaving in the fridge to set.
A yummy Christmas was had munching our way through these delicious recipes, I would definitely recommend them. Next time I'll take more pics to show you the finished results!
I don't know if you did this but when I make a yule log I alway, put a clean damp tea cloth over it for nearly half an hour. It makes it bendier and then all you need to do is grab one end of the tea town to roll it up, much less cracking of the log :). Not sure if this is useful but there you go :D
ReplyDeleteJess x
By the way, the gingerbread houses look delicious. I had a disaster with one a couple of years ago. Got really angry and now refuse to try again. Seeing your I may try again!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jess, I will try the damp tea towel next time! You should definitely have another go at a gingerbread house - mini ones seem easier somehow and you can make a whole snowy village!!
ReplyDeleteI once made a Swiss roll in Germany in the 90s (no pun intended) was more of a Swiss square though. I might try again after this!
ReplyDeleteLaura, it's definitely time to try again! We'll have to pop round for a sample when you have a go x
ReplyDelete