As cliched as it sounds, I have to say it: Christmas is my favourite time of year. My countdown starts pretty much when the clocks change, as the dark nights start to creep in and the cold begins to bite. I’ve grown to love all the little traditions we have built up as a family. Unearthing the ancient cardboard box that has kept all our decorations safe for the past 20 years. Carefully unwrapping the even older collection of ragged paper snowflakes, and pinning them over the windows. Then there’s the trip to buy the Christmas tree. My mum will spend weeks hunting around for a bargain. This had led to many a cold, drizzly Christmas Eve spent haggling with the woman off the motorway layby, who never budges. We always go home having paid too much. Hey, nothing says “peace and goodwill to all men” like late-night deals on the M25.
Then there’s the food: those comforting, warm scents of spice and citrus and booze. The mountain of mince pies and cream that sees me through to my roly-poly January. Every year, I write an overly ambitious list of everything I plan to make: panettone, stollen, stained-glass biscuits, Christmas cake, gingerbread houses (the plan is for a whole village this year – don’t worry, it’s not an abandoned Chinese fishing village), getting the recipe right for the perfect mince pie. I never seem to get it all done, though. All those mugs of mulled wine and cider probably don’t help. Christmas lunch at ours is a pretty traditional affair; no twists on the classics here, just my mum preparing a monumental feast with everything done to perfection. Mum is fiercely protective of the kitchen, but she’ll let me in to do a bit of baking and a few of the trimmings. This prompts the annual argument with my sister: “Why are you being such a ponce? NO ONE makes their own stuffing!” It always miraculously disappears off the table, though.
Festive croquembouche
This is the perfect alternative centrepiece for your Christmas table. Most of the elements can be made in advance and then assembled on the day except for the spun sugar – it will quickly start to break down, so it should be the last thing you do before serving.
For the choux pastry:
290g strong white bread flour
270g water
180g whole milk
220g unsalted butter
5 large eggs, beaten
¼ tsp salt
For the hazelnut praline paste:
220g hazelnuts
180g caster sugar (more for extra caramel)
For the chocolate praline creme patissiere:
550g whole milk
550g double cream
75g cornflour
8 large egg yolks
375g hazelnut praline paste (see above)
150g caster sugar
200g dark chocolate
For the sugared almonds and caramel decorations:
200g whole blanched almonds
1.5kg caster sugar
Green, red and yellow food colouring
Make the choux by adding the butter, salt, milk and water together and bring to the boil. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough has formed. Continue to beat for three to five minutes to get rid of as much moisture as possible.
Allow to cool and then gradually add the beaten egg. It is ready to pipe once it leaves a “v” behind on the spoon – you may need to adjust the amount of egg for the correct consistency.
Pipe blobs on to baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake at 200C fan/220C/gas mark 7 for 12 minutes, then turn the trays around and bake for a further six minutes.
Once out of the oven, poke a hole in the bottom of each bun to allow the steam to escape.
Roast the hazelnuts and almonds for eight minutes at 180C/160 fan/gas mark 4.
Make the caramel for the hazelnut praline by dissolving the sugar with a little water in a saucepan. Then boil the syrup until it is a deep amber colour. Pour over the hazelnuts, allow to cool, then blitz to a paste in a food processor.
Make the creme patissiere by mixing all the ingredients together in a saucepan and stirring over a medium heat until thickened. As the crème patissiere cools, stir in the chocolate.
Fill the choux buns by piping the crème patissiere in with a piping bag and nozzle.
Make up another batch of caramel and use this to assemble the croquembouche: dip a choux bun into the caramel and gradually build up the shape. You can do this on a mould to help support the structure (be careful not to burn yourself!
Stick a toothpick into each of the roasted almonds. Make a couple of batches of caramel, using the same method as before but add in some red colouring in one, and yellow in another. Stop cooking these caramels once they reach 150C on a sugar thermometer. Dip the almonds in and set aside to cool.
Use a teaspoon to make a star shape on baking parchment.
Finally, make a last batch of caramel to 150C, having added some green colouring at the beginning. Allow the mix to cool until it thickens to the consistency of runny honey. Dip a couple of forks in and flick back and forth to create the sugar strands. It’s easiest to do this between two wooden spoon handles overhanging the worktop. Pop some newspaper on the floor to catch the mess.
Finish the croquembouche by covering with the spun sugar and coloured almonds and finally topping with the caramel star.
Mini dark sugar and ginger cakes
With their warming notes of molasses, orange and ginger, these little cakes are a great alternative to mince pies.
(Makes 8)
90g unsalted butter
100g double cream
75g dark brown sugar
25g black treacle
1 medium egg
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
1.5 balls stem ginger chopped into small pieces
100g plain flour
Zest of ½ an orange
Toasted flaked almonds to top
Preheat the oven to 180C fan/200C/gas mark 6.
Grease a mini cake tin with melted butter. I used a silicon cannelé mould, but you could bake these in paper cupcake cases.
Melt the butter, cream and sugar together in a saucepan on a low heat.
Stir in the egg and then add the remaining ingredients.
Bake for about 15 minutes.
Brush the tops with some black treacle and sprinkle on some of the flaked almonds.
Christmas jam tarts
My nephew, Hari, was the inspiration for these: he’s mad about jam tarts. But with the ruby port and cocoa pastry, these ones are more for grownups. I tend to use extra pectin when making jams, as it allows you to get a good set without too much sugar.
(Makes 12)
For the jam:
100g dried cranberries
130g dried figs
120g ruby port
120g caster sugar
200g raspberries
1tsp apple pectin
1 lemon zest + juice
½tsp ground cinnamon
⅛tsp ground cloves
For the pastry:
230g plain flour
100g icing sugar
30g cocoa
150g cold unsalted butter, cubed
45g egg (1 small/medium)
2 pinches table salt
The night before: chop the figs into chunks, pop into a bowl with the cranberries and pour on the port. Cover with clingfilm and leave to soak.
The following day, preheat the oven to 180C fan/200C/gas mark 6.
Grease a 12-hole cupcake tin with melted butter. Cut thin strips of greaseproof paper and arrange them as crosses in the holes of the tin so that the edges stick up over the top. This will make getting the pastry cases out of the tin a little easier.
For the pastry, put the butter in a food processor with the dry ingredients, blitz until a powder is formed, then add the beaten egg.
Briefly knead the pastry to ensure it has combined. Then wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge to rest for half an hour.
Once the pastry has chilled, dust the worktop with flour and roll out to about 3mm. Use a large cookie cutter to cut out circles of pastry, and then carefully push these down into each of the holes. Prick the bases with a fork.
Use a star cutter to cut out 12 small stars, and arrange these on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper .
Pop the cupcake tin and the stars in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Remove the tin, place pieces of baking parchment into each hole and then pop in some baking beans (or something to weigh down the pastry).
Bake the pastry cases for 13 minutes, then remove the baking beans and paper, and bake for another eight minutes. Set aside to cool.
Bake the stars for 8-10 minutes.
For the jam, mix all the ingredients together and cook on a medium heat. Stir occasionally to make sure the fruit at the bottom doesn’t burn. If using a sugar thermometer, cook to 104C. Otherwise, drop a small amount of jam on to a cold plate from the freezer. Once cooled, if the surface wrinkles when gently poked, the jam is done.
Dust the pastry stars with icing sugar. Remove the pastry cases from their tin, fill each with some of the jam and top with a star.
