Festive recipe roundup
what I've been cooking, mince meat recipe and my holiday cookie box plans
Recipes I’ve Made
Mary Berry’s lemon tart - I made this for our thanksgiving desert and it was a perfect way to end what is usually a pretty heavy meal. Of course a classic like this doesn't need much tweaking but I did use only 125g of sugar instead of 225g because I find most recipes too sweet for my taste. I also just made my own pastry from the recipe I always use - 1/2 cup of butter, 1 cup of flour, sprinkle of salt and water to bring it together. Super simple. I love including more citrus flavours this time of year to balance out the rich chocolate or spiced deserts.
Mice pies!! This year I created my own recipe of mince meat based on a mix of Nigella’s cranberry studded mince meat and Nigel Slater’s recipe found in his book The Christmas Chronicles. I made the mince meat on the 20th of November and half of it is sitting int the fridge waiting to be made into pies closer to Christmas, the other half I made for Judah’s birthday yesterday (his choice of a birthday cake this year!)
Pumpkin pasties - I made the pastry (same as above) and mixed some pumpkin, molasses, a little sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin spice for the filling. I feel like pumpkin season is coming to an end soon but these were a fun one to make while watching Harry Potter on a cosy evening after we decorated the Christmas tree.
Cinnamon and cardamom rolls with an orange glaze - recipe from the amazing Chapin, with my own twists. Her dough is flawless and makes the fluffiest, softest rolls ever.
Mulled wine, of course. Another Mary Berry recipe, but with a lot less sugar and no extra alcohol.
Cranberry orange sourdough loaf that was the most beautiful vibrant pink colour. I made a mini loaf and added a decent handful of cranberries soaked in the juice of an orange to the dough, along with the zest of a whole orange and a tbs of sugar. Delightful ✨
On my ‘to cook’ list
Beef Wellington from the Piper’s Farm cookbook is on my list to make on Boxing Day. I’m not sure what we’re doing for Christmas Day yet but I’m leaning towards cooking a glazed ham (recipe also from Piper’s Farm, I love this book) instead of doing the usual turkey. We had chicken for Thanksgiving and I like mixing it up so it each meal still feels special.
Toad in the hole with sausages, squash, cheddar and onion gravy - again this one is from Piper’s Farm. I actually have never made my own Yorkshire puddings so this one will be fun to try. We have this as one of our meals planned for this upcoming week.
We’re planning on making a traditional Christmas pudding after the success of a treacle pudding a couple of weeks ago, which was my first attempt at making a steamed pudding. I am very late according to all of the rules but I’m writing this on December 7th and hope to have already made it by the time this letter comes out! I’ll also roughly follow Nigel Slaters recipe for this, tweaking it slightly for items that I can’t get my hands on here in the US.
Holiday Cookie Box Plans
Cranberry, pistachio and orange shortbread
Chai amaretti
Ganache thumbprint cookies from Wild Sweetness
Sourdough gingerbread from Farmhouse on Boone
Linzer cookies with raspberry jam
I did have a longer list but since it’s my first year attempting to make this many cookies in one (probably more like two!) days, I decided to take a few cookies out. I planned on making a matcha cookie and eggnog cookies both recipes by Justine Dorion. I’d still like to try them but perhaps at another time next year.
*edit - here is the result of my cookie box this year!
Below are some gorgeous cookie boxes that have inspired me:
Mince Meat Recipe
This recipe makes enough filling for 36 pies, maybe less and maybe more depending on the size of the pies!
You’ll need:
113 g of butter
75g of brown sugar
the zest of one orange and one lemon
the juice of one orange
3 apples, 2 grated and one chopped up into small pieces (peeled or unpeeled work)
150g of fresh or frozen cranberries
400g of raisins (or a mix of sultanas and currents if you can get them. I find it so difficult to find them in the US so I just stick with raisins!)
100g of dried apricots, chopped up into small pieces
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
a very small splash of almond extract (maybe around 1/4 tsp if you measure it)
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of allspice
1/2 tsp of ground cloves
100ml of brandy (taste and add a splash more if you’d like a stronger brandy flavour)
Method:
Chop up the apple and grate the remaining two into a large saucepan. Add in every other ingredient to the pot apart from the brandy. Melt the butter, mixing all of the ingredients together until the spices have been distributed throughout.
Let the mince meat simmer on a low to medium heat for as long as it takes for the cranberries to begin to soften. You’ll need to squash the cranberries with the back of a wooden spoon (or any spoon you’re using) so that they’re incorporated with the rest of the ingredients. This took me around 15 minutes. It should smell delicious and very cosy.
Once the cranberries are softened and the mixture has a glossy thickness to it, take it off the heat and let it cool slightly.
Add in the brandy, mix and pour the mince meat into sterilised jars. Allow them to cool and pop them in the fridge until you’re ready to use them.
You can make this recipe way ahead of time for the mince meat to sit and develop the rich flavour or you can use it straight away. I made these mince pies with a simple pastry recipe but with some added orange zest. They were so delicious, I hope you enjoy!
Sending you love,
Em x
Love love love
Sounds delish! Now I’m hungry 😂