- Christmas Pudding With Boozy Toffee Sauce
- Festive Jam Cookie Sandwiches
This delicious Christmas cake came about by accident when I started experimenting with dried fruits and flavourings. I use dates, apricots and a little crystallised ginger as well as the usual sultanas, raisins and currants. As with all traditional Christmas cakes, if this is made a few weeks in advance you will get a lovely moist texture. But this cake can also be made (much to the busy person's relief) just a few days in advance, or even the day before! My mother-in-law, Darina, covers her Christmas cake with almond paste and then toasts it in the oven for extra flavour, so this is what I do with this cake. However, feel free to ice it if you cannot bear to have your Christmas cake without the traditional white icing!
Serves 12-20
Ingredients
225g (8oz) sultanas
225g (8oz) raisins
110g (4oz) candied peel, chopped
75g (3oz) stoned dates, chopped
75g (3oz) dried apricots, chopped
50g (2oz) currants
25g (1oz) crystallised ginger, finely chopped
125ml (4fl oz) brandy or Irish whiskey
275g (10oz) butter, softened
275g (10oz) soft light brown sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
50g (2oz) ground almonds
275g (10oz) plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
For Darina Allen's almond paste
450g (1lb) ground almonds
450g (1lb) caster sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp brandy or Irish whiskey
A couple of drops of almond essence
Icing sugar, for dusting
To brush on the cake
1 small egg white, lightly beaten
2 egg yolks
You will need:
23cm (9in) diameter cake tin or 20 x 20cm (8 x 8in) square cake tin
Festive cutters
Method
1. Place the dried fruit and the crystallised ginger in a bowl. Pour on the brandy or whiskey and allow to soak for at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F), Gas mark 2. Line the cake tin with greaseproof paper and wrap a collar of brown paper around the outside, which will help prevent the cake from drying out.
3. Cream the butter in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer until soft. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the orange zest and ground almonds, then sift in the flour and spices and fold in gently. Fold in the dried fruit and any brandy or whiskey left in the bowl. Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake tin. Bake in the oven for 21/2-31/4 hours (a round tin will take longer) until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cover the cake, still in the tin, with foil and allow to cool. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin and cover again in foil until you are ready to cover it with almond paste.
4 Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F), Gas mark 7. To make the almond paste, mix the ground almonds and sugar together in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg, add the brandy or whiskey and the almond essence, then add to the dry ingredients and mix to a stiff paste; you may not need all the egg. Sprinkle the work surface with icing sugar, turn the almond paste out onto the surface and gently knead until smooth.
5 Remove the foil and greaseproof paper from the cake. Take about half of the almond paste and place it on a work surface that has been dusted with icing sugar. Roll out until it is about 1cm (1/2in) thick. Brush the top of the cake with the lightly beaten egg white and turn the cake upside down onto the almond paste. Cut around the edge of the cake, then carefully turn the cake the right side up with the lid of almond paste attached to the top.
6 Next, measure the circumference of the cake with a piece of string. Roll out two long strips of almond paste and trim both edges to the height of the cake with a palette knife. Brush the cake and the almond paste lightly with egg white and press the strip against the sides of the cake. Do not overlap or there will be a bulge. Use a straight-sided water glass to even the edges and smooth the join, and rub the cake well with your hand to ensure a nice flat surface.
7 At this stage, carefully place the cake on a large, oiled baking tray. Roll out the remainder of the almond paste approximately 5mm (1/4in) thick and, using festive cutters, cut out star, heart, holly or Santa shapes. Brush the whole surface of the cake with the beaten egg yolks and stick the shapes on top and around the sides, if you wish. Brush these with egg yolk as well.
8 Bake the cake in the oven for 10-20 minutes (not too near the top of the oven) until it is golden and toasted. Remove from the oven, allow to cool, then transfer to a serving plate.
Christmas Pudding With Boozy Toffee Sauce
I love the cranberries in this recipe, which give the pudding a delightfully zingy flavour. The toffee sauce also makes a nice change from brandy butter.
Makes 2 x 1 litre (1.75 pint) puddings (each serves 8-12)
Ingredients
100g (31/2oz) raisins
100g (31/2oz) sultanas
100g (31/2oz) dried cranberries
100g (31/2oz) candied peel, chopped
100g (31/2oz) currants
100g (31/2oz) dates (stoned weight), halved
100ml (31/2fl oz) Irish whiskey, plus extra for serving
100g (31/2oz) ground almonds and 10 whole, skinned ones
2 cooking apples, unpeeled and grated
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
6 tbsp golden syrup
200g (7oz) butter, chilled and grated
180g (61/2oz) soft dark brown sugar
4 eggs, beaten
230g (81/2oz) gluten-free flour or 250g (9oz) self-raising flour, sifted
½ tsp baking powder
¼ or whole nutmeg, finely grated
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 x quantity boozy toffee sauce (see below), to serve
You will need two 1 litre (1¾ pint) pudding basins
Method
1 In a saucepan, gently simmer the dried fruit in the whiskey for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for at least 1 hour.
2 Mix the ground almonds, apples and lemon zest and juice together in a bowl.
3 Pour 3 tablespoons of golden syrup into each of the pudding basins and arrange 5 almonds and a few pieces of soaked fruit decoratively in the golden syrup.
4 Using a wooden or metal spoon, mix the grated butter, sugar and eggs together well in a large bowl. Next, add all the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly together. Spoon into the pudding basins and flatten out. Gently bang the bowls on the work surface to release any air bubbles.
5 Cut two rounds of parchment paper to fit neatly over the top of the mixture, then cut out two more rounds 5mm (1/4in) wider than the rim of the basin. Place them over the basin and tie with a long piece of string under the lip of the bowl and over the top again. Tie at the other side to make a handle.
6 Place the basins in a large saucepan each and carefully pour hot water around the puddings to come three-quarters of the way up the sides. Cover and steam for 3 hours, keeping the water in the saucepan topped up all the time.
7 Remove the basins from the water and allow to cool. Remove the top paper lid and cover with a new one. Store in a cool place. Reheat by steaming for 1 hour in the same way as
above, then turn out and pour a little whiskey over and ignite. Serve with the boozy toffee sauce or, for a family friendly version, with the non-alcoholic toffee sauce.
Makes 400ml (14fl oz)
Ingredients
110g (4oz) butter
225g (8oz) soft light brown sugar (or half brown and half caster sugar)
225ml (8fl oz) double cream
60ml (2fl oz) brandy
60ml (2fl oz) sweet sherry
Method
Place the butter, sugar and cream in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Boil for 4 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
Makes about 650ml (22fl oz)
Ingredients
110g (4oz) butter
250g (9oz) soft light brown sugar (or half brown and half caster sugar)
275g (10oz) golden syrup
225ml (8fl oz) double cream
½tsp vanilla extract
Method
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan set over a high heat and boil for approximately 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly, until it has thickened. Serve warm.
These gorgeous little vanilla and lemon-scented cookies sandwiched together with the jam of your choice make a great Christmas cookie - the icing sugar looks like snow!
Makes about 35 sandwiches
Ingredients
425g (15oz) plain flour
75g (3oz) caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp finely grated
lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)
4 egg yolks
325g (111/2oz) butter, softened
Raspberry or strawberry jam
Icing sugar, for dusting
You will need:
6cm (21/2in) plain cutter
3cm (11/4in) plain or flower-shaped cutter
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350°F), Gas mark 4.
2 Sift the flour into a large bowl or electric food mixer and add the sugar, vanilla extract, finely grated lemon zest, egg yolks and butter. Mix until it all comes together to a dough. Remove
from the bowl and flatten to a round with the palm of your hand or with a rolling pin to about 2cm (3/4in) thick and chill n fridge for about 30 minutes.
3 Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface until t is about 5mm (1/4in) thick, then, using the 6cm (21/2in) plain cutter, cut the dough into discs.
4 Take half the discs and, using either the plain or flower-shaped 3cm (11/4in) cutter, cut holes out of the centre of each, like little round windows. Bring the discarded scraps together and make more discs and cut holes in the centre of these. You want to end up with about 35 whole discs and about 35 discs with the centres cut out (equal amounts).
5 Place the discs on several baking trays and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until pale golden and ever so slightly firm.
6 Allow to stand for a couple of minutes, then remove from the trays and transfer to wire racks to cool.
7 When the discs are cool, spread 1/2-1 teaspoon of jam on the whole discs and top with the discs with the hole in them so that you can see the jam through the little windows. Dust with icing sugar and serve.
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