NYE Mincemeat and Apricot Plait

Happy New Years (Eve!!!) This is a quick recipe that I've rustled up this evening for my family - our last of 2012. It's super super quick (because it cuts corners) and is a very easy way of using up your leftover mincemeat. I wish you could have seen the one I made before because it was far better than the pictured (unfortunately we ate it already :D)

Mincemeat and Apricot Plait (Serves 6)
Ingredients:
225g ready-made puff pastry
1 jar of good-quality mincemeat (for example; Robertson's)
15 dried apricots
1 beaten egg

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees C

1. Clean and then grease your work top surface
2. Roll out the puff pastry until about 1cm thick and in a rectangular shape
3. Place it so that the short end is facing you and the longer sides are running vertical 
4. Gently score, lengthways, markings of the thirds 
5. Evenly spread the mincemeat down the centre third 
6. Dice the apricots and place ontop of the mince
7. With the outer thirds, cut diagonal strips about 5cm thick on each side (so as they match), ensuring that they still remain attached to the middle body of the pastry
8. Begin with the left side and lay the top strip over the filling
9. Move to the right side and do the same
10. Continue until all the strips have been laid over the filling and resemble a plait shape
11. Now brush the pastry lightly with the egg and place in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and opaque
12. Serve cold with cream, custard or ice cream

Chocolate Yule Log

Glad Tidings! As Christmas is ever approaching - only 3 days to go :) - my search for culinary dishes more complex in taste AND decoration is beginning to hasten. Today, I decided to try Mary Berry's Chocolate Yule Log after searching on the internet and the result pool returning dry. In comfort, I turned to BBC iPlayer and found a Christmas episode of the Great British Bake Off. The chocolate log by Mary Berry looked absolutely delicious and rich so, with skepticism, I gave it a try. The part of the recipe I was most apprehensive about was making a cake that was thin enough to be rolled and then having to roll it without it cracking. Safe to say, this part was a great success and the entire cake turned out far far better than expected. You should be in complete comfort for this recipe as if I can do it, so can you. All that is required is a relaxed and focused mind, gentleness and slow working.

Chocolate Yule Log
Ingredients:
4 large eggs
100g caster sugar
65g self-raising flour
40g cocoa powder
icing sugar to dust

300ml double cream

300ml double cream
300g dark chocolate
OR 
Betty Crocker 'Rich & Creamy' Chocolate Frosting

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C

1. Grease and line a swiss roll tin (a metal cooking tin that it large so the mixture will spread very thinly)
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and slightly thicker (It should resemble a loose meringue mixture) 
3. Sift in the self-raising flour with the cocoa powder into the egg mixture and gently fold in, careful not to knock out the air of the mix
4. Spread thinly into the tin, ensuring that the mixture reaches the sides and bake for 8-10 mins (I found that mine was fine with only 8 mins)
5. Meanwhile, cut a piece of greaseproof paper that is larger than your tin that is now in the oven and dust liberally with icing sugar
6. Insert a skewer into the mixture once removed from the oven to check that it is cooked (it should come out clean without any sticky residue)
7. Quickly yet carefully, turn out the cake onto the parchment dusted with icing sugar and peel off the backing
8. Now, score a line about 2.5cm in, on the long side of the cake and roll tightly from this end, rolling the greaseproof paper inside of the cake (The scoring ensures that the cake will roll tightly and therefore won't unbind whilst cooling)
9. Leave to cool completely
10. Whisk 300ml of double cream until stiff
11. Once the cake is cooled, gently unwrap and spread the cream evenly inside
12. The re-roll without including the greaseproof paper
13. Roughly, cut about one third of the log at an angle and attach to the side of the longer end so that it resembles a thick branch (Place this on a serving dish)
14. Now make the ganache that will coat the log by heating 300ml of cream until scalding then removing from the heat
15. Add the chocolate broken into squares and stir continuously until melted
16. Place in a piping bag with star nozzle and pipe long verticle lines atop of the cake until completely covered 
17. To finish, sprinkle icing sugar over the top to create a snowy effect

(A Cheat's) Mince Pies

Father Christmas is on his way so what better way to greet him than with some warm, melt-in-the-mouth mince pies. Although I'm usually all for good honest, home-made food (quite a Jamie Oliver - I know :P) I just had to cheat with this one. For me, mince pies are and have always been the epitome of Christmas, if we exclude the GORGEOUS stuffed salmon parcels my parents make on Christmas day. I'm not quite sure why it is that I idolize these scrumptious pastries so much but I do think that the key to a good mince pie lies within the juiciness of the mincemeat and that perfect pastry that dissolves like candyfloss on the tongue.

A Cheat's Mince Pies
Ingredients:
Butter (for greasing)
1 Pack of shortcrust pastry (pre-cut into squares)
1 Jar of good quality mincemeat (e.g. Robertsons)

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C

1. Liberally, grease the inside of a yorkshire pudding tin with butter
2. Lay each individual sheet of shortcrust pastry out on a greased surface
3. Cut out a circle in the middle of the pastry with a circle biscuit cutter and place in one of the yorkshire pudding holes
4. DO NOT DISCARD THE EXCESS PASTRY, leave it to one side 
5. Continue steps 3 and 4 until you have cut 12 circles
6. Place in the oven for 5 minutes 
7. Meanwhile, on a greased surface, roll the excess pastry into a ball
8. Roll out thinly and evenly with a rolling pin and cut from it 12 stars that will partially cover the top of the mince pies
9. When cooked, remove the pie cases from the oven, leaving it on
10. Spoon about 1 tsp of mincemeat into each case and top with a star
11. Place back into the oven for a further 10-15 minutes until golden brown and bubbling
12. Remove from oven and leave to cool before removing from the tin

If you fancy a proper HOME-MADE mince pie recipe please visit:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1813664/mince-pies

Christmas Cupcakes

So, yesterday was the last day of term 1 and now we're off for the Christmas break - I'M SOOOO EXCITED!! But just because we were breaking up, it didn't stop me cracking a few eggs and getting in the Christmas cooking spirit; I made 24 cupcakes for my friends and classmates complete with a variety of winter decorations.

Millionaires' Shortbread

So, with the arrival of Christmas, out go all those mini-skinny veggie diets that supposedly are meant to make us look like Kate Moss and let's get REAL. Say hello, this festive season, to over-indulgent and calorific desserts!
This sweet treat is the perfect way to kick-start your Christmas as you mean to go on. With a thick layer of caramel sandwiched between a melt-in-the-mouth shortbread and silky chocolate it is eagerly awaited by every sweet tooth - mine included!

Millionaires' Shortbread
Ingredients:
50g brown sugar
125g butter
150g self-raising flour

397g can of sweetened condensed milk
125g butter
75g light brown sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup

75g plain chocolate

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C

1. Grease and line a deep and thin, oblong tin
2. Cream together the brown sugar and butter for about 3 minutes
3. Mix in the flour with a metal spoon
4. Spoon the mixture into the tin and flatten with your knuckle until the mixture covers the base of the tin completely
5. Place in the oven to cook for 20 mins and then remove, turn off your oven and leave to cool
6. Whilst the above is cooling, place the condensed milk, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup in a deep pan and cook over a low heat until the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved
7. Then increase the heat to bring the caramel to a boil (but NOT TOO HOT) and stir for 10 mins
8. Pour the caramel over the baked shortbread and place into the fridge until completely cool (about 1 hour)
9. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and then, when smooth, pour over the COOL caramel and leave to set (DO NOT PUT THIS INTO THE FRIDGE) 
10. Once entirely set, cut into squares and indulge

Fondant Icing

So after the success of my FIRST fondant iced cupcakes the other week, I've decided to continue and there is no better way to do so than getting to know my ingredients. This is why I like to make much of my ingredients from scratch where possible and so, I've made fondant (or sugarpaste) icing. This type of icing that can be used to cover cakes - as a base layer - or to decorate by moulding, modelling and colouring. I'm planning to make some Christmas themed cupcakes and so I made this unusually early as a tester to make sure that the recipe ACTUALLY worked and also so that I don't have to fiddle around with cooking cakes as well as experimenting with this new recipe as well as colouring and moulding too. So, here is the recipe that I used...

Fondant Icing
Ingredients:
1 egg white
1 tbsp agave syrup/glycerine/liquid glucose
4 cups (480g) icing sugar
(...that's it!)

Method:

1. Heat the agave syrup in the microwave for about 30 seconds
2. Place the egg white and agave syrup in a bowl and stir quickly for about 30 seconds
3. Then add the icing sugar and with a palette knife use a chopping action to combine the ingredients
4. When the mixture forms a ball and is slightly less sticky, knead on a surface dusted in icing sugar until pliable and smooth
5. Store in tightly wrapped clingfilm in a Tupperware box - this will ensure that the fondant doesn't get dry