Christmas Kitchen - Christmas Cake

Good aftermoon, a bit delayed today as I've been to watch my sons play rugby.  Unfortunately they both lost but thankfully came home without major injuries.  I find it scarier the older they get to watch them as it just seems so dangerous.  Anyway back to business and todays Christmas Kitchen post! I know Christmas cake is a little bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it and I absolutley love it.  As a child I remember helping my mum mix in the fruit and making a wish and have made my own Christmas cake for the past fifteen years. Ohh I now feel old!! I did try a different recipe a couple of years ago but was disappointed with the result so stick to Mary Berry's Classic Rich Christmas Cake.  Yet I do vary the ingredients slightly as she has seperate weights for differents dried fruits, including apricots, which I don't like, so I just buy a good quality mixed dried fruit and still add the mixed peel and glace cherries. I guess you could also add a different spirit instead of brandy, I know Contrieau makes for a delicious tasting cake. The important thing with Christmas cake is to make it early so it has time to sit and that you can feed it more brandy in the run up to Christmas!  Also be prepared with the length of time the cake requires in the oven. 

Right aprons on and let's make a cake!


Ingredients

725g of good quality mixed dried fruit
100g  glace cherries
50g mixed candied peel
3 tablespoons brandy
225g plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
225g softened margerine or softened butter
225g dark muscavado sugar
4 extra large eggs
50g whole blanched almonds
1 scant tbsp black treacle
grated rind of 1 lemon
grated rind of 1 orange

These ingredients are to make an eight inch (20cm) cake.

1. This cake needs to be started the night before you want to bake it.  Place all the dried fruit, including glace cherries and peel in to a large bowl, mix in the brandy, cover and leave overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/gas mark 1.  Grease and line an 8" (20cm) deep round cake tin with a double layer of greased greaseproof paper. 

3. Measure the flour, spice, margerine or butter, sugar, eggs, amonds, treacle and lemon and orange rinds in a large bowl. 

4. Beat together to mix thoroughly.

5. Fold in the soaked fruits a couple of spoonfuls at a time, making sure everybody in your home/family has a turn and makes a wish.

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread out evenly using  the back of a spoon.  Cover the top of the cake loosely with a double layer of greaseproof paper.

7. Bake in the preheated oven for 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 hours or until the cak feels firm to the touch and if you insert a skewer into the centre and it should come out clean when the cake is cooked.  I always write the time the cake went into the oven, the first check time at 4 1/2 hours and final time of 4 3/4hours and stick it on the fridge so I don't forget when to check the cake!

8. When the cake has cooled pierce a few tiny holes in to it and pour a little more brandy onto it. 

9. I now leave my cake in it's greaseproof paper that it baked in and wrap in a layer of foil and store in a box in a cool place.  The cake will be fine stored for up to three months.  Make sure you feed it at intervals with a little more brandy.

I will share a recipe for marzipan in the next cuple of weeks and icing and decorating ideas before Christmas.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Zoe
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PS If you want to make a bigger cake send me an email or tweet me and I'll give you the ingredients weights as they vary depending on the size of your cake!

Advent Calendars

Good Afternoon! Two posts in the same day, I'm on a roll!! As promised I am back to share some pretty advent calendar ideas with you.  We have a tradition in our own house to make a different kind of advent calendar each year.  Lucy, my ten year old and I have been chatting about what to do this year and have been browsing various Christmas and interiors magazines for inspiration.  Our current favourite is a selection of stocking and little sacks, numbered 1-24, in spotty and stripy red and white fabric, hung on twine.  I will share our final decision and how we made it closer to December.

I have been busy collecting ideas over on Pinterest for advent calendars for various posts for other blogs and I thought I'd share a few of my favourites here.  I'm hoping to share some ideas for DIY advent calendars in the next few days aswell, if you fancy starting your own tradition of making your own each year!

Personalised Christmas Advent Calendar Bag from Tillie Mint

Advent Calendar from Dots & Spots

Advent Calendar from Daisyley

Advent Tags & Ribbon from Fraser & Parsley

Countdown to Christmas Advent Wall Sticker from The Bright Blue Pig

A Glittery Countdown To Christmas from Clippy

Do you make and sell advent calendars? Please leave a link in the comments.  Or maybe you would like to share a tutorial here on the blog? I'm always happy to share fab tutorials so please get in touch.   Also today I have posted some fabulous ideas for a personalised Christmas on Let's Plan A Party. 

Be sure to follow my tweets tomorrow from Country Living Christmas Fair.

See you soon

Zoe

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Holiday Competitions and Large Families

Good morning, I hope you're all well.  I had planned on posting some pretty advent calender ideas, which I'll try and post later, but needed to have a little rant instead. This morning I saw Great Little Trading Company tweet a competition they are running in conjunction with Ski Famille to win a wonderful family Ski holiday.  So of course I clicked through to take a look but knew that I would be unable to enter before looking. Why? I have five children, of course this competition would be for two adults and two children.

image source

I actually think many holiday competitions are predjudiced against large families.  Is the average family really only two children? Maybe it is but it's not just these competitions that limit family size, many holiday companies offer rooms for small families only.  I know by having more than the average sized family I created logistical problems in the size of car required or holiday accomadation available, but I still get cross that we are not able to enter holiday competitions or have to pay room supplements to have adjoining rooms because the hotel doesn't have a room big enough for us. This actually includes Disneyland Paris, who I thought were the most family friendly holiday company in the world!

Thankfully we still have some options, we can rent a big cottage or house and Centre Parcs offer 4 bedroomed houses that we fit in! Just a shame that so many family holiday companies still do not cater for larger families. 

Anyway rant over, I'll pop back later with the planned prettiness!!

Take care
Zoe
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Country Living Christmas Fair

Morning! I can't believe it's Monday again already, the weekends just disappear.  However I did have some exciting news this weekend, my lovely husband, Drew, had entered to win some Country Living Christmas Fair tickets as he knows how much I love this and he won! So I was very excited to receive these two tickets on Saturday in the post, but who to take?  Well I was very lucky to have been given a ticket by a dear Twitter friend earlier this year, but due to illness couldn't make it down to London. So to return the lovely offer I asked Gabs of Moobaacluck to join me on a trip to this years fair.  There are so many of my Twitter friends I really, really want to meet, so am so looking forward to finally meeting Gabs.  I only wish I had more tickets so I could have so many more of you join us! Apparently Drew has entered a couple more competitions to win tickets so watch this space, just incase!!

I will of course be tweeting from Country Living, but not too much as there is just sooooo much to look at.  And I promise there will be lots of lovely posts to follow as I will want to share some fabulous finds and designer makers with you all. 

Are you heading to London this week for Country Living Christmas Fair? Maybe you have a stand, let me know & I'll make sure I pop by & say hello. 

To make up for not being to take you all I do have a discount for you with one of our partners.  Boden are having one of their diminishing discount promotions and by entering DDCC at the checkout until Thursday you will receive 20% off almost everything! A perfect opportunity to start the Christmas shopping, they do haev lovely nighties for girls or maybe a new hat & scarf set?


Hope you have a good start to the week,
Zoe
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Sunday Bookclub - Jaqueline Wilson

This weeks book club has been taken over by Lucy, our ten year old daughter.  Lucy is a bookworm and reads book after book and often rereads some of her favourites.  She reguarly swaps books with friends and we make lots of use of the library aswell as Lucy already having a large shelf jam packed with books.  Today I have asked Lucy to share one of her favourite authors with us.  Welcome Lucy!

Jacqueline Wilson is a fun, creative writer.  She writes about children with problems.  When people write about fantasy it can take you to that place whilst Jacqueline Wilson takes you on an adventure which follows a childs problem.  I like her books because they teach you that not every child is as lucky as I am.  My particular favourite is Hetty Feather.  The main character, Hetty Feather is only a couple of months old when her mother gives her away to the hospital.  The book teaches you about Victorian times and the cruelty towards children then. 

Another of Jacqueline Wilsons books I really enjoy is Lily Alone.  Lily's mum keeps 'hooking up with new guys' and when she meets yet another she's invited to go to Spain, leaving Lily alone to look after her brother and sisters.  This teaches me not everybodys parents care about them.  Overall Jacqueline Wilson is one of my favourite readers.


Thank you Lucy.  Jacqueline Wilson also writes books for younger children, but I think her books for the 9+ age range offer a fantastic insight into the lives of the less fortunate children in our society, in both modern and past times. 

So is your daughter a Jacqueline Wilson fan? Which book is on her Christmas list?

Enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Zoe
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Images sourced via Amazon

Christmas Kitchen - Mince Pies

Good Morning and welcome to my first Christmas Kitchen post.  Earlier this week I discovered a jar of mincemeat in the cupboard and as it was now November I thought it seemed only right to make a batch of mince pies. Obviously they didn't last long in my house but mince pies can be frozen once they are cooked and cooled, so are perfect for a make ahead Christmas staple. 

Over the years I have developed my own sweet pastry recipe, which I will share with you today.  However you can use ready to roll pastry available in the fridge and freezer sections at the supermarket, infact I think you can even buy sweet pastry these days!   So grab an apron and your rolling pin and lets's make mince pies.

Ingredients

250g Self Raising Flour (and extra for dusting your board & rolling pin)

125g Butter

2 tbsp Light Muscavado Sugar

2tbsp Cold Water

Jar of Mincemeat

Utensils

Mixing Bowl

Palette Knife

Tablespoon

Kitchen Scales

Bun Tin (like you would use for fairy cakes)

Round Pastry Cutter (or a small plastic cup would work)

Small Holly Leaf Cutter (or other christmas shapes or smaller round cutter)

Rolling Pin

Mat or Board to roll our your pastry

This recipe makes about 12 mince pies

1. Put your flour and butter into your mixing bowl and rub together to make fine breadcrumbs.  I'm     always telling my children you just need your fingertips not your whole hands to make a breadcrumb mixture!  Once you think you're done give the bowl a little shake and any large lumps will rise to the top so you can rub these in too.

2. Using your fingers stir the sugar in to the breadcumb mixture.  Muscavado sugar does tend to be a little lumpy so will need to be rubbed in to your breadcrumbs.  For a lighter pastry try using icing sugar instead.

3. Now add one tbsp of cold water and stir into the breadcrumb mixture using a palette knife.  I guess you could use a metal spoon but I have always used a metal pallette knife.  Add the second tablespoon of cold water and stir in to your mixture.  It may now be necessary to bring the mixture together with your hands.  If the mixture is a little too crumbly add a few drops of cold water, but only add tiny amounts as this can make a big difference in the texture of your pastry. 

4. Sprinkle some flour on your mat or board and your rolling pin.  Take half of your pastry and roll out to about 5mm (1/2cm) thickness.  Cut out as many circles as you can and put these in to your bun tray.  Pop the bits of pastry back into a ball and roll out again and cut out circles again. 

5. Once you have filled your bun tray with pie bases add roughly a teaspoon of mincemeat to each pie.  The trick is not to overload your pie bases!

6. Roll out some more pastry and cut your pie tops.  I prefer to have little christmas shapes, like bells, christmas trees or holly leaves and found my tiny cutters in a kitchen shop for about 50p each.  However you can make smaller circle tops for your mince pies if you prefer.  Pop your pie tops on top of the mincemeat filled pie bases.

7. Put the tray of mince pies into the oven for about 15-20 mins on 160 degrees C (that's for a fan oven), so 180 for a normal electric oven and gas mark 4.  The pastry should be a golden brown colour when cooked. 

(these were golden brown honest!)

8. Leave the mince pies to cool in their tray for a short while, about 10 minutes is fine, then remove from the tray and pop on a cooling tray.  Don't worry if one accidentaly breaks as you get it out of hte tim and you have to eat it! 

Once cooled the mince pies should be stored in an airtight container and will last for at least a week.  Alternatively you can freeze them in a box or bag for a month or two. 

These mince pies are delicious warm and served with brandy butter or cream. 


Other ideas for your mince pies

When you have made your breadcrumbs keep a small amount aside and use these as a crumble topping instead of a pie top.

Add a small ball of marzipan to your mince pies before putting their tops on.

Add extra cherries and/or nuts to your jar of mincemeat. 

Bake your mince pies open then add a circle of fondant icing as a top when the pies have cooled.

To make a bigger batch the general rules for pastry are half fat to flour, a tbsp of sugar for each 125g of flour and a tablespoon of cold water for each 125g of flour.

I hope you have fun making these, they really are delicious.  I'm off now to prepare the dried fruit and nuts for our Christmas Cake and leave them to soak in brandy over night ready to make the cake tomorrow.

Have a fab Saturday,
Zoe
x 

Book Review - Craft by Kirstie Allsopp

Morning! Friday has arrived again and I know I haven't got everything done that I had hoped to do and I am sure I'm not the only one! Nevermind there's always next week.  I know today should be a Fabric Friday post but my postman has been busy the past week delivering things for review and I thought you wouldn't mind if just for today I snuck in a book review, especially as it's crafting champion Kirstie Allsopp's new book 'Craft'.  I actually feel very honoured to being able to have this book for review because Kirstie is a bit of heroine for me.  Jack, my 12 year old, actually thinks secretly Kirstie is my sister as he says we both love coats and big rings! Just imagine how much fun Kirstie would be as a sister. 

Anyway back to business.  Kirstie Allsopp has been appearing on our screens again, as British craft ambassador, just in time for chilly autumnal evenings in front of the fire. I know from reading peoples tweets there is a mixed opinion about the new show, but I do know that I love sitting down on a Sunday afternoon with my daughters and having a Kirstie craft fix.  One of the best parts of her new show is that there has been a book published to accompany it, sharing lots of projects and much more besides.  The book is split in to seven chapters, Needlecrafts, Textile Crafts, Paper Crafts, Food Crafts, Garden Crafts, Flower Crafts and Gift Crafts.  Each section has at least four projects and all are doable from home and by even the most novice crafter. 'Craft' starts with a lovely introduction from Kirstie where she shares little stories of the past year as she travelled around the UK entering various categories at many county fairs. 

The beginning of each chapter has a little history about the different crafts within the main heading aswell as Kirsties thoughts and memories of these.  Each chapter is then filled with wonderful handmade crafts to try, with good clear instructions and some photos or illustrations to help us check we are doing it right.  There are also other fabulous photos from Kirsties adventure interspersed amongst the projects.  Lucy, my ten year old, spotted the Poppy Treffry designs immediately and I spotted the fabulous work of Kirstie Elson and Phiona Richards.  There is a good selection of projects throughout the book, including a couple of foodie things from the Christmas show Kirstie hosted with Phil last year.  Personally I want to try making paper again, having not done it since at Uni and I also love the selection of papercraft projects and will defiantely be trying to make a paper bird scuplture, as seen on episode two of the show.  I also really want to try and make my own perfume, hoping for a better fragrance than that of my childhood attempts as we squished rose petals in water!

I am sure many of you have 'Craft' on your Christmas lists and I know you will not be disppointed.  There is plenty to keep you busy, allowing you to try new crafts, aswell as being a really good read and with an extensive stockist list for all the projects there really is no excuse not to try everything.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay warm and safe if you are heading off to a fireworks display this weekend.  Don't forget to join us here on Saturday for Christmas Kitchen and on Sunday for our new Book Club post, sharing some of ours and our childrens favourite books.

Take care,
Zoe
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