It's Time to Prepare the Christmas Cake

If you want to make an impression this Christmas, or want a challenge, making the perfect Christmas Cake is definitely a great way to impress. Now you may wonder why we're writing a post about Christmas Cake in the middle of November, but the truth is, Christmas Cake needs time to rest for up to three months and you need to feed the cake at intervals throughout this time with brandy. It's more complicated than you think!

The Christmas Cake ingredients:

Currants
Sultanas
Raisins
Glace Cherries, rinsed, dried and quartered
Dried apricots, snipped into pieces
Candied peel finely chopped
Brandy, plus extra for feeding the cake
Plain flour
Nutmeg
Ground mixed spice
Softened butter
Muscovado sugar
Eggs
Almonds
Black Trecle
Lemon zest
Orange zest

To prepare the cake:

1. Put the currants, sultanas, raisins, rinsed, dried and quartered cherries, snipped apricots and chopped mixed peel in a large bowl. Stir in the brandy, cover the bowl and leave in a cool place overnight.
2. Lightly grease a 23cm/9 in deep round cake tin. Cut a strip of non-stick baking parchment to fit twice around the sides of the tin, fold the bottom edge of the strip up by about 2.5cm/1 in creasing it firmly, then open out the fold and cut slanting lines into this narrow strip at intervals. Put a circle of non-stick baking parchment into the base of the tin, lightly grease the outer edge and then fit the prepared strip of parchment with the snipped edge in the base of the tin to line the sides of the tin. Place a second circle of non-stick baking parchment in to cover the cut part of the paper. Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas 1.
3. Put the flour, grated nutmeg, mixed spice, butter, sugar, eggs, chopped almonds, black treacle and the citrus zest into a large bowl and beat well to mix thoroughly. Fold in the soaked fruits.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly with the back of a spoon. Decorate the top with the whole blanched almonds and glacé cherries, pushing them lightly into the top of the cake mixture. Cover the top of the cake loosely with a double layer of greaseproof paper. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 4¼-4 ¾ hours, or until the cake feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted

Remember to let the cake rest and feed it with brandy in intervals up till Christmas!

 

Find Mary Berry's recipe here.

 

 

 

Midweek Blues

Have you got the midweek blues? Well not to worry! We have a great recipe that will fill your tummy with delicious tastes and ingredients! What better way to get over the midweek blues than with a hearty Irish stew, a warm and cosy recipe for this Wednesday evening!

Hearty and wholesome, this stew tastes great, the ingredients you'll need:

3lb 5oz stewing beef that is cut into cubes
175g streaky bacon
3tbsp of olive oil
12 baby onions that are peeled
18 button mushrooms - leave them whole
3 carrots, cut them into quarters
salt and black pepper
1 tbsp. of chopped thyme
2 tbsp. of chopped parsley
10 cloves of garlic, crushed and grated
425ml of red wine
425ml of chicken or beef stock

To make the stew:

1. Brown the beef and bacon in the olive oil in a hot casserole dish or heavy saucepan.
2. Remove the meat and toss in the onions, mushrooms and carrots, one ingredient at a time, seasoning each time.
3. Place these back in the casserole, along with the herbs and garlic.
4. Cover with red wine and stock and simmer for one hour or until the meat and vegetables are cooked.
5. To make the roux, in a separate pan melt the butter, add the flour and cook for two minutes.
6. When the stew is cooked, remove the meat and vegetables.
7. Bring the remaining liquid to the boil and add one tbsp of roux.
8. Whisk the mixture until the roux is broken up and the juices have thickened, allowing to boil.
9. Replace the meat and vegetables, and taste for seasoning.
10. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve with champ.
 

Find the full recipe here, as well as other hearty stews

Time for Pumpkins!

It's October and that means it is time to get pumpkin into meals and spice up your cooking. With Halloween around the corner what better way to prepare then with a lovely, warm and hearty pumpkin soup!

Ingredients for your pumpkin soup!

1x4kg pumpkin
125g butter
2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 cinnamon stick
grated nutmeg
salt and black pepper
1.7 litres chicken stock, or vegetable stock for vegetarians
3 tablespoons of sherry

These ingredients are all you need to make your pumpkin soup, which can be a great starter for a dinner party, or warmed up for lunch in the office!

To prepare and make the soup, follow these easy instructions:

1. Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds from the middle
2. Using a sharp knife and a spoon, carefully hollow out the pumpkin, removing the inside and setting it aside!
3. Roughly chop the scooped out pumpkin
4. Melt the butter in a large pan and add the onions! Cook for 10-15 minutes until they are golden brown.
5. Add the pumpkin to the pan, with the cinnamon and nutmeg and season to taste.
6. Increase the heat to medium and cover with a lid! Cook for 40-45 minutes and stir occasionally to prevent from burning, until the pumpkin is cooked through.
7. Return the soup to the pan and bring to a low simmer and cook for a further half an hour.
8. 45 minutes before eating, preheat the oven and pour the soup into the hollow pumpkin and add the sherry
9. Place the pumpkin lid onto the pumpkin and put on a large baking tray, cook for 45minutes
10. Carefully remove from the oven and serve the soup!

Voi la!

To find the recipe and more pumpkin inspired dishes visit the website!

Tasty Tea Time Treat

Settle down to tea with Rock Cakes, the always enjoyed teatime favourite.

It's always nice to get baking in the kitchen, and rock cakes compliment a lovely cup of tea or latte perfectly, especially when they are still warm from the oven!

The ingredients for rock cakes are cupboard staples, so you may only have to go and get one ingredient and voi la, a tasty tea time treat is yours.

Ingredients:

Self-raising flour

Caster Sugar

Baking Powder

Unsalted Butter

Dried Fruit

Free-range Egg

Milk

Vanilla Extract

To bake these tasty treats:

1. Preheat oven to 180c/350F/Gas 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment

2. Mix the flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl and rub in the butter (cut into cubes) until you get a breadcrumb looking mixture

3. Mix in the dried fruit to the mixture

4. In another bowl, beat the egg and milk together with the vanilla extract

5. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until it's thick and lumpy (add more milk if needed)

6. Place golf ball sized spoons of the mixture onto the baking tray, remember to leave space between them as they will spread out when cooking.

7. Bake for 15-20mins, allow to cool and tuck in!

You can see the full recipe here!