festive bakes

It's that time of year again... when I become so disorganised that I lump all of my festive baking into one blog post on Christmas Eve. YAY!

Personally, I find it just isn't Christmas without gingerbread boobie angels and saucy santas. This year I made sure I scheduled in the time to make them as I didn't manage to make any last year and it just felt plain wrong. Their little faces fill me with so much joy! I baked a batch of these to take in to my local music group's Christmas party and they went down an absolute storm.

I also baked a batch of mankini-clad gingerbread men and some questionably styled Tory hipster gentlemen as part of an in joke for some friends. This is probably the height of my piping decoration skills.

The amount of sugar and butter I've gone through in the last couple of weeks is obscene! I can't remember how many bags of sugar were emptied for all the tablet I made but I definitely used up at least 6 packs of butter for shortbread. I have a large extended family so large quantities of foodie presents are needed to take around when visiting relatives over the festive period.

It's always worth the mammoth effort though as I love seeing everything all packaged up with my childish funky handmade labels.

As I had leftover cranberries from my cranberry orange muffins I decided to try the cranberry, apple and cinnamon cake from Hannah's blog, Honey & Dough. I more or less followed the recipe, substituting caster sugar for soft light brown sugar, a cooking apple instead of a granny smith, and added 1/2tsp of vanilla bean paste to the batter. I also mixed some whole cranberries into the batter as well as scattering on top. My cake took twice the length of time to bake, probably due to the amount of fruit I put in, about an hour.

I baked this as a pudding to take to a friend's house last weekend and it was so well received that my friend asked for the recipe and she bought the ingredients the following day so she could make one. Then I decided to bake another too! Needless to say, it's a very tasty cake.

And finally, I baked a couple of ginger syrup bundts. They're full of flavour, keep pretty well and the recipe is nice and simple... unless you're baking whilst really tired and forget to add an ingredient. Yup, I forgot to add baking powder to one of them. Oops! So I got to keep a flatter bundt for myself.

I've been meaning to make mincemeat pies as well but I think I've reached my limit. After baking most evenings for the last two weeks I must admit to feeling rather pooped. You never know though, I might muster up some energy to make some closer to new year.

But for now I'm probably going to put my feet up, drink a lot of tea and wish everybody a very merry Christmas!

Trying to photograph the tree? Ok, I'll sit here then.
Cheers, Bob.

festive bakes

Merry Christmas Eve folks! As usual all my festive baking seems to happen in a last minute rush so I thought I'd group them together in one post like I've done in previous years. (You'd think I'd learn to be more organised!)

First off we have the annual batches of Christmas tablet! My mum drinks so much Douwe Egberts coffee that we have a substantial number of their jars by the end of the year and they're the perfect size for storing tablet. Just add some pretty tape, twirly ribbon and a handmade label and you've got yourself a lovely Christmas present.

Next up is a sticky, spiced apple and syrup bundt which I baked using this recipe from Dollybakes. The only change I made was using golden syrup instead of maple syrup for the glaze. I was so happy that this turned out the tin perfectly, I squealed with delight! Cake release spray is a glorious invention.

These cranberry and white chocolate biscuit/cookies are fast becoming an annual Christmas bake for me. Not only is white chocolate and cranberry a winning combination but these biscuits are quick to throw together which is perfect if you're in a hurry.

Sadly I haven't managed to bake my annual perverted gingerbread santas and boobie angels however I have baked these festive gingerbread cupcakes using a recipe I came across on Sally's Baking Addiction. Mine turned out a lot darker as I used half golden syrup half treacle in place of molasses. I also decided to top mine off with a cinnamon and golden syrup cream cheese icing and edible wafer snowflakes. As with most gingerbreads the flavour improved with age. They certainly packed a spiced, treacle-y punch.

For the first time ever I've baked shortbread! It's one of those bakes which my Granny was so good at making that I never felt I needed to bother. However this year Mum and I were really missing her shortbread so we followed Granny's recipe and they taste exactly like hers. We both thought it felt like getting a big hug. It officially feels like Christmas now that we have some Granny shortbread in the tin.

And lastly I made these chocolate brownie trees which I've seen on both Ros and Kate's blogs recently and couldn't resist baking. I wish I had more time to decorate these nicely but they were a last minute festive treat to take to my friends' house.

So that's what I've managed to bake in the run up to Christmas this year - a mixture of old and new recipes. Are you a traditional Christmas baker or do you like to switch things up and try new recipes every year?

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow. x

5 festive bakes

Not long till Christmas now! I've been busy making Christmas presents for the past month but it really feels like Christmas now that I've started my festive baking. I debated splitting all my festive bakes into separate posts, but decided to make one massive Christmas post instead. Hope you enjoy it!

First up are the funky gingerbread biscuits I baked yesterday to give to my cousins. They're quite crunchy, definitely more of a biscuit than a gingerbread, so they're good for dunking in your tea or coffee.

My mum helped with the decorating. We definitely have more of a childlike than professional quality. But who wouldn't want a stripey or splodgy dinosaur biscuit?! I don't know why I don't make biscuits more often as I love all my cutters, the dinosaurs in particular.

You know it's officially Christmas when you make mincemeat pies. I know many will be disappointed that I used bought mincemeat but I had jars left over from last year and I don't like to waste food. I made my own sweet shortcrust pastry though. It has ground almonds in it which gives the pastry a lovely crumbly texture.

It's also officially Christmas in my household when my Mum makes tablet (fudge/candy). I think we made 5 batches(!) to package up prettily as gifts. Don't even ask how much sugar is involved. It is not healthy!

I have also baked a couple of ginger bundt cakes to give to some aunties and uncles. They look impressive without taking up much of your time and they're perfect for sharing. I think my aunties and uncles will like that it's Granny's sticky ginger cake recipe too.

And lastly, a rarity on my sweet toothed blog, a savoury creation! I found this recipe for caramelised red onion chutney through the Cake Hunter (she's got a fantastic Christmas Countdown Gifts series at the moment which is worth checking out).

Chopping so many onions was a tearful task and certainly left a strong aroma in the house, but it was definitely worth it. This recipe made 3 and a half Bonne Maman jars worth of chutney. I'm glad there's a half jar so I can keep one for myself to eat with cheese. If I'm not eating cake, I'm definitely eating cheese.

How are your festive plans coming along? What are you all baking for Christmas? The amount of sugar and syrup I have gone through this weekend is insane!

Tablet and button earrings

One of my best friends, Alice, loves tablet. She also loves pink, earrings and buttons. Therefore I knew she would appreciate these homemade gifts for her birthday last week.

My family go through a lot of Douwe Egbert coffee jars (not me though, I'm a tea girl) and I find they're the perfect size for storing tablet. One batch of tablet fits two large jars, with a few "tester" pieces left over.

I've been dying to make button jewellery for ages so this was the perfect opportunity to make something. I've got so many buttons I could make all kinds of cute and crazy earrings. I also made the little origami box which I got ridiculously excited about. It's so pretty and the paper matches the earrings.

I'm also pleased to say I made this batch of tablet all by myself! Usually I get Mum to help as I'm never sure when the mixture is ready to set but I did this all on my own. It set with a lovely glossy top and had that perfect crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture. Delighted!

I would type out the recipe but it's a vague hand me down one which very much relies on observing changes in colour and consistency rather than timing and thermometers. However the next time I make it I could try step by step photographs to accompany the recipe if others fancy having a go.

Festive fudge

Fudge, candy, tablet... whatever you want to call it. Either way, it's so damn moreish it should be illegal. When I make it as a Christmas gift I have to seal it straight away or my fingers will be dipping into the jar!

I think fudge makes a lovely Christmas gift. All you need is a lot of sugar, some old coffee jars, festive tags and some twirly ribbons.

My first batch. Naturally I had to taste test a few pieces before they went into the jars.

Crumbly, melt in your mouth fudge. Some people prefer it darker and more brittle but this is how I like it :)

All scored and ready to break up.

I'm not sure whether to type up the recipe as it's pretty vague (it's a hand-me-down written recipe) and I can only ever make it correctly if Mum's in the kitchen with me as I can't tell when it's ready to set and pour into the tin. However if somebody would like to have a go at the recipe just leave me a comment and I'll try my best to write it up clearly.