Tag Archives: Happy Christmas

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Posted on December 31, 2011 by Jo | 2 Comments

It is the season for excess especially in terms of eating lots of sweet things and this year for me as been no exception. I have made two Christmas Cakes. One for myself and my family and one for some friends. I made my first Christmas Cake last year but did not blog about it as I used Delia’s kit from Waitrose. This year I have made and decorated both cakes completely all by myself. I used Delia’s recipe which is here and used the techniques I learnt at the cake course I went to at the start of the year to cover the cake. The decorations for both cakes and some of the icing/marzipan was kindly supplied by Dr Oetker.

This Christmas, I have also been busy making cupcakes. I made some vanilla and mince pie cupcakes for a family gathering we had this week. To make the mince pie cupcakes, I added some mincemeat and extra spices to the usual cupcake mix and added some brandy into the buttercream. The idea was inspired by my friend and Cupcake Queen of the Cotswold’s, Louise of Cirencester Cupcakes. My family loved them and I will be making them again soon.

That’s it for my Christmas baking. Please let me know in the comments what you have been making and add links if you have done a post about it. I am always looking to try something new for next Christmas.

I will be back soon with my New Year resolutions post, a cookbook review of the year and a new monthly blogging challenge for everyone. Hope you have a great party tonight, whatever you are doing.

Happy New Year!

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Posted in baking, cakes, Cirencester Cupcakes, cupcakes, Dr Oetker, Happy Christmas

Tagged baking, cake, cake baking, cake decorating, Christmas, Cirencester Cupcakes, cupcakes, Dr Oetker, Happy Christmas, happy new year

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Jo | Leave a comment

A festive message from Brian Turner

Happy Christmas

From Jo, Stuart and Thomas x

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Posted in Brian Turner, Happy Christmas

Tagged Brian Turner, Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas!

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Jo | 1 Comment

Happy Christmas everyone. Sorry for the delay in between posts. Things have been a bit crazy round here with the snow, awful roads and Christmas preparation. I am cooking Christmas dinner for six tomorrow and am off to start preparing as soon as I have written this post. For those of you who may be interested, I am cooking:

A Turkey from Goodman’s Farm in Worcestershire
Roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips
Steamed Brussels spouts and cabbage
Cauliflower Cheese
Yorkshire Puddings
Sage and onion stuffing
My nan is bringing sausagemeat stuffing
Proper giblet gravy

I know it is probably a bit late to give you a Christmas recipe now but here is my new recipe find of this Christmas: Mincemeat Flapjacks. They are really easy and quick to make and I am sure you have all the ingredients in the store cupboard.

Mincemeat ‘Christmas’ Flapjacks

(Inspired by Food Network UK and Waitrose)

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter
4 tablespoons of golden syrup
1 410g jar of mincemeat or your own, if you have made some
500g porridge oats
200g Glacé Cherries, chopped (optional)

Method

In a saucepan, melt the butter, golden syrup and mincemeat until thick and runny.
Turn off the heat, and stir in the porridge oats and coat every bit with golden syrup, butter and mincemeat mixture. Add in the glacé cherries if using and stir again.
Pour the mixture into a lined big lasagne dish and cook in a 180 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked through. It will still be soft when you take it out of the oven.
Allow to cool, cut into squares (it will be very crumbly) and serve. Enjoy!

Many thanks to Hayley at Sainsbury’s for sending me the most amazing mincemeat to make this recipe with. It is much appreciated. Happy Christmas!

Well this is it from me until after the big day tomorrow. Happy Christmas to everyone! I hope you have a fantastic day, whatever you are doing. Eat, drink and be merry!

Happy Christmas!

Lots of love