Are any of you doing any Christmas baking this year?
I’m not a great baker to be honest but I generally make a Tunis cake and mince pies.
What are your specialities and are you trying any new recipes this year?
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Ooh yes!
Mince pies (with my grandmother’s recipe for the pastry) and I will be making a gingerbread house again this year, having found you can glue it all together with buttercream, which is much yummier than royal icing and won’t break anyone’s fillings!
Sam x
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What type of pastry do you make Sam?
I think I like puff pastry and shortcrust pastry mince pies equally but I don’t like mince pies with icing on top - bleurgh!
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My Christmas cake has literally just come out of the oven. And as we don’t like alcohol it doesn’t matter it is made so late. I have turned vegan in the last few months, but I shall revert to being vegetarian over Christmas. It’s not fair on everyone else to not do our traditional vegetarian Christmas. Although, with a bit of careful thought, I can add quite a few vegan bits without them even realising!
I have also spent all afternoon cleaning and tidying the kitchen while the cake baked, which is always a good thing too.
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Always baking!! Especially this month:christmas_tree:
Gingerbread, mince pies, Xmas cakes, Gingersnaps , on a weekly basis
And new recipes…hot toddy gingerloaf, mulled wine fruit cake and whiskey Mac fruit cake😋
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The pastry recipe is a family secret-so I won’t be spilling the beans here. Definitely no icing sugar, tho’.
Sam x
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I jotted down a spiced biscuit recipe on the Kirstie Allsop programme, Il be giving those a go.
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Haven’t had a Tunis cake since a child. An aunt always gave us one for a present. Baking some cheese and chorizo puffs for the freezer this weekend.
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Saffron cake as my beloved is Cornish.
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Not exactly baking but I’ll be making Florentines to take with us when we travel up to my in laws for Christmas.
The key is trying to stop my husband eating them before we get there!
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What’s the tradition behind saffron cake?
Mmmm…I love florentines.
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Me too! And so easy to make!
I discovered the joy of baking earlier this year and have been making things quite regularly. But I am not making anything for Xmas. However, I have made chutney (apples & dates) and cranberry sauce. These are sweet!
Saffron cake is just such a Cornish thing - and I’ve recently learnt to cook it, so we’ll be having it over Christmas. Along with brie and cranberry quiche, homemade pizza and a lot of Indian food (home cooked) as we are veggies.
I would normally make a couple of christmas dundee cakes in early Nov with one of them being a birthday pressie for my father in law but this year he asked for something else (we agreed on lemon/lime meringue pie) so they didn’t get made. I would also normally do mince pies for my open studio, making my own mince meat with apples/ fruit from the allotment, but I went on holiday at mince meat making time (oops) so that never got done (I did speculaas biscuits instead). I’m not a fan of the whole dried fruit / mixed spice combo so most of the traditional christmas bakes are wasted on me.
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The tradition behind saffron cake may well go back to the days of piracy in the west country, particularly the Tudor period. Saffron was one of the most valuable cargoes travelling up and down the channel, and supposed to be the preserve of the rich. The raisins that are often added were also part of a valuable international trade. To have saffron to colour your cake would indicate you were either very rich, or knew the right pirate 
Sam x
Dundee cake ! I haven’t had one of those in years. It was always my dad’s favourite and we used to bake him one for his birthday at the end of November.
I need to look up a good recipe…
I use my OH’s grandmother’s recipe but with a wobbly hand measure of brandy not the tablespoon or 2 that they suggest (I think I also forget to include the cherries and candied peel in the dried fruit measurement so they go in extra). I don’t like it but I’m told its very good.
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Sounds yum! I do like a good fruitcake! ( Like attracts like in this instance) 