Mincemeat and Marzipan Teabread

Picture this . . .

Marzipan and mincemeat baked into a delicious tea bread . . .



Moist . . . mmm . . . . spicy flecks of mincemeat here and there, and scattered throughout the loaf bits of caramelized and yummy marzipan . . .



Moreishly delicious . . .

Taken from the Good Food Magazine cookbook entitled, "101 Cakes and Bakes."

This is one tasty loaf. Quick, easy and quite, quite edible . . . the perfect thing to do with that jar of mincmeat that is sitting in your larder just waiting to be used . . .




*Mincemeat and Marzipan Teabread*
Makes one loaf, cutting into 12 slices
Printable Recipe

If you like mincmeat you will love this moist and tasty tea bread. We like it spread with cold butter. You just can't beat a slice of this, enjoyed next to teh fire on a cold and windy evening. Comfortingly delicious!

8 ounces self raising flour
4 ounces cold butter, cut into bits
3 ounces light muscovado sugar
3 ounces golden marzipan, cut into small bits
2 large eggs
10 ounces mincemeat
2 TBS flaked almonds
sifted icing sugar to dust the top



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a 2 pound loaf tin and then line it with some baking parchment. Set aside.

Measure the flour and butter into a bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the sugar and the marzipan bits. Beat the mincemeat and eggs together. Stir this into the flour mixture until it is well combined. Spoon into the prepared pan and level off the top. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

Bake for 1 hour, until well risen and golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and lightly dust with the icing sugar whilst it is still hot. Allow to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into slices to serve.



Now that folks is what I'd call some serious good!

Mince Pies

When I was growing up in Canada, one of the things I really disliked at Christmas time was . . . Mincemeat. Oh, but it was horrid. That probably has something to do with the fact that it had real meat in it . . . ground beef . . . and ground beef made me want to gag. Mixed with raisins and other fruits, it made me want to gag even more . . .



Combine that with the interesting fact that my Aunt used to make her mincemeat out of venison that my Uncle shot every year, and I could never trust whether the mincemeat my mother was using had come from my Aunt or not . . . and I just could not face eating Bambi . . .

Aside from all that . . . it just didn't taste good to me . . . not at all. Never, no never . . .



Oh, how very different mincemeat is over here in the UK. I just love it and I can't get enough of it any time of the year, but MOST especially during the Christmas Season!!!

Filled with lovely bits of bramley apple . . . raisins . . . currants . . . sultanas . . . candied peel . . . not to mention lovely warm spices and oranges and lemons, chopped almonds . . . all bound together with soft dark brown sugar, brandy and suet . . . Just the thought of it gets my taste buds tingling.



I love them cold . . . all buttery and spicy sweet in my mouth.



They are a special treat when gently warmed . . . all meltingly delicious and crumbly, with lashings of brandy cream or custard . . . mmm . . .

I usually make my own, using Delia's Foolproof Recipe, but the grocery shops are full of wonderful mincemeat as well. Marks and Spencers make a really yummy luxury version.



There is nothing like spending an afternoon with a cd of Christmas Carols creating the festive mood whilst you bake lovely mince pies . . . the smell of them baking so homey and warm, the music . . . just so soul enriching . . . the cold wind outside buffeting the windows as the rain lashes against the glass . . . me all tucked up warm and cosy in the kitchen, my slippers padding across the floor and Jess stretched out and softly snoring on the carpet in front of the AGA . . .



Ahh . . . this has to be bliss. Can there be anything else on earth so wonderful??? I think not!



Well . . . eating them comes a close second, I do have to admit!




*Mince Pies*
Makes about 24
Printable Recipe

I just adore these delicious Christmas Treats! Crisp and buttery pastry encasing a delicious filling of spiced fruits, and dusted with icing sugar. Oh, so very wonderful. It just would not be Christmas without a breadbox filled with these!

560g mincemeat
(either homemade or storebought)
350g flour
pinch of salt
75g of cold butter, cut into bits
75g cold lard, cut into bits
ice water as needed
For the finish
some milk for brushing
sifted icing sugar for dusting

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Drop in the butter and lard and rub it into the flour/salt mixture using your fingertips. Rub until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Add the ice water by the tablespoon, mixing in with a fork, until you get a dough that leaves the sides of the bowl clean. Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator to rest for half an hour.

Roll half of the dough out 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured board. Cut it into 24 rounds with a 3 inch fluted pastry cutter. Place them into two lightly greased patty tins, lining the holes. Spoon a dessertspoon of mincemeat into each. Roll out the other half of the dough in the same manner, and cut out 24 rounds iwth a 2 1/2 inch cutter. Brush the edges of these rounds with a bit of water and then place them on top of the mincmeat filled patty tins to form lids. Press around lightly to seal. Brush the tops with a bit of milk. Prick with a fork if desired. Place on the top rack in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.

Remove from the oven and cool completely before disting with icing sugar. Store in an airtight container.

Florentine Biscuits

About this time of year I get a yearning to bake cookies . . .



oodles and oodles of cookies. Crisp one, chewy ones . . .



Cookies filled with nuts and fruit . . .



Plain cookies . . . and not so plain cookies.



Cookies glazed with sweet buttery icing, and others simply dusted with clouds of confectioners sugar . . .

Crumbly shortbreads all buttery and crisp, some with ginger and some with cherries . . . other's with nuts . . .



Rolled out gingerbread men . . . with sticky currants for eyes, and squiggly white icing smiles and trim . . .



Big cookies . . . small cookies

Tasty in-between cookies.

I like to give them as gifts to my friends. There is naught so welcome as a tasty Christmas tray of baking. It is always well received.



The simple and cheerful act of baking cookies for your loved ones and friends, whilst Christmas music serenades and plays about your ears . . . is the first sign that Christmas . . . cannot be far off.

What a sweet and joyful chore.

I love it. Can I help it if a few make their way into my mouth while I am busy at work????

I think not. Who can blame me. Tis a most delicious job indeed . . . and very rewarding.



*Florentine Biscuits*
Makes 24
Printable Recipe

These are lovely and buttery and chock full of tasty ingredients . . . cherries and candied citrus peel . . flaked almonds and sultanas, butter and sugar . . . The dark chocolate drizzle is their crowning glory.

4 ounces butter, softened
4 ounces caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
6 ounces plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ounce flaked almonds
(Lightly crush with your fingers)
2 ounces glace cherries, chopped
2 ounces mixed candied peel
2 ounces sultana raisins
3 ounces good quality dark chocolate, melted

Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets and set aside.

Place the butter and sugar in a bowl. Cream together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift the flour and soda together and then stir this into the creamed mixture. Mix to a soft dough.

Mix together the almonds, peel, cherries and sultanas. Stir 1/2 of this mixture into the dough. Mix in well. Shape into 24 even balls, rolling spoonfuls of the dough between the palms of your hand. Place onto the baking sheets, leaving a good space between each. Press out slightly with your fingers. Scatter the remaining fruit and nut mixture evenly over top of each.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until pale golden brown on the edges and bottoms. Remove from the oven and allow to sit on the pan for about 10 minutes, before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Melt the chocolate and then drizzle this over top of the biscuits. (I do this in the microwave by blasting it at 30 second intervals, stirring after each blast)

Leave to set until the chocolate has hardened. Store in an airtight container.

A Basic Christmas Cake

Christmas just wouldn't be complete without a tasty fruit cake to dig into on Christmas day and throughout the holidays. Love it, or hate it . . . Christmas Fruit Cake is a strong tradition here in the UK. Even back home in Canada, we always had fruit cake at Christmas, both a dark one and a light one, as well as my mother's War Cake, which was a type of boiled raisin cake, which we absolutely loved. They weren't as elaborately decorated over there as they are over here though, but you could buy iced ones if you wanted them. My mother never iced hers, and in truth . . . we never missed it.



The Christmas Cake as we know it here in the UK today comes from two customs which became one around 1870 in Victorian England. Originally there was a porridge, the origins of which go back to the beginnings of Christianity. Then there was a fine cake made with the finest milled wheatflour, this was baked only in the Great Houses, as not many people had ovens back in the 14th century.



You don't have to make your own of course. The shop shelves are filled to the brim with a variety of beautifully decorated Christmas Cakes at this time of year, in a great many sizes and shapes. I, myself, however . . . get a certain satisfaction from baking and decorating my own. I am not sure if it is cheaper or not, but it certainly is delicious and, in the doing so, I like to think I am helping to usher in the Christmas Season in our home. I usually bake my cake around the middle of November, and then I will wait until about a week or so before Christmas to decorate it, having given myself a few weeks to plan and get in all the things I will need to fancy it up with.



Fruit cake is one of the things that my Todd looks forward to most at Christmas . . . even more than the turkey, and it is a much loved holiday tradition that I look forward to baking every year. Not only is a show stoppingly beautifully decorated Christmas cake fun to make, but it beats a the flavour of a shop bought one every time . . . seriously! I'll continue with this in a few weeks time when I decorate my cake. Make sure to come back then and see how I make out!



*A Basic Christmas Cake*
Makes one 9 inch round deep cake
Printable Recipe

I have been making this same Christmas cake for years. It always turns out beautifully moist and is filled to the brim with lots of lovely fruit. This needs to be started the night before so make sure you plan ahead. I always like to make my cake a 5 to 6 weeks before Christmas so that it has time to ripen.

450g currants (3 cups)
175g raisins (generous 1 cup)
175g sultanas (generous 1 cup)
50g glace cherries, rinsed dried and cut in half (1/4 cup)
50g whole candied citrus peel, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
3 ounces of cherry brandy
225g flour (1 1/2 cups plus 2 1/2 TBS)
pinch salt
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
225g butter, softened
225g soft light brown sugar (18 TB)
4 large eggs
50g chopped almonds (1/4 cup)
2 TBS black treacle
the grated zest of both one orange and one lemon


The night before you want to bake your cake, put all the weighed out dried fruit into a large bowl, along with the chopped peel, giving it a good mix. Stir in the cherry brandy. Cover the bowl and allow it to steep overnight, giving it a stir every now and then before you go to bed.

The next morning, pre-heat the oven to 140*C/275*F. Take a 9 inch round deep baking tin and grease it well. LIne it with a double thickness of baking parchment and butter it again. Set aside.

Sift the flour into a bowl along with the spices. Beat the butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Gently fold in the flour mixture. Once it has all been incorporated, fold in the dark treacle and the steeped fruits, along with any brandy that may be in the bowl (it is doubtful that there will be any) the peel, the chopped nuts and the grated peels. Spread this mixture into the prepared pan. Set the pan on a large baking tray. Take a double thickness of newspaper and wrap it around the cake tin, tying it on with a piece of string. Top with a piece of parchment paper that you have cut a 1 inch hole in the centre of. Place the oven tray with the cake tin on it onto the lowest shelf in your oven. Bake for 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 hours, until it springs back when lightly touched in the centre and is baked through. Try to resist peeking until at least half an hour before the cake is done.



When done, remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, then remove the newspaper and dump it onto a wire rack and remove the baking parchment. Let cool completely before wrapping it in a large piece of muslin that has been soaked in more brandy. Place into an airtight tin and store until you want to decorate it.

Mincemeat Jalousie

One of the things that I really like over here in the UK, is the mincemeat. You can buy it ready-made all year long, not just at Christmas. Or you can make your own. It's really quite easy.



Back home the mincemeat is really quite different. There's actually minced meat in it. I was never all that fond of it. My Aunt and Uncle used to make Deer Mincemeat. Interesting . . . to say the least.



Over here the mincemeat is a delicious mixture of chopped fruits and spices . . . raisins, currents, sultanas,lemon and orange peel . . . cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice . . . soft light brown sugar . . . suet. You can get it with brandy, or port and some varieties even have cherries in it. I love it all.



Mincemeat is not just for Christmas you know.



You can make lovely loaf cakes with it and pies of course . . . any time at all.

or you can make this tasty Jalousie.



Served warm and cut into squares, it's deliciously moreish with a tangy dollop of creme fraiche on top to counteract the sweetness.

It's lovely, really lovely . . . and so very . . . very . . . easy to make.

Sweet . . . spicy . . . and flake, flake, flakey . . . I think Todd said it best of all . . . "Nice . . . very nice" . . . as he reached for a second helping . . .



*Mincemeat and Apple Jalousie*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Light and crisp puff pastry filled with delicious bottled mincemeat and sliced apple. Served warm with a tasty dollop of creme fraiche. Yum!

1 350g package of frozen all butter puff pastry
1 4 to 6 ounce jar of mincemeat
1 large eating apple, peeled and thinly sliced
1 TBS caster sugar
milk and demerara sugar
Icing sugar to dust
Creme fraiche to serve



Pre-heat the oven to 220*C/425*F.

Roll the pastry to a thin oblong, 6 inches wide and 18 inches long. Cut in half crosswise to give you 2 9-inch long strips. Flour one strip lightly and fold in half from both edges to the centre. Make a series of cuts through the folded edges to within one inch of the trimmed edge on both sides.

Lightly butter a sheet of parchment paper and place it on a baking tray. Lay the plain piece of puff pastry on top. Spread with the mincemeat to within 3/4 inch of the edge all around. Place the thinly sliced apple on top and then sprinkle with the caster sugar. Dampen the free edge all around with some water. Open out the slashed piece of pastry and lay on top. Seal the edges all around and crimp them together. Brush with some milk and sprinkle with some demerara sugar.



Place in the centre of the heated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until well risen and nicely browned. If you think it is browning too quickly you may reduce the oven temperature for the last 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. Dredge with icing sugar, cut into squares and serve warm with some creme fraiche.