The Gingerbread House

Finally we made the Gingerbread House yesterday, although I had originally planned to make it earlier so that we had plenty of time for decoration.  Anyway, we decorated it last night - spent a good hour and a half - felt rather sick at the end from eating so many sweets!  The house has gone into school this morning - hope it looks just as good tomorrow and that it sells raffle tickets!

Here are the photos, although they're not as good as I would have liked, and it's too late now to take more, will just have to wait until we make our own - next week probably.

The snowmen are looking a little drunk, but on the whole we are rather pleased with it - maybe the photographs of our own - when we make it - will be somewhat better.

The First Wish of Christmas

I received an email from my sister in Australia this morning - so I thought I would share this with everyone ..............


Dear God,

My Prayer for 2012 is for a fat bank account and a thin body,

Please don't mix these up, like you did last year.

Amen.


So, pinch punch for the first day of the month to you all.  Day one of the Advent calendars has been opened.

Today's task is to prepare the Gingerbread House for decorating this evening by myself and youngest daughter to take to school tomorrow - raffle prize for Saturday's Christmas Market.  Pictures to follow tomorrow.

My second prayer would be for the parcel I sent to my sister on 9th November to arrive today!  Can you guess what it is I sent her in what I thought would be good time. 

Sugar Plum Fairy Cupcakes

Okay, so Christmas is the time for the Nutcracker ballet, and the ballet is about Christmas so this was my inspiration for these cupcakes.  The second inspiration was a tv programme about cupcakes in America and some cupcakes that once cooked had their centre removed with an apple corer and were filled with buttercream, well, I didn't want buttercream inside and outside a cupcake so I decided to put damson jam inside them instead.  So, I made six plain cupcakes and six with jam inside them whilst baking.  With the cakes cooked with the jam sandwiched in the middle, some of the jam seeped out and down the side of the cake case - not good - but tasted wonderful still warm.  The other cakes, I removed the centre with an apple corer, put half a teaspoon of damson jam in the space created and then popped the small piece of cake from the apple corer and put it back to cover the jam filled hole (hope this makes sense).

Once cool, I made up some fondant icing (fondant icing sugar from a packet mixed with water) - unfortunately I didn't weigh the icing sugar nor measure the amount of water used, then covered the tops of the cakes with the fondant, sprinkled with a little edible pink glitter and topped it off with a white chocolate blackcurrant.

There are so many cupcake recipes around that it seems pointless giving a recipe here but I will list the ingredients and the method for making them just in case there is someone out there who needs it!

Ingredients:

110g/4oz unsalted butter, room temperature
110g/4oz caster sugar
2 eggs
140g/5oz self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs milk

damson jam - or jam of choice

fondant icing
water

White Chocolate blackcurrants
Edible glitter

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Cream the butter and sugar together and add the eggs one at a time.  Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the mixture a little at a time.  Add the milk and mix again.

Either - spoon one teaspoon of mixture into the bottom of the paper cases, then one teaspoon of jam followed by a further large teaspoon of mixture or just fill each paper case with two teaspoons of mixture.
Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 20 minutes and then test the cakes with either a skewer or a cake tester.

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Once cool, remove the centres of the cakes with the apple corer, place half a teaspoon of jam into the gap created and top with the removed cake piece.

Make the icing according to the packet but make it quite thick so that it stays on top and doesn't run down the sides.  Decorate however you like.

Keep them for yourself or box them up and give as a gift - I would be happy to receive a box of these.





Christmas Stockings ....... Again ....

Mini Moo Cards and Stickers


I try very hard to choose gifts that will please the recipient, whether it be something they want, need or love, sometimes though I manage to choose a gift that the recipient didn't even know they wanted and I think the Mini Moo cards and stickers are one such gift.  What child or adult wouldn't be pleased to find some mini moo cards in their stocking.  They are mini sized business cards that are printed with your chosen details and chosen pictures, whether it be a picture of your own that you upload to their site or one of their own pictures.

I have some delightful stickers that I chose from their range with the words "Let's Eat Cake" - I use them when giving cakes as gifts and stick them on the wrapping to seal the package.

Anyway, my suggestion is to check out the website for Moo Cards http://uk.moocards.com/ where I am sure you will be inspired.

An Alternative Christmas Cake

As someone who is not very keen on fruit cake and has never made a Christmas Cake before, always relying on my mother to fulfil this duty, I felt it was time to make my own.  However, not being a fruit cake lover rather spoilt the idea of making my own for the simple reason that I would not be able to enjoy it - selfish I know.  I will make a small traditional Christmas Cake for my parents this year, but found this lovely recipe for Bolognese Christmas cake in Ursula Ferrigno's book La Dolce Vita.

According to the book, this cake is made in Bologna at Christmas time and was created by the monks of Certosa, who made it for the Cardinal Lambertini.

As I have never made it before I cannot vouch for its taste, it has been wrapped in parchment paper and foil and needs to be stored for a month before eating.  I will let you know how successful it has been.

In the meantime, here's how to make it.

It does look a little burnt at the edges, so I would suggest a slightly shorter cooking time of one hour and test it, the recipe calls for it to be cooked for one and a quarter hours - will serve sixteen.


250g raisins
3 tbsp Marsala
5 tbsp fragrant honey (I used organic runny honey)
225g caster sugar
85g unsalted butter
1 tbsp fennel seed or aniseed (I used fennel seeds)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
115g dark chocolate with 50% cocoa solids
6 eating apples
115g candied orange peel
500g plain white or 00 Italian flour
225g blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
115g pine kernels
1/2 tsp baking powder.

Soak the raisins in the Marsala for at least 30 minutes (preferably overnight).

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.  Grease and line the base and sides of a 23cm (9in) loose bottomed round, deep cake tin.

Heat together the honey, sugar, butter and 2 tbsp water until the sugar has dissolved.  Crush the fennel seed or aniseed and add to the mixture together with the cinnamon.  Pour into a large bowl.

Coarsely chop the chocolate.  Peel, core and grate the apples and chop the orange peel.

Add the raisins, chocolate, apples, orange peel, flour, almonds, pine kernels and baking powder to the bowl and mix well together - it really does need to be a large bowl because it is a lot to combine.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for about 1 1/4 hours - or as I said above, bake for one hour and then test with a cake tester.  Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Wrap in parchment paper and foil and store for a month before eating.

After this time - decorate as you wish or brush 2 tbsp of apricot jam on the top and stud with crystallised fruit and blanched toasted almonds, then brush with a further 1 tbsp of apricot jam.

I hope this tastes as good as it sounds.

Christmas Pudding Cake Balls

I made some Chocolate Cake Balls at the weekend and decorated them to resemble christmas puddings!

They make either a great gift for Christmas or for something to go with afternoon tea at Christmas time as an alternative to mince pies - or in addition to mince pies.

As a gift idea, I packed some in a box which I had lined with tissue paper and will tie with a ribbon.

For how to make these, please see my other blog - http://lheureduthe-jennifer.blogspot.com/.

Christmas Stockings

Now, before you think I've lost my marbles, posting about Christmas Stockings in October, I can assure there is method in my madness.

Next week being half term, although you will have your children with you, is a good opportunity to stock up on some small gifts for  a child's Christmas Stocking. 

Museum shops (Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert etc.) have some great little gifts, as do the shops attached to RHS gardens and National Trust houses.

Even if you just make a mental note and buy at a later date, the offerings at these institutions are guaranteed to fill a gap or two.  And why stop at children's presents?  There are so many little gifts to tempt and inspire.

Have a great half term.