Cluck, Muck & Cook

Baking & Foodie Blog From Sunny Brentwood Essex

Christmas

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Boxing Day Chutney

The annual pre Christmas lunch is looming, a tradition that has been going on for about 18 years. It started pre kids with 5 couples and now with all the kids there will be 18 for lunch.

As we do not have a table large enough to seat 18, this year I am going for a Boxing Day buffet theme. The cola baked ham is out of the oven, encrusted with treacle, mustard and demerara sugar. The turkey has been smoked on the BBQ. The brussels and carrots have been peeled and prepped and a bottled of chilled wine has been opened to start the festive dinner preparation.

Boxing Day Chutney

For me, the best bit of the Boxing Day buffet are all the pickles and chutneys to accompany the cold meats and cheeses. I have already made a Port and Cranberry sauce but I still need a special chutney to go with the European cheese mountain one of the guests always brings.

Boxing Day Chutney

I came across Nigella Lawson’s aptly named “Christmas Chutney”. With a little adaptation I now present my “Boxing Day” chutney, full of festive cranberries, satsuma, apples, figs and Christmas spices. Delicious as an accompaniment to your cold meats and cheeses or slathered on a turkey and ham roll.

Ingredients
Makes: 4 jam jars
375g cooking apples
1 small onion
250g cranberries
125g soft dates
1 clementine or satsuma
200g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon mild chilli powder
250ml cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt

Instructions
1. Sterilize your jars. I put mine through a hot cycle on the dishwasher.
2. Peel, core and roughly chop the cooking apples. Peel and roughly chop the onion. Put in a large saucepan. Add cranberries (defrost if frozen) and chopped dates into the pan.
3. Zest the clementines/satsumas into the pan and squeeze in the juice.
4. Add the sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt and chilli powder, then pour in the vinegar.
5. Give the pan a good stir, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to simmer gently, uncovered, for about 45 mins to an hour or until you have a sticky mix that bubbles like lava.
6. Fill your sterilised jars and seal.
7. This matures with age, store in a dark, cool, dry place. It should store well for 6-12 months. Once open keep in the fridge and use within a month.

Boxing Day Chutney
 
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I came across Nigella Lawson's aptly named "Christmas Chutney". With a little adaptation I now present my "Boxing Day" chutney, full of festive cranberries, satsuma, apples, figs and Christmas spices. Delicious as an accompaniment to your cold meats and cheeses or slathered on a turkey and ham roll.
Author:
Serves: 4 Jars
Ingredients
  • 375g cooking apples
  • 1 small onion
  • 250g cranberries
  • 125g soft dates
  • 1 clementine or satsuma
  • 200g caster sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon mild chilli powder
  • 250ml cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt
Instructions
  1. Sterilize your jars. I put mine through a hot cycle on the dishwasher.
  2. Peel, core and roughly chop the cooking apples. Peel and roughly chop the onion. Put in a large saucepan. Add cranberries (defrost if frozen) and chopped dates into the pan.
  3. Zest the clementines/satsumas into the pan and squeeze in the juice.
  4. Add the sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt and chilli powder, then pour in the vinegar.
  5. Give the pan a good stir, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to simmer gently, uncovered, for about 45 mins to an hour or until you have a sticky mix that bubbles like lava.
  6. Fill your sterilised jars and seal.
  7. This matures with age, store in a dark, cool, dry place. It should store well for 6-12 months. Once open keep in the fridge and use within a month.

 

5 Traybakes

Christmas Mincemeat Crumble Traybake

It has come to my favourite time of year. I like to call it the pre Christmas taste test. All the my regular sandwich shops have brought out their Christmas sandwiches. The supermarkets are battling for the best mince pie and Christmas pudding. Of course all of which I have to test myself and give the CluckMuckCook seal of approval.

Christmas Mincemeat Crumble Bars

Which means I will need to up the dog walking to counteract the pre Christmas feasting. Chester the cockerpoo will be happy about that on two fronts. Firstly he snuffles his way in to some testing titbits and secondly he loves a nice long romp over the local forest chasing squirrels and deer.

Chester Cockerpoo

But more importantly Pret A Manger bring out the Christmas crimble crumble bar which ends up a regular afternoon treat with a nice cappuccino. This year I thought I would try and make a quick and easy version. Rather than a shortbread base and a crumble, I made a big crumble mix, half of which gets pressed firmly into the baking tin and the other half gets sprinkled lightly over the top. Which does make these extra crumbly.

Christmas Mincemeat Crumble Bars

This is super quick to make. If you do not have a food processor, just rub in the butter, flour and sugar to form fine breadcrumbs, then mix in the spice and nuts.

Makes 12 slices
Oven Temp: Gas 5, 350F, 180C (160C Fan)

Ingredients:
250g self-raising flour
225g butter
50g light brown sugar
50g pecan nuts
1 tsp mixed spice
400g mincemeat
Caster or demerara sugar to sprinkle

Instructions:
1.Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan
2.Grease and line the base of a rectangular tin, 28 x 18 x 3cm, with baking parchment.
3.Place the flour, sugar, spice, nuts and butter in a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4.Tip half of the mixture into the tin and press down with the back of a large metal spoon.
5.Spread mincemeat over the top then sprinkle the remaining crumble mix over the mincemeat, so it is covered.
6.Sprinkle a little extra sugar on top.
7.Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.

Christmas Mincemeat Crumble Traybake
 
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Delicious alternative to a mince pie , Super crumbly and perfect with a cup of tea or coffee
Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 250g self-raising flour
  • 225g butter
  • 50g light brown sugar
  • 50g pecan nuts
  • 2 tsp mixed spice
  • 400g mincemeat
  • Caster or demerara sugar to sprinkle
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan
  2. Grease and line the base of a rectangular tin, 28 x 18 x 3cm, with baking parchment.
  3. Place the flour, sugar, spice, nuts and butter in a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  4. Tip half of the mixture into the tin and press down with the back of a large metal spoon.
  5. Spread mincemeat over the top then sprinkle the remaining crumble mix over the mincemeat, so it is covered. 6.Sprinkle a little extra sugar on top.
  6. Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.

 

0 Cakes

Classic Christmas Cake

Sunday 20th November is ‘Stir-up Sunday’. Traditionally the day to make your Christmas puddings and Christmas cakes. This tradition goes back to Victorian times where the family got together on the Sunday before Advent. It gets its name from the beginning of the collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer, which begins with the words, “Stir up, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people”.

Classic Christmas Cake

Whist I am not particularly religious, it is a great way to remember when to make your Christmas puddings and cakes. For my traditional Christmas cake, it allows for 5 weeks of weekly feeding the cake with a tablespoon or 2 of brandy every weekend to get that lovely boozy, warming, rich fruitcake for Christmas Day tea. Everyone in the family takes a turn to stir the cake mix and make a special wish for the year ahead.

Christmas cake

Last Christmas when I was in the supermarket stocking up on dried fruit, a retired lady and I were dancing around each other to get to the ingredients, both obviously getting ready for Stir up Sunday. We got talking and I found out she was a retired home economics teacher. She said she was impressed that firstly I was a man who could not only be bothered to actually make a Christmas cake from scratch, when I could just as easily have picked a ready made and iced one in the next aisle. Secondly she could see the passion I had for baking and the desire to share that and build memories and traditions with my two young sons in the same way my father and I did many years before. I think we both left the supermarket with even more Christmas cheer than when we entered. We were both in firm agreement that we wished more people would take the time to have fun in the kitchen and pass on skills and traditions that can be so quickly lost in the high speed world we live in.

 

Christmas cake

If you are not partial to alcohol, soak the fruit in orange juice instead of brandy and skip the feeding.

I normally ice and decorate the cake with marzipan and fondant icing the weekend before Christmas. You will have to wait a little while before I can add the finished iced version.

Christmas Cake

Soak the fruit at least overnight, preferably a few days.

Makes: 1 cake
You will need a 20cm cake tin
Ingredients
450g currants
150g raisins
150g sultanas
50g dried cranberries
50g mixed peel
50g glace cherries, chopped
50g pecans, chopped
100ml brandy (or orange juice)
225g butter
225g soft dark brown sugar
5 eggs, medium
225g plain flour
1/4 teaspoon  nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon  mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 tablespoon treacle
Brandy to feed

To decorate
2 tablespoons of apricot jam
250g ready roll marzipan
500g ready roll icing
A little icing sugar

Instructions
A few days before, put all of the dried fruit and nuts into a large ziploc bag or Tupperware box and pour over the brandy or orange juice. Give it a good stir each day.

Preheat oven to 280F/140C (120C Fan)/Gas 1

1.Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with baking parchment. Then wrap and tie with string a double thickness of baking parchment on the outside of the tin. This will protect it through the long slow bake.
2.Combine the flour, salt and spices into a large bowl. Add sugar, eggs, softened butter and beat with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.
3.Gently fold in the presoaked fruit, the grated zest of the orange and lemon and treacle.
4.Using a large spoon transfer the mixture to the lined tin, smooth out the top and cover the top with a double layer of parchment. Cut a small hole in the parchment to let out steam.
5.Place in the bottom shelf of the oven and bake for about 4 hours. Insert a skewer and make sure it comes out clean to ensure the cake is cooked through . It can take an extra 30 minutes. If it is not quite done, check every 15 mins until the skewer comes out clean.
6.Cool for 30 minutes in the tin. Then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
7. Once cool, poke holes in the top of the cake and feed (slowly drizzle) with a tablespoon of brandy.
8.Wrap in parchment and then in foil. Store in an airtight tin and feed with brandy weekly.

Icing the cake

1. Warm the jam in a small saucepan to remove any lumps. Put the cake on a cake board or plate. Brush the jam over the top of the cake.
2. Dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan. Cut out a 20cm disc and place on top of the cake.
3. Repeat this step with the icing and then decorate using your own creative flair.
4. Store in an airtight container.

Classic Christmas Cake
 
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A lovely boozy, warming, rich fruitcake for Christmas Day tea
Author:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 450g currants
  • 150g raisins
  • 150g sultanas
  • 50g dried cranberries
  • 50g mixed peel
  • 50g glace cherries, chopped
  • 50g pecans, chopped
  • 100ml brandy (or orange juice)
  • 225g butter
  • 225g soft dark brown sugar
  • 5 eggs, medium
  • 225g plain flour
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon mixed spice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • Grated zest of 1 orange
  • 1 tablespoon treacle
  • Brandy to feed
Instructions
  1. A few days before, put all of the dried fruit and nuts into a large ziploc bag or Tupperware box and pour over the brandy or orange juice. Give it a good stir each day.
  2. Preheat oven to 280F/140C (120C Fan)/Gas 1
  3. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with baking parchment. Then wrap and tie with string a double thickness of baking parchment on the outside of the tin. This will protect it through the long slow bake.
  4. Combine the flour, salt and spices into a large bowl. Add sugar, eggs, softened butter and beat with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.
  5. Gently fold in the presoaked fruit, the grated zest of the orange and lemon and treacle.
  6. Using a large spoon transfer the mixture to the lined tin, smooth out the top and cover the top with a double layer of parchment. Cut a small hole in the parchment to let out steam.
  7. Place in the bottom shelf of the oven and bake for about 4 hours. Insert a skewer and make sure it comes out clean to ensure the cake is cooked through . It can take an extra 30 minutes. If it is not quite done, check every 15 mins until the skewer comes out clean.
  8. Cool for 30 minutes in the tin. Then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
  9. Once cool, poke holes in the top of the cake and feed (slowly drizzle) with a tablespoon of brandy.
  10. Wrap in parchment and then in foil. Store in an airtight tin and feed with brandy weekly.
  11. Icing the cake
  12. Warm the jam in a small saucepan to remove any lumps. Put the cake on a cake board or plate. Brush the jam over the top of the cake.
  13. Dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan. Cut out a 20cm disc and place on top of the cake.
  14. Repeat this step with the icing and then decorate using your own creative flair.
  15. Store in an airtight container.

 

3 Condiments

Christmas Mincemeat

Stir up Sunday is just around the corner. My last Bramley apples are just falling off the tree . The baking cupboard is full of odds and sods of dried fruits that never get quite used up. Supermarkets have started the Christmas push and it is not even November yet. The morning is misty and Autumnal. It feels like a perfect day to make some mincemeat, so it can mature in time for mice pies or a Christmas version of a Pain Aux Raisin.

Christmas Mincemeat

Christmas Mincemeat

When I lived in Chicago, my US colleagues were often cautious when I announced I was making mince pies, convinced I would be hiding some form of meat in a sweet pie! The 1861 volume Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management called for beef suet and rump steak mixed in with the dried fruit and spice. However my version is packed full of fruit and uses butter instead of suet, not an ounce of meat in sight. Plus a very healthy glug or three of alcohol. Traditionally Brandy but today I substituted the brandy for some damson vodka I made last year. Sherry, Port, Rum or Whiskey all work well.

Christmas Mincemeat

Christmas Mincemeat

The joy of making your own mincemeat is that you can tweak it to your liking. I am not a big fan of almonds so I have substituted in pecan nuts. I have dialed down the mixed peel and thrown in a handful of glacé cherries. As long as the overall weight of dried fruit adds up to total in the recipe, play around with the ratios of fruits.

Makes: 4 Jars
Ingredients
175g currants
175g raisins
175g sultanas
175g dried cranberries
50g mixed peel
50g glace cherries, chopped in quarters
1 medium cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped
125g butter
50g chopped pecan nuts
225g light brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 lemon
200ml brandy (or alcohol of your choice)

Instructions
1. Gently heat the butter, sugar, spices, juice and zest of the lemon until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the brandy/alcohol into the pan and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
3. Allow the mixture to cool a little and then stir in the alcohol.
4. Spoon the mincemeat into sterilised jam jars. Put on the lid and store in a cool place. These will improve with age and will store well for up to 6 months in a cool place.

Christmas Mincemeat
 
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The 1861 volume Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management called for beef suet and rump steak mixed in with the dried fruit and spice. However my version is packed full of fruit and uses butter instead of suet, not an ounce of meat in sight. Plus a very healthy glug or three of alcohol
Author:
Serves: 4 jars
Ingredients
  • 175g currants
  • 175g raisins
  • 175g sultanas
  • 175g dried cranberries
  • 50g mixed peel
  • 50g glace cherries, chopped in quarters
  • 1 medium cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped
  • 125g butter
  • 50g chopped pecan nuts
  • 225g light brown sugar
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 1 lemon
  • 200ml brandy (or alcohol of your choice)
Instructions
  1. Gently heat the butter, sugar, spices, juice and zest of the lemon until the sugar has dissolved.
  2. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the brandy/alcohol into the pan and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
  3. Allow the mixture to cool a little and then stir in the alcohol.
  4. Spoon the mincemeat into sterilised jam jars. Put on the lid and store in a cool place. These will improve with age and will store well for up to 6 months in a cool place.
Notes
Stores well in a cool dark place for 6 months