Mincemeat Tart for Christmas or Just Anytime!

Jar of MinceMeat

6oz Self Raising Flour

3oz Butter

Water to mix

Milk (To brush with)

Cooking time: 190c for approx. 20 minutes minutes

Serving: 6 people (10" round flan dish)

1. Grease the flan dish with butter and pre heat the oven

2. Put the flour and butter into a mixing bowl and rub in till it forms breadcrumbs

3. Add the water a tbsp at a time and with your hands mix the ingredients into a dough

4. Chill the dough for approx. 10 minutes this makes it easier to roll

5. Scatter a clean smooth surface with flour and a rolling pin (this prevents the dough from sticking to the surface)

6. Roll out the pastry so that it is approx 4 mm in depth.

7. Transfer this to the dish, the pastry should cover the bottom of the dish and come up the sides

8. Cut away any extra pastry

9. Empty the jar of mincemeat into the pastry case

10. With the left over pastry roll it out again and using cutters, cut out shapes or design your own to place on top of the mincemeat tart.

11. Using a bit of milk brush the shapes and around the edges of the tart, this helps the pastry to brown and go slightly golden.

12. Then put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until piping hot and golden

13. You can either leave to cool and eat cold and reheat if wish or heat warm with a nice dollop of cream, ice cream or custard!

Christmas Tree CupCake

6oz Self Raising Flour

6oz Butter

6oz Caster Sugar

3 Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence

100g Chocolate drops

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Bi Carbonate of Soda

Cooking time: 30-45 minutes on 170c / Gas Mark 4

Serving: 1 Large cupcake

1. Pre-pare your cupcake tin by greasing it well with butter and putting it on a baking tray

2.Cream together the butter and into a bowl until it is smooth

3. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a separate bowl

4. Whisk the eggs into the creamed butter mixture for approx. 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth and fluffy

5. Into a separate bowl sieve the flour, baking powder and bi carbonate of soda

6. Add the chocolate chips to the flour mixture and coat well

7. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and fold in gently but smoothly ensuring it is all mixed in well

8. Once mixed together divide the mixture evenly between the top and bottom of the cupcake

9. In the bottom part of the cupcake insert the insert if you have one as shown by the instructions (this means you then have a hole which you can fill with extra filling, yum!)

10. Put in the Oven and bake, at about 20 minutes through cover the sponge with baking proof paper so it does not burn on top but cooks through

11. The bottom part of the cupcake will take longer to bake than the top

12. Once each part is done, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before removing from the silicone case onto a wire cooling rack

Decoration and Icing

12oz Icing Sugar x 2

4oz Butter x2

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence

2 Tbp Cocoa Powder

Orange and lemon slices

Silver ball balls

1. Prepare the two batches of icing as follows;

2. Cream the butter in a bowl until soft

3. Sieve the icing sugar into the butter and mix with a metal fork until it is combined

4. Mix witha fork or a whisk for a few minutes until it forms a smooth consistency but not runny! Otherwise it will not hold its shape when piped

5. In one batch add the vanilla and mix to the other sieve in the cocoa powder and mix well

6. I decorated the top of the cupcake first using a swirl piping knozzle and piping bag and piped around the cupcake

7. I then added slices of organge and lemon to be the christmas lights and then little silver ball balls for the tinsel effect

8. I then decorated the bottom before putting the top on top. I did this using a piping tube and a small knozzle to make the lines more defined like bark. I did this by starting at the bottom of the cake and piping up and just over the edge to get a smooth finish.

9. I then put about a good cm of buttercream in the middle to hold the top and bottom together

10. Carefully lift the top of the cupcake onto the top of the bottom and press gently down

11. Then do any last bits of icing in the middle to make it form nicely together and there you have it a green cupcake or what I like to say a Christmass Tree!

Coconut Florentine Slice

8oz Chocolate (Melted)

2oz Butter

4oz Sugar (Demerara Sugar)

1 Egg

2oz Dried Fruit

2oz Glace Cherries (Chopped)

4oz Dessicated Coconut

Cooking Time: 40 minutes on 140c/Gas Mark 3

Serving: 7inch sqaure tin (I got 9 good size Pieces)

1. Grease your tin with butter

2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water

3. Pour this into the tin and make sure it is even throughout the tin and then leave to set in the fridge or freezer while you prepare the topping

4. In a bowl cream together the butter ana sugar

5. Add the egg and beat thoroughly until it is all combined

6. Add the dried fruit and chopped cherries and mix well

7. Add the coconut and mix well

8. Remove the baking tin from the fridge and ensure the chocolate is set

9. Pour the topping onto the chocolate and smooth out evenly

10. Press down lighlty with a fork and put in the oven to bake for 40 minutes or until golden

11. Once done, leave in the tin to cool for a while before cutting out slices with a knife and transferring to a wire cooling rack

N.B. I then wrapped these up in silver foil and ribbons and gave them to friends as presents!

White Christmas Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream

6oz Self Raising Flour

6oz Caster Sugar

6oz Butter

3 Eggs

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Bi carbonate of Soda

150g White Chocolate (Melted)

Cooking Time: 15 minutes on 180c/ Gas Mark 5

Serving: 1 2 tier Sponge Cake

1. Grease two victoria sponge tins (7") with butter and a touch of flour

2. Chop the chocolate and place in a bowl over hot water to melt, stirring occasionally to ensure it does not burn

3.Cream together in a bowl the butter and the sugar

4. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs together

5. Whisk the eggs into the butter mixture until it is well combined approx. 2-3 minutes

6. Sieve the flour, baking powder and bi carbonate of soda into the creamed mixture and fold in gently till it forms a nice smooth consistency

7. Once all the chocolate is melted add to the cake mixture and fold in

8. Divide the mixture evenly between the two cake tins and bake

9. Once done, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack

Buttercream Icing and Decoration

16oz Icing Sugar

51/2oz Butter

1 Tbs Milk

1/2 Tsp Vanilla Essence

2 Tbs Cocoa Powder

1. Prepare the buttercream but creaming the butter in a bowl

2. Sieve in the icing sugar and add the milk and whisk together with a whisk or fork to form a good smooth strong consistency to use for piping

3. Remove about 1/5 of the mixture and put to one side, to this add the vanilla essence

4. To the rest sieve in the cocoa powder and mix in well

5. Divide the chocolate buttercream between the two sponge and spread out evenly with a damp knife

6. Place one sponge on top of the other

7. Fill a piping bag and I used a Swirl knozzle and pipe a design around the cake! I did a christmas one as it was for a christmas party and then enjoy!

Blackberry Swirl Cupcakes with Blackberry Cream Cheese Butter Icing

4oz Butter

4oz Caster Sugar

4oz Self Raising Flour

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Bi Carbonate of Soda

2 Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence

2 Tbs Blackberry Jam / Conserve

1 Tbs Milk

Cooking Time: 180c / gas mark 5 for 15 minutes

Serving: 12 Cupcakes

1. Cream together the butter and Sugar with a whisk until creamy

2. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and vanilla essence together

3. Slowly whisk the eggs into the butter mixture until combined

4. Sieve the flour, baking powder and Bi Carb into the butter mixture

5. Fold in gently until it is well combined

6. Add the Jam and milk and fold in until you have a swirl mixture of Jam running through

7. Divide the mixture evenly between the cupcakes cases and bake for approx. 15 minutes.

8. Once done, remove from the oven and leave for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Blackberry Cream Cheese Butter Icing

2oz Cream Cheese (Low Fat Tesco own is what I used)

2oz Butter

12oz Icing Sugar

2 Tbs of Blackberry Jam / Conserve

1. Cream together the cream cheese and butter in a bowl until smooth (You can use a metal spoon for this)

2. Sieve the icing sugar into the creamed cheese mixture

3. Mix the mixture together well using a metal fork until it is combined (Do not over mix otherwise it will become runny)

4. Add the blackberry Jam and mix into the mixture until all combined

5. Put a good size teaspoon or more on each cake and smooth out with a knife

6. If you wish and have some around you could then top each with a blackberry!

N.B. You can add any flavour of Jam you wish

N.B. If you have a sweet tooth, add more Jam, but I found this plenty

N.B. Because they contain cream cheese its best to eat these cupcakes fresh

Cinnamon Christmas Cookies

7oz Butter

7oz Caster Sugar

12oz Plain Flour (plus extra for dusting)

2 Egg Yolks

2 Tsp Cinnamon

1 Tsp Mixed Spice

Cooking time: Gas mark 4 / fan 160 / gas 180c for 20 minutes

Serving: Depending on what size shapes you do 18

1. Preheat oven and grease baking trays

2. Sieve the flour and spices into a bowl

3. Add the sugar and butter

4. Mix with a spoon, whisk, or fingers to make breadcrumbs

5. Add the egg yolks and using your hands or a whisk bring all the mixture together to form a dough

6. Bring the dough together and knead lightly on a surface for a few minutes but not so it becomes hot, if it does put it in the fridge to chill

7. Dust a clean surface and rolling pin with some flour and roll the dough out till its approx. 1cm thick

8. Use cookie cutters to then cut out various shapes and transfer to the baking tray

9. Put in the oven till they turn slightly golden or for 20 minutes and then remove

10. Remove from the pan after a few minutes to a wire cooling rack and leave to cool

Glace Icing

12oz Icing Sugar

2 Tbs Water

Food Colouring (Optional)

1. Sieve the icing suagr into a bowl

2. Add the water and mix together till it forms a stiff icing, if it is too runny add more icing sugar

3. If desired then squirt in a few drops of colouring for effect

4. Pipe or swirl onto the cookies and make pretty designs

5. Add anything else e.g. grated chocolate, silver balls, sweets and then tuck in!