Join the party...?

Last Friday evening, we threw a party for our neighbours & friends-within-walking-distance. 22 in all...

Plenty of wine...plus iced pitchers of a non-alcoholic cocktail I found in Nigella Lawson's Christmas book called a Mistletoe - lime cordial, fresh lime juice & ginger beer...

warm & shiny house with plenty of candles...bowls of spiced nuts and pretzels...

a table ready to receive the food - which everyone helped themselves to...

a bright & sparkly Christmas tree in the corner (essential!) At last year's party we served lots of plates of canapes and small bites...but while these are lovely, I found that I spent most of my time in the kitchen replenishing platters instead of talking to people! So this time, I did things differently...a big pot of slow-cooked (for 24 hours) shin of beef, with red wine, star anise, coriander, orange & white beans...so soft that it could be eaten with a spoon...a deep bowl of steamed rice...a giant pan of crispy & delicious Greek Spinach & Feta Pie (Spanakopita)...

and two marvellous salads from the first Ottolenghi book - Fennel, Pomegranate & Sumac (supposed to have feta in too, but I left that out as it was in the pie) and Green Bean, Orange & Hazelnut...all wonderful. And just plates & forks so minimal washing up! To follow...nuts & dried fruits...

to go with the 3 whole cheeses - Blacksticks Blue, a strong cheddar truckle & a whole brie...

plus chocolates & squares of brownie & gingerbread. Everything except the rice (which took 10 minutes) was done in advance...and so I had plenty of time to enjoy talking to people that I usually only say 'hello' to throughout the year, as well as relaxing & having a few drinks myself! The perfect pre-Christmas evening.

On Wednesday, we took a trip out to the Cotswolds to have lunch at a gorgeous pub I've long wanted to visit - The Kingham Plough and it didn't disappoint. Wonderful food in a gorgeous setting in a small Oxfordshire village of creamy stone cottages...

the fire was glowing and the pig was lifesize!

A blue-skied mild day in that magical limbo between holidays. Lovely treat!

Hoping that you are embracing the fun of the season too...and taking time to relax and enjoy it all...

Wishing you the happiest of New Years....filled with love and luck and everything good

xo

Christmas Farmer's Market - a labour of love...

Yesterday was the Christmas Farmer's Market. I was up until 2am on Sunday night preparing....icing these dark chocolate & rum cupcakes with whipped milk chocolate chestnut frosting...

tying up little bags of Brownie Bites & my Alternative Christmas Truffles (which are - deep breath - gluten, wheat, dairy & fat-free, with no added sugar & suitable for vegans too! also, despite all that, totally delicious!)

making labels for the loaf cakes...

and finishing the decorations on the Christmas cakes (this one was spelt, apricot & brandy)
I was up at the crack of a very frosty, sparkly dawn...packing the car and filling flasks with very hot coffee to keep me sustained! I also (from experience) knew to wear as many layers as i could - 4 in all. I resembled the Michelin Man, but I was warm...for a while!
I laid out the stall so that it looked as Christmassy and enticing as possible...

Fresh Cranberry Orange Muffins...

plenty of Mince Pies (baked with orange pastry)

my brownies of the month were Frosty Mint...loved sprinkling the glitter & piping the decorations on these...

and then the heavens opened. It poured and poured. Freezing, unending rain.Absolutely miserable. And this, coupled with the fact that our market is usually on the 4th TUESDAY of the month and no-one appeared to know that this one was on a Monday meant that most of my hard work went un-noticed! I did have quite a few regular customers who just stumbled upon the market by sheer chance and were upset that they hadn't realised earlier...but otherwise, it was all fairly miserable and disheartening and, above all, COLD!! Luckily, my 'baby' sister Lucy & nephew Will came to help me pack up at the end and I took them out for a lovely lunch afterwards. I can sell much of what I made elsewhere, but I also thought it would be nice to pack up some boxes of treats to take round to the neighbours this week...and, of course, my family will benefit from the extra cakes & brownies at Christmas!
Despite the lack of footfall, I'm very pleased to say that ALL of my Panforte (recipe in my last post) sold in record time!

So , if you haven't already, it may be an idea to make some for the festivities! I'll be baking some more tomorrow....
Stay warm and enjoy all the preparations. It's a magical time of the year (unless you're standing in the cold & wet for 6 hours that is....!) xo

Panforte....the essence of Christmas....

So, the frantic times are upon us - for every customer who is in good time, there are two who seem to foregt entirely that Christmas arrives on the same date every year and just scrape under the threshold for last orders! To compound the busy-ness I also have the Farmer's Market on Monday...the December one is a little different. I obviously try and make as many festive things as possible, for people to pick up as last minute presents as well as the predictable mince pies and a few Christmas cakes for those who have forgotten or just don't want to make one.

This year, I've also made a lot of Panforte - the wonderful Italian confection that is, to me, the very essence of Christmas...citrus peels,fruits, spices and nuts. Everything good. And it keeps brilliantly too (almost forever...)

My recipe is a hybrid of several others, and I also make mine gluten-free to let as many people as possible try the magic!

Here it is - I really encourage you to try it, it's easy and quite quick to make, makes the kitchen smell incredible and is just gorgeous after dinner or as a different gift to take to a seasonal party...

Panforte

Line a 9" square dish or pan with baking parchment. You will also need rice paper for this recipe: line the base, over the parchment, with a layer - you may need to cut and overlap a couple of sheets to fit.

You'll need 420g  assorted mixed, raw & unsalted nuts. I use mainly almonds (skins on) but also some walnuts & pistachios. Use your favourites! Toast these for 5-7 minutes in a hot oven (375f/180c) until light brown & fragrant...

cool slightly & then chop very roughly just to break them up a bit (I do this in a processor)

In a pestle & mortar (or a spice grinder) pound 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 6 black peppercorns, the seeds from 5 cardamom pods and 6 cloves until crushed & blended. Tip into a bowl and add the nuts. Add 40g gluten-free plain flour and 1 tbsp cocoa powder together with 400g chopped candied citrus peel. Roughly chop 175g dried figs (or any other soft dried fruits you like - dates, prunes, apricots...) and add to the bowl.

In a large pan, bring 200g caster sugar & 120g clear honey gently to the boil and simmer for a minute, stirring...

Remove from  the heat and stir in all the other ingredients....

Mix together really well...it will look and smell delicious by this time...

Pack into the prepared tin. It will be very sticky but do the best you can to make sure it's pushed into all the corners and fairly level. Cover with another layer of rice paper (again, cut a patchwork to fit if necessary) and push down with your hands slightly to compress the mixture...

Bake for 30 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through the cooking time...
Remove and cool completely (I also compress the finished Panforte while it cools, by covering the pan with a sheet of baking parchment and weighing down with 4 x 420g tins of something like baked beans! But this isn't strictly necessary)
When it's cold, turn out and peel off the parchment paper (leaving the rice paper!). Dredge with icing sugar and cut with a very sharp knife. I cut this size into 4 and wrap each square in parchment, then in colourful tissue tied with a ribbon. If you're making for you, then keep it wrapped in parchment in a tin or airtight box and slice thinly to serve with cheese or coffee...or just on it's own!

I hope your Christmas preparations are going well...and that you're making a little time to enjoy yourself as well. So important - in a few short weeks it will all be over again! Have a great weekend xo

Gorgeous & Gluten-Free!

Anything gluten-free sells really well, I've discovered. There seem to be more & more people who have serious problems with gluten...whether they are actually suffering from coeliac disease, or just wheat-intolerant. I have many friends to whom this applies (hi to Janie, Joann & my Mum to name but three!) and for this reason I've decided to increase my repertoire of recipes...especially on the Farmer's Market stall.

As it's 'beginning to look a lot like Christmas...' I thought I'd share a seasonal delight that I currently bake for a local restaurant - they serve it warm with cream for pudding, but it would be equally good cold with a hot cup of tea, I think! Actually, I'd eat it for breakfast - but that's just me!

Fresh Apple Cranberry Cake

1 & 1/2 cups (225g) gluten -free all purpose/plain flour

(at home I always use ....
Doves Farm flours

but while in the US I bought & brought back some Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Flour

which is a very similar blend & would work just the same!)

1 tsp baking soda
1 & 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder (or Doves Farm make a self-raising G-F flour which you could use & omit this)
1 tsp ground allspice (or cinnamon)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (125g) butter
3/4 cup (160g) light soft brown sugar
2 eggs
3 tbsps apple cider (cloudy apple juice)
1 large tart cooking apple (I use Bramleys), peeled & cored
3/4 cup (150g) fresh cranberries
1 small cooking apple, peeled & cored

Preheat oven to 375f/180c
Line a 9" (23cm) square pan with baking parchment (or butter a glass dish if making as a dessert)

Sift flour, raising agents, spice & salt and set aside. In a large bowl (I use my stand mixer) beat butter and sugar together until lighter in colour and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating in well between each addition. Beat in vanilla extract and apple cider. The mixture will be quite wet & batter-like (this is because gluten-free flour absorbs more moisture)

It should look like this! Grate or finely chop cooking apple, and chop cranberries roughly too. I do this in a food processor - chop the apple first, then add cranberries and pulse a few times. You don't want a puree - it should be quite rough still...

Scrape fruit into batter and fold in well using a metal spoon or spatula. Pour into the prepared pan and top with thin slices of eating apple. I also shake over a little more ground cinnamon & spice at this point. Bake for around 45 minutes until well browned and firm on top (it will spring back when pushed gently with a finger!)

Cool in the tin then eat & enjoy! You can also wrap well and freeze for up to a month, making this an ideal recipe for Christmas.

This morning has seen the first real winter frosts...it's cosy in my kitchen, though! I'm baking Apricot, Rum & Orange Cakes today...made with spelt flour, they will keep well as an alternative to the heavy dark traditional Christmas Cake. Totally gorgeous!

Have a great weekend - have you started any festive baking yet? xo
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Let's Make Christmas at Fabulous Fortnums!

On Friday I took part in an inspiring and fabulous food blogger's event at the iconic London shop Fortnum & Mason . It has been in Piccadilly since 1707, is the official grocer to the Royal household and is still a magical place to visit at any time - but particularly at Christmas, when the decorations are especially amazing and totally OTT...

this one is a view of the stairwell - I took it from the fourth floor....

The afternoon was organised by this wonderful woman...

Vanessa Kimbell . You may remember that I went to the launch of her recipe book, Prepped, back in June. She has ignited a campaign, via her blog and Twitter, to make this Christmas a largely handmade one...a wonderful idea in these difficult financial times - but not just for that reason. There is something so special about receiving a gift that someone you love has taken the time & trouble to make just for you! You can read all about (& join in with!) Vanessa's idea, and the details behind Friday's event on her blog.
I was quite apprehensive when I arrived at 3pm...making my way up the stairs to the top floor and trying to spot my fellow bloggers! I knew that a couple of people I'd met before would probably be going but, apart from that, the afternoon was largely an unknown quantity! We were each given a number for our entries/gifts and went into the beautiful private room that was ours for the next 3 hours. There were four tables for the different categories of presents...so I headed to place my offering amongst the others on the (heaving) baking one! Then time to get a cup of tea...
The Fortnum's colours are duck egg blue, gold & white....gorgeous. And the table set with goodies looked beautiful too...

love the silver sugar tongs...

the proper tea urns...

I avoided the chocolate and had my first mince pie of the season!
It was wonderful to find and chat with fellow tweeters & bloggers (we all wore labels with our Twitter & blog names) and get to know more about them....quite an experience! I also spent time looking at what everyone else had brought with them. The standard was incredibly high, and I found the level of creativity and effort involved quite moving...

I brought a little box of Clove Shortbread Snowflakes...

(I'll post the recipe nearer to Christmas) and Toasted Pecan Salted Caramel Brownie Cups (which I forgot to photograph...they were decorated with a gilded pecan & gold edible glitter!) I wrapped it all in cellophane and tied with seasonal ribbons..

When I saw the other entries, I knew that I wouldn't win - but I'm proud to say that I made it to the judge's tasting table!!
Ah, the judge. The fantabulous baker du jour - Dan Lepard. Author of one of my favourite new books on all things baking (reviewed a few posts back) Short & Sweet. Columnist and expert. Probably the highlight of the day was meeting and (later) chatting to Dan. He took the judging process extremely seriously and it all took quite some time...

But finally, the categories were judged and the prizes awarded. Many congratulations to the very worthy winners:
Urvashi for her Blackberry Curd
Jayne for her Damson Slivovitz
Snejana for her Mincemeat Pops and finally....
Claire who won not only best baked goods for her amaretti biscuits....but also Best in Show!! Many congratulations to her...I don't think I've ever seen anyone so shocked and delighted at winning!

Afterwards, several of us headed off for a well-earned glass of wine and more chatter...and some great gossip!
 I stayed in London overnight and after a quick breakfast yesterday morning at my local Nordic Bakery...

I headed off into the warm sunshine to do a little Christmas shopping. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the Christmas windows at Liberty...

always stunning!
Many thanks to Vanessa for arranging such a wonderful time for us all....I have the feeling that it's the first of many as it was so successful! But in the meantime, why not think about making at least some of your gifts this year? It can be nervewracking, but it's also fabulous fun...

Wishing you a wonderful week....mine is all set to be extra, extra special! More soon....xx