Christmas Eve Feast 2010 in Pictures

STARTERS:

Country Pate I made three days before Christmas Eve

Hubby made Nachos with his infamous chilli.  You can get his recipe here.

My de-constructed prawn cocktail

Peking Duck 

MAIN DINNER:

Roast Turkey.  I also had a Coke glazed Ham but somehow I don't have any photos of it

 

Now that's a drumstick!

Prawns waiting to be roasted in the oven 

 

Pigs in a blanket

Steamed green beans with butter

Honey glazed Carrots

My Newphew made a mocktail called Summer breeze that we had when we were all at Lindeman Island

DESSERT: 

I made Christmas cake balls inspired by Bakerella

Sister in law made buttersnap cups 

My mum made Puto Maya.  This is a traditional Filipino sweet dish made of glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and coated with fresh grated coconut and sugar.

My brother, @MrEdwardPuzon made his much-loved Trifle.

I also made an Angel Food cake with cream cheese and berries.

Photos taken by @MrJamesMoore and @MrEdwardPuzon

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

My Christmas Cake 2010

It is now tradition that I make Christmas cake every year, even though I actually don't eat fruit cake.  Basically, I make this solely for Hubby and my mother in law.  

I usually use Delia's classic Christmas cake recipe but I thought I'd change it up a bit.  This year I used Bourke street bakery's recipe.  This is the first recipe I used from this book and I think it's a good one so it may be the one I make every year from now on.  It's dense, rich, moist and full of flavour.  The good thing about fruit cakes is that you can use any combination of fruit you like and you can use any alcohol of your choice.  Just make sure you have the same total quantity of fruit in the recipe.  The original recipe makes two 12.5 cm cakes but I decided to make one bigger one.  I just cooked it a bit longer on a lower heat.  Make sure to line the tin with double the amount of baking paper to avoid the sides burning.

It should be made 12 to 15 weeks before Christmas.    The fruit needs to be soaked for 5 weeks and then the cake needs to be fed for 8 to 10 weeks.  Unfortunately, I started the cake a little late.  I started it 10 weeks before hand but Hubby still liked it and preferred it to last year's cake.

Recipe:
Fruit soak (make it 5 weeks in advance)
55g caster sugar
55ml water
160 brandy ( I used port)
90g sultanas
80g currants
80g chopped pitted prunes
80g chopped pitted dates
150g raisins
55g mixed peel
135g chopped dried figs

Cake:
100g plain flour
1/2 tsp mixed spice
15g ground almonds
110g unsalted butter
100g soft brown sugar
2 tsp honey
2 tbl treacle
1 tsp honey
1tsp marmalade
3 eggs lightly beaten
150ml brandy for feeding (Hubby chose Pimms)


1.  To make the fruit soak, put the sugar and water in a saucepan over a high heat and bring to boil.  Remove from heat when sugar has dissolved.
2.  In an air tight container, add all the fruit, the sugar syrup and port.  Mix well to coat.  Keep at room temperature for 5 weeks, feeding it with the alcohol of your choice every 3-4 days.
3.  To make the cake, preheat oven 160degC and grease 20cm round cake tin and line with baking paper.
4.  Sift the flour, mixed spice and ground almonds together in a large bowl.  In a mixer bowl, using the paddle attachment cream the butter, sugar, honey, treacle and marmalade until pale.
5.  Add the eggs a little at a time, making sure it's incorporated before adding more.
6.  As soon as all the egg is combined, add 900g of the fruit soak and fold in.
7.  Pour mixture into prepare tin and place on an oven tray and bake in the oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, turning the tin half way through.  If the top starts to brown too much, cover with foil.  Remove from oven and leave in the tin to cool.
8.  Make about 20 - 30 holes in the cake with a skewer.  I left my cake in the tin though the recipe says to place the cake on a layer of foil and baking paper and scrunching it up to the top of the cake to prevent leakage when feeding it.  I just found it easier to leave it in the tin.
9.  To feed the cake, brush over about 1 tsp ( or a capful) of your alcohol of choice.  Repeat every 3 - 4 days for 8 - 10 weeks.  Make sure the cake is well covered to stop evaporation, which will lead the cake to be dry.  Keep the cake in an air tight container and keep in a cool dark place.

To decorate,

1.  Turn cake out of the tin and trim the top to make it level.

2.  Turn the cake upside down.

3.  Plug any holes made by the fruit with marzipan or almond paste.

4.  Brush some apricot preserve all over the cake.  This will help the icing to stick to the cake

5.  Roll out marizpan or almond paste to about 1 cm thick and cover the cake.  Make sure to cover it completely and smooth it out as much as you can.

6.  Roll out fondant or white icing to the same thickness and cover the marzipan icing.

7.  Decorate as you please. 

I think this will be the Christmas Cake I will make every year.

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Colourful Christmas Trifle. An International Incident.

I was looking forward to this month's IIP as this month's theme was very open and there were many ideas running through my head.  This month's theme is COLOUR.

 I decided to make Christmas trifle.  It's full or colour and my Christmas nowadays is not complete without a trifle of some sort. We're lucky in Australia to have Christmas in Summer.  There are lots of beautiful fruits that are available.  I decided to add strawberries, kiwi and mangoes in my trifle.  Not only will it be colourful but also delicious.

There are no hard and fast rules on making trifle.  You can add any fruit and as many layers you like.  Your trifle can be quick and easy by using store bought cake and custard or you can make it as complicated as you like.  You can also make it in a large trifle bowl or make individual ones.  There is only one rule when you want to make trifle.  You need to be organised.  The buttercake needs to be made a day before you want to make the trifle that way it holds up a lot better.  You also need to make the jelly before hand so it's set before using.

In my house, my English Hubby is actually a little picky about his trifles and likes the traditional ones.  I listened to his "suggestions" and tweaked it a little.  

My first layer was buttercake that I crumbled a little. I placed the cake pieces in a single layer at the bottom of the bowl.  I then made raspberry jelly according to packet instructions (less 50ml water) and poured over the cake.  Place the bowls in the fridge for a couple of hours to set the jelly.

My second layer is an assortment of fruits.  Be as colourful as you can, after all, it is for Christmas.  I diced them into smallish pieces and placed them randomly over the cake and jelly layer.  I also pre-made lime flavoured jelly and cut it to the same size pieces and scattered that in as well.  For another flavour contrast, I add dollops of my homemade strawberry jam I made earlier in the week.

The next layer is a nice thick layer of custard and then topped with whipped cream.

Recipe for Buttercake:

250g softened butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

275g caster sugar

3 eggs

335g self raising flour, sifted

180ml milk

1. Preheat oven to 180degC and grease 22cm round cake pan

2.  Beat butter, vanilla and sugar in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in flour and milk, in two batches.

3.  Spread the mixture into pan and bake for 1 hour.  Stand cake in pan for 5 minutes then turn out onto wire rack to cool.

Recipe for Custard:

300ml milk

300ml cream

6 large egg yolks.

2 rounded tbs cornflour

4 tbs caster sugar

1.  Bring the milk and cream to the boil in a non-stick saucepan.  Beat the egg yolks, cornflour and sugar together in a bowl, then gradually wisk in the hot milk and cream.

2.  Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly for about 10 minutes.  The mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.  Do not let it boil or it may curdle.

3.  Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone, especially those who attended the party.

Perfect Christmas Gift - Homemade Strawberry Jam

I love making and baking food Christmas gifts.  If I am organised enough, I like to make gifts for my family and friends.  I find it more satisfying to give homemade gifts rather than store bought ones.  

I decided to make jam, after finding I had an abundance of strawberries when we went strawberry picking.  I've never made jam before.  I guess it's because I've always thought it was complicated to make.  It couldn't be further from the truth.

I discovered this jam setting sugar.  It definitely makes it easier to make jam.  All you need are strawberries (or any other berries you like), jam setting sugar and a knob of butter to give it a bit of a gloss.

Place 1 kg of strawberries in a pot and smash them.  I like to leave it a little chunky so the jam has a little texture after it's cooked.  Add 1 kg of the jam setting sugar and place on a low heat.  Keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved.   Turn up the heat till the mixture gets to a rolling boil.  Let it boil for 4 minutes.  To check if it's ready, place a small dollop of jam on a saucer.  Drag your finger through it, and if it wrinkles, it's ready.  Skim off the foam on top and pour into sterilized jars.  

I will definitely make jam again.  If I knew it was this easy to make, I would've made this long ago.

Deanna bakes Christmas Cookies

This is my first year to make Christmas cookies.  I always had the intention to do a lot of Christmas baking but as always, I ran out of time.

This year, I promised Deanna that we would bake cookies.  Deanna, as you know, loves being in the kitchen.  She always asks if she can help me when I'm cooking dinner but unfortunately, I'm usually rushing dinner or I don't have the time or patience during the weeknight.  Because of that, I try to have one-on-one cooking sessions with her, during the weekends or when I have some time up my sleeve.

This is a recipe I  found in Nigella Lawson's feast.  It's perfect for children, especially the decorating, which happens to be Deanna's favourite part.  She took her time and meticulously decorated each and every cookie to perfection. 

90g unsalted butter

100g caster sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

200g plain flour, sifted

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp fine salt

1.  Cream butter and sugar together until pale and creamy.  Add in the egg and vanilla and beat.

2.  In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

3.  Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs and mix gently.

4.  If the mixture it too sticky to be rolled out, add a little more flour. (not too much or else the dough will be tough)

5.  Form into a ball, press down into a flat disc, wrap with clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

6.  Sprinkle  the surface with flour and roll the dough to about 1/2 cm thickness.  Cut out shapes. (dip the cutter in flour as you go)

7.  Bake in a preheated oven 180degC for 8 - 12 minutes, depending on how big your shapes are.  When they are ready, they will have more colour on the outside but soft in the middle.  Carefully move them to a wire rack to cool completely

8.  Make the icing by adding a small amount of hot water to icing sugar to form a thick paste.  Add colour as desired.

9.  Decorate the cookies.

This was fun for both Deanna and myself.  I will definitely make the time  to bake cookies again next year.

Cherrie

CSR Bake a Difference

CSR Bake a difference encourages people to bake their Christmas presents this year instead of  buying them and donate the money they would've spent to Mission Australia.  CSR sugar will match each donation dollar for dollar up to $100,000.  You can make your donations here.  Mission Australia transforms thousands of disadvantaged Australians through employment, housing, family and youth and community services. 

Penny from Jeroxie. Addictive and Consuming Blog is hosting a very special blogging event.  Bloggers are to bake or cook a dish using CSR Sugar, and I decided to use brown sugar to make brown sugar sponge.

I've made this before and I love this cake, and so does the rest of the fmily.  It's easy to make and it's so light and fluffy.  I layered the two sponges with whipped cream.  For variety, you can mix  different spices or fruit into the cream.  Hubby suggested cinnamon.  I think I will take up his idea next time I make it.

I found this recipe in the AWW Cakes, biscuits and slices.  While baking I also noticed the exact same recipe is on the CSR brown sugar packet.

4 eggs
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (the recipe called for dark brown sugar, but I only had the normal one on hand)
1 cup cornflour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bicarb of soda
300ml thickened cream

1.  Preheat oven to 180degC (160 fan-forced) and prepare two 22cm round baking tins
2.  In a large bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar with electric mixer for about 10 mins or until thick and creamy.
3.  Sift cornflour, cream of tartar and bicarb of soda twice.  Sift a third time into the egg and sugar mixture then gently fold.
4.  Divide the mixture between the two cake tins.
5.  Bake for 15-18 minutes.  Turn out sponges onto baking paper covered wire racks to cool.
6.  Beat cream until soft peaks form.
7.  When cake is completely cool, spread half of the cream on top of one cake and lay the other cake on top.  Spread the remaining cream on top.

Will you be baking a difference this year?

Cherrie

Three days of non stop eating - Christmas 2009

Another Christmas has come and gone.  This year was exactly the same as the previous years.  I ate and ate and ate.

It started on Christmas Eve.  We had Noche Buena, where the family gathers to celebrate Christmas Eve. It was held at my parents house this year. And as usual my mum cooked up a feast.

Ube Halaya and Suman (Purple yam and sticky rice steamed in banana leaves)

Strawberry ice cream made by sis in law

Mocha roll made by mum

Buche de Noel made by me.

On Christmas day, I cooked up a feast for Hubby and children (though my 4month old doesn't eat solids yet).  This week I was super organised and made a country pate from Gary Rhodes book.  I usually make this for Christmas however the past couple of years time got the better of me and I didn't end up making it.  I also baked the Christmas cake back in early November to allow the cake to infuse the flavours and I fed it alcohol every week.  Traditionally Rum or Brandy is used but I gave mine a little twist and used Drambuie to give it a little orangey kick.

The day started with a small breakfast after the children opening up their Christmas stocking presents. We had Eggs Benedict.  We usually have bacon on this but we went all out and had smoked salmon.

While I was cooking lunch, Hubby had my country pate

Christmas Lunch started off with Roast Duck.  I rubbed the skin with 5 spice powder and inserted an orange inside.

Roasted potatoes cooked in duck fat with rosemary and garlic

Brussel sprouts steamed and then sauteed in butter and garlic.  Mashed suede and carrot.

Stuffing (not really stuffing.  I roasted separately) and pigs in a blanket

For dessert we had a Classic Christmas Cake

On boxing day, it has started to become tradition that we have lunch at my mum in laws.  Since we don't get to spend Christmas day with her, we all get together the day after to celebrate and exchange gifts.  This year, I must have been so hungry that I forgot to take photos.  Mum in law's feast included roast pork and roast chicken with sides of smashed potatoes, steamed greens and a vegetable tart with feta.  It was definitely delish.  Dessert came and it was chocolate ice cream with raspberries topped with vanilla ice cream mixed with crushed up mint slices.  YUM.

Since I don't have food photos, thought I'd include a photo of mum in law with my two children and my niece.

Yes, Thomas is dressed as superman (complete with cape).  Present from Uncle Roy and Auntie Wendy.

Cookbooks I received as presents.  Gee my family knows me VERY well.

       

My parents bought me this.  Oh, how I love them!

 

                

As you can see I had three days of fantastic food and great family.  I hope everyone had a great one too.

Merry Christmas

Cherrie