Christmas Baking!!

I love Christmas and a big part of this is all the lovely Christmas baking. I can't go by a Christmas without making a Yule Log or lots of mince pies.
The Yule Log recipe I use is James Martin's and it is really good. It's a bit tricky to assemble but don't worry too much if it breaks up as you can cover it all in the chocolate coating. Also when making the chocolate coating make sure the melted chocolate has cooled well enough before adding the cream, as otherwise it will all drip off. I also think it tastes better two days later.
The recipe is:
175g dark chocolate
6 medium eggs
175g caster sugar
Filling:
85g dark chocolate
200ml double cream
Topping:
200ml double cream
100g dark chocolate

Melt the chocolate. Then separate the eggs. Add the caster sugar to the egg yolk and beat until light and fluffy. Whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Then once the chocolate has cooled add this to the yolk and sugar combo and put over a heat until blended. Then fold in the egg whites. Pour into a swiss roll tin, which has been lined with greaseproof paper, and cooked on gas mark 4 for 20 minutes until light to touch. Once cooked put a dry towel on the tin and then a cold wet towel on top. Leave to cool.

Then tip it onto greaseproof paper and take off the other paper. Spread the melted chocolate for the filling onto this. Then the whipped double cream. Roll it up using the paper.

Then melt the topping chocolate and when it has cooled add the cream. Stir and then spread on top. A moreish chocolate dessert.

Another recipe I like doing is chocolate and chestnut biscuits.
The recipe is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/28/chestnut-chocolate-cream-biscuits-recipe
I do find them tricky to make. Firstly finding chestnuts but this year there seemed to be an abundance of tinned chestnuts so it wasn't so bad. I used puree chestnuts. Then the rest is quite self explanatory. Although I would say make the biscuits quite thick.

The mince pie recipe I use is from an old cook book.
The ingredients are 200g self raising flour and 100g butter and cooled water. Rub the butter into the flour until like breadcrumbs. Then gradually add cold water and mix with a round end knife until it is like a dough. I think it is better to chill it but the other day I rolled it out straight away. This makes 12 mince pies. I always use Robinson's mince meat from a jar.

I also made these chocolate cupcakes, as a gift. I didn't try the cake but the icing was amazing! Very rich :)

The recipe is here: http://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/hummingbird-chocolate-cupcakes.html

A Taste of Christmas

I went to the Taste of Christmas last Sunday at the Excel Centre with Penny. It was a really good day, with lots of samples from Fudges cheese straws to Chat-en-Oeuf and Longue-Dog wine to Alex James' cheese (eurgh) to Propercorn. We were snacking all day. It was pretty busy but not too bad and I got a few presents sorted. Found an amazing energy drink called Pussy Drinks Ltd and also a great yoghurt called The Collective Yoghurt. The passion fruit one is great but even the Christmas pudding one was nice!

We also saw a food demo by Jean Christophe Novelli, who was really good. I can't believe he is in his 50s. His hair is so dark! He is a bit obsessed with getting rid of saturated fats so he told us that when he roasts a goose he steams it first and then the fat comes out in the water. He also makes a vegetable stock by chopping lots of veggies and putting them in a pan with loads of garlic. And then I lost him a little bit but he then takes them out of the water... and does something else with them! Handy.
We also caught a glimpse of the Fabulous Baker Brothers who are lovely!!
It was a good mix of samples and demos, but it wasn't all that Christmasy! I was expecting more Cranberry sauce.

Thumbs up to Pizza Express' new Calzone

I went to Pizza Express in High Wycombe before panto on Monday night. I went for the new Calzone on the menu and it was amazing.
It is served with pesto in a little pot and seasonal salad with red pepers with santos tomatoes, drizzled with a house dressing, which was really fresh. The Calzone Prosciutto Pesto was with Ham Hock, roasted red onion, baby spinach, roasted mushrooms, mozzarella and grana padano with a gruyere, parmesan and pesto sauce. It was huge! See picture and was so full of flavour and bursting with filling. It was really satisfying and I was very impressed. I would recommend.