Nigella's Chocolate Salame

I follow Nigella on Instagram and this was one of her Recipe of the day last week. The recipe is here and I can confidently say that this is not only delicious but it's the perfect gift at Christmas. I decided that this year I would make proper Italian chocolate salame as it has that extra special quality and richness that our chocolate biscuit cake misses out on and I think it's the creaminess from the eggs. It will slice straight from the fridge and goes perfectly with some after dinner espresso.

I watched this video on how to string the salame, made one and a half quantity of the recipe to produce one medium and two smaller salmae as gifts. If you are giving them as gifts and want a nut free version I think it would be acceptable to add digestive biscuits, dried fruit and some glace cherries as an alternative :) 

Paul Hollywood Stollen

This is the absolute best Christmas bake for a large gathering of family and friends to serve with coffee or even mulled wine! 

Decorated Christmas Cake Tutorial

This showstopper cake will be the centrepiece of your Christmas celebrations and not alone is it impressive but it is easy to decorate too.

Christmas Tree Brownies

Tis' the season to eat, drink and be merry! These Christmas Tree Brownies are the best and the easiest season treat to make but oh so impressive!

Christmas Cake Time!

These are my two favourite Christmas cake recipes both from the wonderful Delia Smith. Her Classic Christmas Cake recipe has a special place in my heart because it was the recipe I turned to when I baked my very first Christmas cake, a momentous occasion for any novice baker and it had to be just right! But I need not have worried because Delia is a safe pair of hands :)

My second favourite Christmas cake recipe is....yeah you guessed it, Delia again :) I now make both cakes each year and this Creole Christmas Cake is just as rich but it requires no food mixer, it just needs a big mixing bowl and and wooden spoon!  

Whichever you choose you won't be sorry, enjoy!

Delia's Creole Christmas Cake

This is the easiest Christmas cake to make! My stand mixer lay idle while I stirred and folded, that is a first for me, especially when it comes to the making our Christmas fruit cake! Yes it's true, it didn't plug in any gadgets when I mixed this cake, that alone makes this cake a winner! 

I have been in love with this recipe for a long time, it just screams Christmas with all the spices, alcohol, the chopped nuts and the smell...so Christmassy!

I was slightly dubious about the long list of spirits and lets be honest I was totally put off by the addition of Angostura bitter! It sounded like one of  those dusty bottles that your grandparents would have at the back of their drinks cabinet, stood beside tiny lime green bottles of Snowball or Advocaat!! Remember those? 

Well I thought this year was the year that I would make it no matter what obstacles I faced :) I did some research and discovered that this could be made without any effort. So here is how I got on, remember no electric mixers were used in the making of this sumptuous Christmas cake!! Enjoy.

5 Christmas (step-by- step) Recipes

This is my Christmas recipes all wrapped up in one post! I use these recipes year after year and each and everyone of them is much loved and exceedingly tasty. I usually start with a Jamie Oliver for the turkey accompanied by my oven glazed baked ham. Served alongside Nigella's Perfect Roast Potatoes, drenched in turkey gravy and lashings of Cranberry and Port Relish. 

The whole family relishes in the making and eating of Lorraine Pascale's Puff Pastry Mince pies and that's our perfect Christmas recipes in one place...Enjoy! 

Tiffin Christmas Wreath Cake

Oh tis the season to be indulgent! This easy no bake tiffin wreath cake is the perfect centerpiece for your festive celebrations.   

Crumbled biscuits, dried fruit and nuts are all coated in a buttery chocolatey mix, chilled and then topped in velvety white chocolate. What more could you want for your christmas day dessert! 

No Sew Sock Snowman by Handimania

A couple of weeks ago, my sister-in-law shared a video with me on Facebook of this beautiful little sock snowman by Handimania. 

We were enthralled, it looked to be a really child friendly project. But could it really be as easy as all that? Well there was only one way to find out - to make one ourselves- guess what, it was just as easy as the video!

Homemade Thieves Oil (Chemical Free Cleaner)

This homemade chemical free cleaner has the most wonderful Christmassy smell! Not alone does it have that alluring yuletide fragrance but it also is a wonderful cleaner. I discovered this recipe during the summer months, since then I haven't bother to buy my usual branded chemical concoction. 

Nutella Bread with Tutorial

I've made this bread a LOT recently! It makes the most impressive centerpiece and it will certainly impress your family and friends. The bread is light and airy and the Nutella is rich and creamy, the perfect gift or treat for your loved ones.

Smoked Salmon Terrine With Cream Cheese and Fresh Herbs

I wanted to share with you one of the dishes I enjoyed both making and eating, I had reason to do a spot of entertaining recently and I was at a loss as what to serve as the starter. I wanted a dish that really didn't need too much involvement or fussiness, with no cooking on the day, something that I could make in advance and then produce with a flourish!

Some Simple Christmas Cake Decorating Ideas

Don't be stuck for cake decorating inspiration this year, try some of my simple but classy cake ideas. Your cake can be a simple or as detailed as you wish but don't spend ages in the kitchen slaving over your masterpiece. 

Black Pudding and Sausage Plait

The circumstances in which I discovered this recipe occurred in a most unusual place, I was sitting in the dentist waiting room as I slowly lost the feeling in my jaw and tongue! I just happened to be mindlessly watching the television when I noticed Paul Hollywood making what can only be described as a fancy sausage roll!

How to Create Bokeh

I took this picture a couple of days ago, trying to learn how to create the Bokeh effect (pronounced Bo-cah). I recently changed my camera to a slightly fancier one, so now I'm working my way through all those projects I've wanted to do for a while, this was top of the list considering the time of year.

How To Make Mince Pies

There is one thing that gets me in the festive mood, baking mince pies! They are the perfect treat on a cold day or catching up with old friends home for Christmas, all in front of an blazing open fire. My pies have to have a light crisp, sweet pastry and the filling with a splash of Brandy.

Easy Homemade Advent Calendar

This is a brilliant family project, my children and I had great fun folding these envelopes, it took my children a couple of attempts to master the technique but once they did there was no stopping them!

Lorraine Pascale's Last Minute Mince Pies

 

It's six sleeps to Christmas and I'm playing catch up!! Last week I caught the dreaded flu, yuck! It was pretty awful, I spent days on end with a fever, too weak to walk and then to top it all off I got a chest infection!! 

So to say that my Christmas plans were put on hold is a understatement. I had huge plans for baking, blogging, card writing and shopping, alas all stopped! Now thanks to a large vat of antibiotics and plenty of rest I am recovering and back on track(ish).

If like me you are either out of time or just want really tasty and quick mince pies then this a post you might enjoy. I watched  Lorraine Pascale make these rather special star mince pies on her Last Minute Christmas Show last year, these are perfect for entertaining and are ready in a jiffy. The job will be even quicker if you buy sheets of ready rolled puff pastry (which I did), I'm planning on making plenty of batches of these this year......Enjoy!

Ina Garten's Sticky Holiday Buns

  

I watched Ina bake these last year on the Food Network, in a episode called Barefoot in London, ever since I've been waiting for my chance to share the recipe with you. Ina and her husband were filming their tour of  Borough Market in London, when she came across a selection of Chelsea buns. This was all the inspiration she needed to come up with these sticky, cinnamon buns. I think that a batch of these on a cold winters day with a steaming mug of hot chocolate would melt even the most Grinch like of hearts!!

Mich Turner's Penguin Chef Cake

When you want to celebrate Christmas and have some fun too, this is the cake for you. I just love the proud penguin chef standing beside his beautiful cake. I decided to make these cakes for my children's teachers, an amusing way to enjoy a Christmas pudding!