Keep Calm & Bake for Christmas

Travelling is one of my favorite activities. Baking is another. I generally prefer going on holidays in the summer, for this is the best time to visit the Greek islands and Scandinavia, my favorite holiday destinations. Come December, I tend to have used my annual leave, and I therefore spend Christmas at home. A perfect opportunity to bake. Once I have put the tree up and posted my greeting cards (with Christmas classics playing in the background), I am covered in flour (and not just for the snow effect) whilst my flat smells of all those lovely Christmas scents and spicy aromas: orange, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and the list goes on and on… There is something profoundly calming (even therapeutic) when I mix the basic baking ingredients together: flour, butter, eggs… Perhaps, the secret is in the knowledge that I am creating something delicious to share with my friends, family or colleagues. But, when I add those Christmassy spices to the mix, it is magic. This December, I have been experimenting with the British Christmas classics, the best of which I am sharing here today. So, on your marks, get set, and bake for Christmas!

Bake for Christmas: Mincemeat

Not to be confused with minced meat, mincemeat is one of the basic ingredients of the mince pies, those small sweet pies of British origin, traditionally served during the Christmas season (often with mulled wine). Originally, mincemeat contained meat. Nowadays, however, it is a mixture of dried fruit (raisins, currants, sultanas), spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove), and brandy. In England, ready-made mincemeat is sold in jars in the supermarkets, but I personally prefer making my own. This year, I deliberated between the BBC Good Food traditional mincemeat recipe, and Delia’s recipe. Both used suet, cooking fat made from beef or mutton (it doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it?). In the end, I tweaked Mary Berry’s recipe (she uses butter instead of suet). I used cinnamon butter instead of suet or regular butter.

Ingredients

400 grams of dried fruit (raisins, currants, sultanas, cranberries, mixed peel)
3/4 cup cinnamon butter (see below)
1 teaspoon Christmas spices (nutmeg, clove, mixed spice – avoid cinnamon since you’re using cinnamon butter already)
Zest and juice from an orange
1 apple peeled, cored and chopped into small cubes
100 ml brandy (alternatively, you could use rum or sherry)

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients except the brandy into a large pan, and heat gently for about 10 minutes.
2. Allow the mixture to cool completely.
3. Stir in the alcohol.
3. Spoon the mixture into 1-2 jars.

Bake for Christmas: Scones

Scones are classic British bakes, often served with jam or other preserves, and whipped or clotted cream. For this reason, they are not particularly sweet. Scones are part of the so-called high tea, which is often served in three-tier stands, with finger sandwiches on the bottom tier, cakes and pastries on the top, and scones on the middle one. Here is my Christmas take on this British classic:

Ingredients

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Christmas spices (nutmeg, clove, mixed spice – avoid cinnamon since you’re using cinnamon butter already)
1/2 cup cinnamon butter (see below)
2 eggs
250 mg (1 cup) Greek or vanilla yogurt
1 cup mincemeat
1/2 cup milk

Method

Combine the flour, lemon juice, baking powder, baking soda, salt and Christmas spices.

Cut in the cinnamon butter (make sure it is cold) and mix thoroughly.

Stir in the beaten eggs and the yogurt.

Then, add the mincemeat and the milk and mix everything up together.

Then drop the mixture into cupcake cases in two cupcake trays (yield: makes about 24 scones).

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes.

Bake for Christmas: Cinnamon applesauce bread

One of my favorite as well as the easiest cakes to bake is the banana bread. Originating from America, this is actually a loaf-shaped cake. I have been baking it for quite a few years now, so I have reached a point that I have tweaked the original recipe quite a lot (in an attempt to make it healthier and guilt-free). Inspired by the delicious desserts and the exotic fruit I had whilst in Martinique (a small French island in the eastern Caribbean Sea) last year, I decided to tweak it once more and make it a bit more exotic. So, I came up with recipes for a banana and coconut bread, a banana and papaya bread, and a guava bread. I’m now going a bit more Christmassy and showcasing the classic combination of cinnamon and apple in a beautiful cinnamon applesauce bread.

Ingredients

1 cup cinnamon butter (see below)
3/4 cup honey
1 pack (250 mg) cream cheese (or 250 mg Greek yogurt)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Christmas spices (nutmeg, clove, mixed spice – avoid cinnamon since you’re using cinnamon butter already)
1 1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce (see below)
3 cups flour

Method

Beat the cinnamon butter, honey and cream cheese (or Greek yogurt).

Stir in the beaten eggs and the vanilla extract.

Combine the baking powder, baking soda, salt and Christmas spices, add them to the mix and mix until well combined.

Add the applesauce and mix thoroughly.

Add the flour in one cup increments, mixing after each addition.

Drop the mixture into an 8x4x3 inch loaf pan. If you have not used all the mixture, you can drop the remaining into cupcake cases in two cupcake trays.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 60-70 minutes (until a skewer comes out clean).

To avoid burning the top of the loaf, cover it with foil halfway through the baking.

If you bake cupcakes, then take them out of the oven in 25 minutes.

Christmas balls: Mincemeat & Left-over Christmas pudding balls

Protein balls are very easy to make; they do not even require baking. For this reason, I prefer making my own to paying several pounds to buy them ready-made in a shop or a bakery. Protein balls typically consist of a combination of dry and wet ingredients, usually at a 2:1 dry-to-wet ratio. The dry ingredients (such as rolled oats, protein powder, seeds, and ground almonds) provide the protein and help to keep the shape, whereas the wet ingredients (such as nut butter, coconut oil, honey, maple syrup, and applesauce) provide most of the sweetness, as well as the dough-like consistency. Sometimes, dried fruits, such as dates, dried apricots, raisins, currants, and sultanas, are also used.

Mincemeat balls

Inspired by my favourite Christmas flavors, I came up with this simple yet delicious recipe for mincemeat balls.

Ingredients

Two parts mincemeat
One part cinnamon applesauce (see below)

Method

Combine the ingredients, mold them into balls, and place them in the fridge to firm up a little.

Left-over Christmas pudding balls

In Britain, Christmas pudding is traditionally served as part of the Christmas dinner. My stomach full with turkey, pigs in blankets, potatoes, brussels sprouts, parsnips and other vegetables, I usually have little room left for this dense brandy-soaked fruit dessert, and I often have only a bite or two, before I start a carb-light diet on the Boxing Day. The question arises: what shall I do with the Christmas pudding (and the brandy butter) left-overs? The answer: turn them into Christmas pudding balls (not quite those healthy protein balls, but they’ll still do).

Ingredients

Two parts left-over Christmas pudding
One part left-over brandy butter

Method

Combine the left-overs, mold them into balls, and place them in the fridge to firm up a little.

Cinnamon butter

I first tried cinnamon butter a few months ago, when I visited the Isle of Man, a small island in the Irish Sea, halfway between Great Britain and Ireland. I had it at the Tea Junction, a tea-room in Douglas, where I also had a delicious cup of chocolate and coconut tea. On my return to London, I set to re-create this wonderful spread, which I have now been using not only on toast, but also in my bakes.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

Stir all the ingredients together and place them in the fridge to set.

Cinnamon applesauce

You can buy ready-made applesauce, or, if you’re feeling creative and Christmassy, you can make your own cinnamon applesauce. This is how:

Ingredients

225 grams cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small cubes
Zest of half a lemon
2 tablespoon water
15 grams of cinnamon butter

Method

Mix all the ingredients except the cinnamon butter into a large pan, cover and heat gently until the apples are soft and mushy (15 to 20 minutes).

Take the mixture off the heat and beat in the cinnamon butter.

Allow to cool completely.

Spoon the mixture into a jar.

Watch and Bake for Christmas

For something Christmassy and regal, check out Mary Berry’s ‘A Very Berry Christmas‘.

For something Greek, Christmassy, and 100% delicious, bake traditional melomakarona.

Or, simply check out more recipes of mine.

If you enjoy baking with citrus fruits, try out my portokalopita (orange pie), or my gluten- & guilt-free clementine (mandarin) cake, which is perfect for this time of the year.

For something more exotic, try out check out my Caribbean-inspired fruit breads.

On your marks, get set, and bake for Christmas!

Alex

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)