Drink of the festive season would have to be the Old Mout cider range. I have it every time I come home, they now have a Passion flavor to add to my list of favorites, currently topped by the Feijoa flavor. Epic. I will be filling the suitcase.
One thing I did try this year that I have not tried before are Christmas fruit mince pies. These are not something we generally have at home, so when Dad claimed from out of nowhere that all of a sudden we needed them to make it more Christmassy, I thought I should give them a shot. Result - amazing...
I had a whole day baking day in the kitchen, made mums famous afghans from my previous post, some red velvet and blueberry cupcakes, a variation on my basic vanilla cupcake recipe (one tablespoon of red food coloring and one tablespoon of cocoa mixed into a paste then added, plus 3/4 cup frozen berries), and also nana's shortbread (which is ridiculously easy to make, and will share the recipe for that too in another post).
Christmas Fruit Mince
(adapted from Annabel Langbein)
½ cup brandy
1 packed cup soft brown sugar
300g currants
150g raisins, chopped
150g cranberries
1.5 cup stewed pear (apple would also work)
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground mixed spice
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
¾ cup almonds, toasted and chopped
Melt sugar into brandy over a low heat. Add all other ingredients and cook for 30 mins. Store in fridge until ready to be used - this has no preservatives, but you could put in a sterilized jar and keep for a short period if you don't use it all.
Citrus Shortcrust
(adapted from BBC recipe)
250g flour
1 tbsp icing sugar
140g soft butter
Zest 1 lemon
Zest 1 orange
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp water
Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix until the mixture comes together as a soft dough. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (my mum has a super powerful over so I had it at 160°C). Roll out two-thirds of the pastry to about 2-3mm thick. Cut out 12 discs with a larger circle for the bases (if you are using a slightly larger circle than the size of your pie dish this will work fine to mould into the dish. Spoon a tablespoonful of mincemeat into each pastry case then roll out the rest of the pastry. Cut 12 discs or stars for lids. Place the stars on top of the pies and press down gently. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar before serving.
