Christmas is a hearty time of the year, especially around the dining table. Pull all the stops with these platefuls of goodness and watch your friends and family make delicious memories.
Fruity Mince Pie
Nothing spells Christmas like a zesty bite of fruit encased in a light and crumbly pastry.
Recipe Courtesy: Chef Sujan Mukherjee, Taj Hotels
Ingredients:
Filling
600 gms minced soaked fruits
1 apple grated
2 lemon zest
50 gms apricot jam
Pie shell
375 gms flour
260 gms butter unsalted
125 gms castor sugar
1 egg
Method:
- Place the flour and butter in a bowl and rub together to a crumb consistency. Add the sugar and the egg, and mix
- Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and fold until the pastry comes together, be careful not to over mix.
- Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 10mins.
- Scoop the mince fruits into a bowl and add apple and zest.
- Heat oven to 200C, roll out the pastry to 3mm thickness. Using a round cutter (about 10cm), cut out 16 bases and place them into muffin trays.
- Put 11⁄2 tbsp mince fruit mixture into each. Brush the edge of each pie with a little beaten egg.
- Re-roll out the pastry to cut 7cm lids and press them on top to seal. Glaze with the rest of the egg, sprinkle with caster sugar, then make a small cut in the tops.
- Bake mince pies for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Leave to cool before releasing them from the muffin trays and dusting with icing sugar. Serve.
Yule Log
Ring in the grand festivity of Christmas with this flavourful stunner.
Recipe Courtesy: Chef Sujan Mukerjee, Taj Hotels
Ingredients:
For the cake
3 eggs
85 gms castor sugar
85 gms flour
20 gms cocoa powder
5 gms baking powder
For the filling
50 gms butter
140 gms chocolate
20 gms golden syrup
280 gms 50% fat cream
200 gms icing sugar
Method:
- Heat oven to 200°C. Grease and line a 23 x 32cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment.
- Beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric whisk for about 8 mins until thick and creamy.
- Mix the flour, cocoa and baking powder together, then sift onto the egg mixture.
- Fold in very carefully, then pour into the tin.
- Now tip the tin from side to side to spread the mixture into the corners.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Place a sheet of baking parchment on the work surface.
- When the cake is ready, tip it onto the parchment, peel off the lining paper, then roll the cake up from its longest edge with the paper inside. Leave to cool.
- To make the icing, melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl over a pan of hot water.
- Take from the heat and stir in the syrup and 5 tablespoons of cream.
- Beat in the icing sugar until smooth. Whisk the remaining cream until it holds its shape.
- Unravel the cake, spread the cream over the top, scatter over the crushed mints, if using, and then carefully roll up again into a log.
- Cut a thick diagonal slice from one end of the log. Lift the log on to a plate, then arrange the slice on the side with the diagonal cut against the cake to make a branch. Spread the icing over the log and branch (don’t cover the ends), then use a fork to mark the icing to give the effect of tree bark.
- Scatter with icing sugar to resemble snow.