Christmas: 12 favourite festive cakes and bakes

I was chatting about baking to a mum in the playground yesterday, we discovered a shared love of fairly unusual continental recipes, the kind Paul and Pru would give to Bake Off contestants to try and baffle them into submission. It got me thinking about some of my favourite things I’ve baked and blogged, so I thought I’d choose 12 of our favourite festive cakes, bakes and makes and give them another airing.

I promise you they’re all easy, I lack the patience, time and skill to do anything too fancy and time consuming; but they’re all delicious.

Mincemeat Flapjack

One of the most enduring and classic flavours of Christmas is mincemeat. Mince pies are an undeniable Christmas classic, but I’ve been throwing mincemeat into cakes and vol au vents for a few years now. It’s too good an ingredient just to use in little pies. So I baked a hearty batch of mincemeat flapjack and they all but disappeared in an afternoon. They’re simple, they’re filling and most of all, they’re delicious.

Lebkuchen Cake

Traditionally a moreish soft biscuit, I decided to attempt a German Lebkuchen Cake with considerable success. The recipe is easier than it looks to make and the results are truly scrumptious. It’s one of our favourite festive cakes!

Danish Butter Cookies

Because to me, and other children of the 80’s, Danish Butter Cookies are forever linked to Christmas, it’s at this time of year I tend to make them the most. A batch of cookies neatly wrapped in brown paper, or in a decorative bag or box make a lovely little edible gift for someone.

Joulutorttu

Traditionally Joulutorttu are made with puff pastry and a special Finnish prune jam. However I made mine with a Christmas preserve, but it does need a good firm set jam. Try plum or prune conserve for authenticity. They look a bit tricky to make, but it’s ready-roll puff pastry and jam and a bit of arty twisting of the pastry.

Chocolate Dipped Candied Orange Slices

I like to make a big batch of these chocolate dipped candied orange slices at Christmas and give little bags of them as presents for people. They’re also a really nice treat to take away on holiday to nibble with a nice glass of good red wine in the evening.

Mincemeat Filo Rolls

I do love mince pies, but sadly the pastry doesn’t love me. Instead of the usual shortcrust pastry pies, I make these alternative mince pies, with filo pastry and in the style of a spring roll. These Mincemeat Filo Rolls were really, really lovely.

Mulled Cider Jellies

Sometimes, and this is not very often, I mull too much cider and I’ll have some left. Sure, I could heat it up again later, but I fancied making something different with it. I thought I’d make some Mulled Cider Jellies. It turns out they make a really interesting, different and delicious festive dessert. You could make them just as well with apple juice if you’re serving them to children or people who don’t drink alcohol. It’s a very pretty dessert and just a bit different.

Christmas Pudding Ice Cream

This is an incredibly easy dessert, imagine a rich vanilla ice cream topped with Courvoisier soaked festive fruits. It’s utterly delicious, you can whip it up the night before, or make it up to a month ahead of the big day. It is delicious, incredibly simple and uses only four ingredients. I think we’ve found a winner!

Sticky Ginger Sponge Cake with Cinnamon Frosting

I love a bit of ginger cake and at this time of year it’s a lovely warming bake to make for the family. It’s sticky and spicy and you can dress it up for Christmas, or dress it down for every day cake eating if you prefer. This sticky ginger sponge cake with cinnamon frosting is special enough to serve for an occasion, or you could glitz it up a bit more and serve it as an alternative Christmas cake. It’s about as easy as can be.

Cranberry and Pomegranate Jelly

Puddings at Christmas time can be a bit on the heavy side. All that booze soaked fruit and extra thick cream can get a bit much; plus if you’re feeding the whole family, Christmas pudding is not a universally popular choice. What is always, always popular is jelly. This is a jelly that everyone in the family can enjoy – cranberry and pomegranate jelly!

Peppermint Bark Buttons

Homemade treats make for really lovely gifts at Christmas. These Peppermint Bark Buttons are really fun to make and they’re delicious too.

Cinnamon & Raisin Shortbread

I originally created this shortbread recipe in 2013 in celebration of the Great British Bake Off; it’s been a favourite ever since. Cinnamon and raisin are a great combination and this lovely crumbly shortbread is a great bake all year round.

So that’s my little round up of my 12 of our favourite festive cakes, bakes and makes. What are your favourite favourite festive cakes, bakes or makes?

12 of our favourite festive cakes, bakes and makes

Review: Nadiya’s Deluxe Baking Set for Kids

We were sent the Nadiya Hussain Deluxe Baking Set for Kids for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

The boy and I have been baking together for years, he’s keen to make and eat the fruits of our kitchen labours, but he sometimes finds some of my grown-up equipment a bit big or heavy to use. This is clearly a bit of a universal problem, as Great British Bake Off winner, Nadiya Hussain has launched a range of kids baking kits, making it easier for kids to get involved in the kitchen with their own utensils.

Nadiya's Deluxe Baking Set for Kids worth £25

The new range of Nadiya Hussain’s Bake Me a Story baking sets come in three different styles – Deluxe, Savoury and Simple. Each set includes a set of special recipe cards from Nadiya’s new book and is designed to give children the confidence to bake from scratch.

The Deluxe Set we were sent costs around £25 and provides all the tools needed to bake the recipes that are included in the box. The set includes a whisk, spatula, rolling pin, 12 silicone cupcake cases, a sieve, 3 cookie cutters, a mixing bowl, measuring spoons, the all important apron and six easy to make recipes written by Nadiya.

Nadiya's Deluxe Baking Set for Kids worth £25

I was really impressed when I unpacked the box. The set is so good that most of it had made its way into general baking use in my kitchen. Even if I’m baking by myself, I will likely reach for some of the kit included, it’s so good. I was especially impressed with the cookie cutters, which have a silicone edge on one side, so when you are pressing out the cookies you’re not in danger of cutting your fingers too.

I also like the silicone cupcake cases, which are great for saving on waste. The rolling pin was as lightweight as it could get away with and was really easy for my son to use. Together we baked a batch of gingerbread biscuits and we both enjoyed using all of the colourful equipment provided.

Nadiya's Deluxe Baking Set for Kids worth £25

There are other sets in the range and they are all great for encouraging kids to get in the kitchen.

The Savoury set (costing around £19.99) again includes all the tools needed to make the recipes on the five included recipes and includes a spoon, measuring spoons, a chopping board, mixing bowl, apron and a safety knife and a fish slice.

For those taking their first bite at baking opt for the Simple Set (£14.99). This contains a rolling pin; whisk, spatula, three cookie cutters and six silicone cup case cases. Everything needed to make the three recipes included.

Nadiya's Deluxe Baking Set for Kids worth £25

Everything is designed to be safe for kids to use and fun too. Everything is easy to clean and dishwasher safe too. The Deluxe Baking Set has so much in it; and would make a great gift for an aspiring baker or keen cook. It’s made for children aged 4+ and it was just right for my 9 year old son. It wasn’t too babyish, it is just good quality baking equipment for kids.

Recipe: Cinnamon & Raisin Shortbread

If you’re a novice baker, biscuits and shortbread are a great place. Biscuits are fairly easy. They don’t need to be light and fluffy and they don’t need to rise. The one thing I can successfully bake,which usually gets stacks of compliments is shortbread. I usually bake plain or lavender shortbread but I’ve decided to mix things up and bake a cinnamon and raisin shortbread instead.

I inherited the basic shortbread recipe from my Grandma who was a cook and a pastry chef. She used to make fantastic puddings. I’ve taken her shortbread recipe and added a few other ingredients. I’m really pleased with the results, they’re a buttery, short, crumbly shortbread with a lovely cinnamon and raisin twist!

Recipe: Cinnamon & Raisin Shortbread

Cinnamon and Raisin Shortbread

Ingredients:
225g butter
130g caster sugar
350g plain flour
3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
50g raisins
Caster sugar for sprinkling

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180. You’ll need to have a couple of baking trays covered with greaseproof paper ready.

Rub the butter and sugar together with your fingers or using a food mixer. Then lightly rub in the flour and the cinnamon with a wooden spoon (I do this in stages to avoid a flour cloud in the kitchen). Add the raisins and mix through the dough.

I find the following method tidier and it stops you manhandling the dough too much. Once the cinnamon and raisin shortbread dough is almost together; tip it out onto a large sheet of greaseproof paper. Bring the dough together with your hands and then fold the paper in half with the mixture sandwiched in between.

With a rolling-pin, roll it out between the sheets of paper, so it’s about 5mm thick and cut into rounds. I used a glass for this and carefully lifted each cinnamon and raisin shortbread biscuit onto the baking tray. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar over each round.

I managed to get 18 large shortbread rounds out of the dough and I got another 18 mini round shortbreads too. Bake the mini rounds for just 10 minutes, they’re lovely with a cup of tea and their mini size makes them seem much fancier.

Bake the large shortbread rounds in the pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on the shortbread, they don’t really want to brown. Once they’re baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a rack.

Recipe: Cinnamon & Raisin Shortbread

Shortbread can be a tricky beast, you don’t want your shortbread to brown, it needs to be pale in not over-baked. It’s tricky to see these shortbreads brown as the cinnamon makes them darker to begin with. Different ovens cook differently and I’ve found different butters behave differently too. So it’s best to keep having a peek. You want it to still be pale, but cooked through. You don’t want to dry it out and over-bake either.

Try if you can (I failed) not to gobble one down while they’re still hotter than the surface of the sun. Once cool, enjoy with a streaming mug of tea. They can happily be stored in an airtight tin for a few days, if they last that long.

Recipe: Cinnamon & Raisin Shortbread

These shortbreads were a massive hit, they were loved by all. I was cautious with the cinnamon as not everyone likes it. I think next time I’d put more cinnamon, but it depends how much of a fan of this spice you are. If you’re not sure how much you want to add, you can always taste the raw dough and add more if you think it needs it.

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like my recipe for Crumbly Cranachan Shortbread with Whisky.

Recipe: Cinnamon & Raisin Shortbread