eyes>stomach: Christmas Cooking & Happy New Year

Happy New Year little blog!

Forgive me for my long absence.

I had an excellent Christmas. I scored a Cuisinart ice cream maker and a fantastic cook book called the Sono Bakery Cookbook.

Eats wise, we were very spoilt. My mother has a tendency to over cater. This year (meaning Christmas 2010) we had duck, turkey, ham and prawns plus salads, roast vegies and desserts. It was a feast!

I had planned on doing some Christmas baking posts, but alas, was short of time. For now, pictures and a few words will have to suffice.

Cheers to a great year!

Christmas Cake

Christmas Cake with almond icing

Every year my family receive a Kirkston Family Christmas Cake from one of my paternal aunts. It is a family recipe. Before my paternal grandmother passed away, she dutifully made each of her 5 children a Kirkston Family Christmas Cake and Kirkston Family Christmas Pudding. The duty has now fallen to my aunt who does a fantastic job. I have been flagged as the next maker of the Kirkston Family Christmas Cake. In preparation for the auspicious role, I made my first Christmas cakes this year. I used a recipe from Rachel Allen (tweaking it only slightly).

I made the cakes in November and left them to develop until I iced them in an almond paste icing the week before Christmas. I made the cake in a large square tin, and then cut the cake into 4 mini cakes to use as gifts.

Inside the Christmas Cake

Mince Tarts

Pear and Ginger fruit mince for mince tarts.

I made this mince in early November and when I opened the jar on the weekend before Christmas, the flavours had developed nicely. I still have a large jar of this leftover and half an opened jar in the fridge (which I like to dip a teaspoon into occasionally). I think I might make some fruit mince scrolls.