The Twelve Bakes Of Christmas #4 Porter Cake

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a slice of fruitcake, eaten on its own or with a nice plate of cheeses. This one foregoes the usual festive icing, which you can add if you want, and has a moist richness to it that Santa would slay for.

175g Butter
450g Mixed Fruit
Grated Zest & Juice of an Orange
175g Light Muscovado Sugar
200ml of Stout, I wanted to use Harviestoun brewery's Ola Dubh, but couldn't get it and had to use Guinness instead
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
3 Eggs Beaten
300g Plain Flour
2 tsp Mixed Spice

Topping
2tbsp Flaked Almonds
2tbsp Demerara Sugar

1. Butter & line a 20cm Round Cake Tin.
2. Put the butter, dried fruit, orange zest, orange juice, stout and sugar in a pan
3. Slowly bring it to the boil, stirring then simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Cool for 10 minutes then stir in the Bicarbonate of Soda, which should get it fizzing like Dr Jeckyll's potion
5. Sift in the flour and spice then stir in the beaten eggs, mixing well.
6. Pour into the prepared tin and scatter on the topping.
7. bake at 150C for an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half.
8. Leave in the tin to cool for another 15 minutes
9. Turn it out and put it on a wire rack to cool.

Try and leave it in a cake tin for a couple of days before eating, this will improve its flavour and make it even scrummier. A nice one to bake in readiness for New Years Eve.

The Twelve Bakes Of Christmas #3 Mozart Cake

Many years ago I got into the habit at Christmas of drinking a glass of Cointreau, while listening to Mozart's operas, this Christmas the addition of this wondrous orange liqueur to a spiced cake made with orange juice seemed like a good idea. The holy trinity of mixed spice, ground cinnamon and ginger make for a nice Yuletide cake. Time to have a slice and break out the Marriage Of Figaro.

Topping
25g Butter chopped
25g Demerara Sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
75g of chopped nuts, I used a mixture of pecans & walnuts

Cake Mix
170ml of Orange Juice
5ml Cointreau
175g Raisins
175g Butter
175g Light Muscovado Sugar
250g Self Raising Flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
3 eggs beaten

Icing
200g Icing Sugar
Zest of an Orange

1. Lightly grease a 23cm ring tin or round cake tin.
2. Make up the topping mix an scatter over the base of the tin.
3. Pour the Orange Juice, Butter & sugar into a pan and bring to the boil stirring and simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Pour it into a large bowl and leave to cool for at least 10 minutes.
5. Sift the flour and three spices into the bowl, add the eggs and gently mix.
6. Pour into the cake tin and smooth the hop.
7. Bake at 160C for 45 minutes.
8. Leave it to cool completely in the tin, then flip it onto a chopping board where it should fall out.
9. Make up the icing with a couple of tablespoons of water and drizzle over the Cake.

Eat with a glass of Cointreau, with a slice of Don Giovanni on the side. Enjoy!

The 12 Bakes Of Christmas #2 Christmas Buns

Christmas is coming and there's a bun in me oven, what ama gonna do?

500g Strong White Flour
7g Fast Action Dried Yeast
300ml Milk
50g Unsalted Butter
1 Egg
Sunflower Oil, for Greasing

For the Filling

25g Unsalted Butter
85g Soft Brown Sugar
2tsp Ground Cinnamon
100g Dried Cranberries
100g Chopped Dried Apricots

For the Icing

200g Icing Sugar
Zest of an Orange or a Lemon

And it's off we jolly we'll go.

1. Sift the flour & yeast into a large bowl with a teaspoon of salt.

2. Warm the milk & butter in a pan over a low heat, until the butter melts. Leave it to cool until it's lukewarm.

3. Beat the egg and add it with the milk/butter mix to the flour.

4. Stir until you have a soft dough.

5. Knead the dough for five minutes, until it isn't sticky any more, and tip it into an oiled bowl covered with oiled cling film. Put it somewhere warm and leave it until it doubles in size.

6. Kneed the dough for another 30 seconds and roll it out into a 2cm thick rectangle.

7. Melt the remaining 25g of butter and brush it over the dough.

8. Sprinkle over the sugar, cinnamon and fruit.

9. Roll it up like a Swiss roll and cut into 9 pieces.

10. Put the pieces face up in a greased or lined baking tray and cover with a wet towel, leaving them to rise for a further 30 minutes.

11. Heat the oven to 190C and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden, with the fragrance of cinnamon filling your house.

12. Leave to cool on a rack.

13. Add 2tbsp of water to the Icing sugar along with the zest and mix.

14. Drizzle your Icing over the cooled buns.

Tuck in and enjoy with a nice cup of tea!

The 12 Bakes Of Christmas #1 A Midwinter Night's Brownies

Cranberries, mincemeat, pecans and chocolate, the perfect ingredients for a Midwinter Eve.

100g / 4oz Unsalted Butter diced
200g bar of Dark Chocolate, broken into squares
3 Large Eggs
250g / 9oz Golden Caster Sugar
100g / 4oz Plain Flour
3 tbsp Cocoa Powder
50g / 2oz Dried Cranberries
100g / 4oz Pecan Nuts, roughly chopped
175g / 6oz Mincemeat
Icing Sugar to dust (optional, but you'd be mad not to)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Line and grease a deep 20cm square baking tin.

3. Put the chocolate & butter in a heatproof dish, like a Pyrex, and warm, stirring over a pan of boiling water, till it has melted. Leave it to cool a little.

4. Beat the eggs & sugar in a bowl until thick enough to hold a trail when the whisks are taken out.

5. Gently fold in the chocolate mix.

6. Sift in the flour & Cocoa Powder then gently fold that in.-

7. Gently fold in the Cranberries, Mincemeat & Pecans.

8. Pour the mix into your cake tin.

9. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. The brownies should be crisp on the outside but sof in the middle.

10. Cool & dust with icing powder, like a sprinkling of midwinter snow.

11. Sit down with a copy of Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising, which opens on Midwinter's eve, a warm drink and tuck in!