First of all this is not really a recipe. Because my family have been making this for decades to pour over ice cream and it defies quantifying. You gotta feel it in your heart. That being said, I keep forgetting it so I’m trying to write it down so I don’t have to text my mum every time I want it.
-Knob of Butter
– Huge spoon of golden syrup
– A large spoon of cocoa powder
– Melt in a small pan, stirring constantly.
How hot it gets determines the texture. If it’s just boiling it will be fudgy and chewy. If you bring it to a rolling boil it will form a hard shell when poured over the cold ice cream (so satisfying to crack with your spoon!) and then you chew it like toffee.
If it looks oily and isn’t coming together then add more golden syrup. If it seems chalky and dry and is burning you need more butter.
This can be reheated in a pan or a microwave to soften and then poured again but it’s more likely to form a shell after reheating than be fudgy.
This is going to be an odd year for many. May be you’re going to be tackling a smaller Christmas Dinner for the first time. May be you’ve decided to go all out now you don’t have to trek round to Auntie Sue’s because it’s “what you always do”! May be you’ve never cooked more than a fried egg but think this is your time to shine!
Whatever your situation, I thought it may be timely to do a little example of how to do a low effort Christmas Dinner as guidance for those that need it. Remember, Christmas Dinner is just a roast dinner but with cranberry sauce and crackers! Don’t let the weight of expectations get you down, this can be as simple or as complicated a meal as you want to make it!
You can look at the Christmas tag for some older recipes and round ups that are more comprehensive but I wanted to highlight some really simple recipes here. Whether you’re on your own or just a smaller family gathering this should hit the spot!
Canapés
We like to have nibbles to tide us over from noon to 3pm when we have our Dinner. If you want to keep it super simple just grab some party food from the freezer section. These days they almost all cook at 180°C for around 15 minutes. Any leftovers are also great for grazing at!
Starter
In my family the Prawn Cocktail is king. (Well, for me it is, mum does try to do fancy smoked salmon thingies!) This is not only traditional but super simple. Finely sliced iceberg lettuce, prawns, cocktail sauce (Iceland’s is my favourite!) and a twist of lemon on top to look fancy. Less than 5 minutes and you’re done!
The Roast
Turkey is, of course, traditional and if you want to keep it super simple I recommend a frozen Turkey crown. They’re about £10 and you can pick one up in almost any supermarket.
However, a large roast chicken will also do very nicely! I love to do a one pot chicken dish where you simply get a Really Big Pot, put in new potatoes in the base, add your chicken (put some herbs, garlic and half a lemon in the cavity), and scatter with bacon lardons. Drizzle with a little olive oil and cook according to the time on the packet (or 25 minutes per lb + 20 minutes in 180°C oven) Add a cup of frozen peas 30 minutes before the end. This also works well in a slow cooker on high for 3 hours if you need the space in the oven or even if you don’t have an oven! You can find the more detailed recipe here.
A roast dinner is all about timing. If you figure out your timings then it’s plain sailing. You can prep all of your veg in advance, even the night before, so all you have to do on the day is put dishes in the oven on time or you can get the roast in and then do your veg prep. I have a post outlining some of the timings for veg here.
For example:
2 hours before: Roast In
45 minutes before: parsnips in (I like them crispy.)
30 minutes before: leeks in cream sauce, stuffing balls & pigs in blankets in
25 minutes before: Brussels sprouts and carrots in steamer on the hob. Check the sprouts after 15 minutes by poking with a sharp knife. They should be soft but not soggy.
Serving Time: Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a serving board. Use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes and peas and bacon. You can make gravy with the juices. I explain how here.
Pudding
Christmas pudding is traditional, easily available from the supermarket, and I hate it. So I have a couple of other seasonal options that you can make the day before:
If you’re on your own do not let this stop you from having a full roast! The leftovers are the best bit! From this dinner I will be able to make sandwiches, soup, risotto and may be a few other dishes as takes my fancy! I basically won’t have to cook again for the next week, which is exactly how I like it!
– Heat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C and live and baking tray.
– In a clean glass bowl whisk the egg whites until full and satiny.
– Add the sugar a spoonful at a time, continuing to whisk until the mixture is stiff and shiny.
– Fold in the cornflour and vinegar.
– Scoop our onto the prepared tray and smooth to create a well in the centre.
– Put the baking tray in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to gas mark 2/140°C.
– Bake for an hour and a half. Leave to cool in the oven, if using an electric oven open the door a bit.
– When the meringue is cooled prepare your fruit.
– Add the cream and icing sugar to a large mixing bowl and whisk until stiff.
– Split the cream in half and stir chopped fruits through one half.
– Spread the cream with fruit over the meringue.
– Top the fruity cream with the remaining whipped cream. (Doing this means that you get a clean, white topping with no bleed through from the fruits. Feel free to skip this design if you prefer.)
I have a new obsession. I don’t know what came over me. All of a sudden I woke up one day and out of nowhere I NEEDED to have cinnamon rolls! I couldn’t think about eating anything else. I just wanted cinnamon rolls. Soft, spicy, pillowy cinnamon rolls.
Now, for some people I understand that this is quite a normal state of affairs… but I don’t like cinnamon!!! Yeah, well that’s a thing of the past! I love cinnamon now! For about a week, I kid you not, I pretty much existed on a diet of cinnamon rolls. Nothing else. I couldn’t stop thinking about them and craving them, and I had to get the recipe exactly right. I had to pursue this cinnamon roll nirvana!
Happily, I think I succeeded in my quest. These cinnamon rolls are everything I dreamed of. They are soft, sweet, squishy, delicious, moreish… I’ll stop now, shall I?
Having attained my perfect cinnamon roll I am pleased to say that I have moved on to new experiments but luckily even excessive consumption hasn’t put me off these… in fact, I might just make up another pan tonight, it would be a shame not to!
– Weight out your flour into a large mixing bowl.
– Put the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other.
– Mix gently with your hand to combine everything.
– Add the butter, cut into chunks, and rub it into the flour until all chunks have disappeared.
– Make a wekk in the centre and add the egg and almost all of the milk. Hold back a little milk in reserve. You probably will need it, but you may not.
– Start mixing everything together using your hand. ( I like to keep one hand clean for holding the bowl and just use the other to get all sticky!)
– It should come together into a smooth dough, if it is still floury add the remaining milk. You want a soft, smooth dough, not too sticky, not too dry.
– Turn it out on to a lightly floured worksurface and knead it for 10 minutes until soft and elastic.
– Place in a buttered bowl and leave covered in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
– Turn out the dough on a lightly floured worksurface and roll out into a large rectangle, about 30cmx40cm.
– Brush the dough all over with melted butter.
– Sprinkle the surface evenly with sugar and cinnamon. (I’ve left how heavy to go with the cinnamon up to you, I go for less at 1tsp and find that a comfortable amount.)
– Starting from the long edge furthest away from you, tightly roll the dough towards you into a tight spiral.
– Press the edge of the dough gently to seal it together.
– Slice into 9 equal sections. (About 4-5cm each.)
– Place in a large, high baking dish cut side up.
– Leave to rise for 30 minutes.
– Bake in the oven for 25 minutes at gas mark 6 / 200C. The centres should be springy and the dough lightly browned.
– For the frosting mix together your cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth. Try to work it as little as possible. Place it in the fridge to refirm it as it will be quite runny to start with.
– If you are not eating the cinnamon rolls straight from the oven simply microwave each one for 30 seconds before icing and eating! There is little in this world more pleasurable than unrolling a warm cinnamon roll as you consume it!
I don’t think anyone of my acquaintance can resist those words once seen on a menu. (If they can then we tend not to remain friends long!) Melt-In-The-Middle is always a good start. Chocolate, sure fire winner there. Salted caramel… SOLD!
The best thing is that contrary to everything Masterchef, Great British Bake Off, etc have told you these are actually very easy to make. Can you mess it up? Yes, as with everything if you’re not paying attention you just get puddings and won’t get the melt in the middle. But we all know that you’ll be paying attention, right?
These things are so tempting and delightful that the anticipation won’t let you stray far from the oven for the wonderfully short baking time that they have. You’ll want to stay close, cooing at them as they rise may be… Oh… just me then?
How could you not want to coo at them though? Just looking at them makes me want to dash to the kitchen and whip up a batch. And that’s the other great thing about them. You can whip them up as a last minute dessert without any hassle at all. You can even (if you really really must) just make these as chocolate puddings if you don’t have any toffees in the house… (what kind of house do you live in???)
Now, if I wanted to go all Bake Off on you I could tell you to make the toffee from scratch and the same with the caramel sauce… but these are supposed to be easy! If it pleases you, fine, knock yourself out. But these are a quick, no fuss, high in wow factor dessert just perfect for the recent cold turn the weather has taken. Ultimate luxury and comfort on a plate!
Makes 4
100g plain chocolate
100g unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing)
150g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
50g flour
1 packet toffee/treacle toffee/soft caramels (not normal Werther’s Originals!)
200ml double cream
sea salt
– Heat the oven to gas mark 6/ 200C.
– Break up/slice up the chocolate and butter into a microwave proof bowl.
– Microwave for about 1 minute until all of the butter and most of the chocolate is melted.
– Stir until the remaining lumps of chocolate have dissolved and the mixture is combined.
– Set aside to cool a little. (I usually do the microwaving bit first then go get all of the other ingredients together.)
– Thoroughly grease 4 ramekin dishes with butter and place on a baking tray for easy maneuverability later.
– In a large jug or bowl thoroughly mix together the eggs, sugar and vanilla with a hand whist.
– Slowly pour in the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, stirring constantly with your whisk. If you can pour from a bit of a height so much the better!
– When it is all nicely combined add your flour and mix in.
– Divide the mixture evenly between the buttered ramekins. The mixture should come just over halfway up.
– Put a toffee in the centre of each pudding. Just rest it on the top, no need to submerge it. Add a tiny pinch of sea salt to each toffee.
– Put in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.
– Every oven varies so you’re going to have to check them at regular intervals once you get to 10 minutes. The time between totally molten (puddle of goo) and totally cooked (cake) is not great and you want to hit it right in the middle. If you can see any shiny cake batter where the cap lifts then they need longer, the edges should be a matt, cooked colour. There shouldn’t be any obvious wobble, we want a squishy middle, not a squishy everything! If you poke the top gently the crust should hold but there should be a little bit of movement in it. If your finger goes through the delicate crust, it’s not done! It sounds tricky but actually its really easy to eyeball when the edges are cooked enough to hold the pudding together. If in doubt an extra minute in the oven (with a very close eye) is probably not going to hurt it.
– Remove from the oven and gently run a thin bladed knife around the outside of the pudding to loosen it. (Remember, sugar burns are not sexy so it’s ok to let these sit for a minute or two before serving but don’t leave them for too long as you want them warm.)
– Put the cream and remaining toffees in a small pan and gently heat until the toffees have melted and the cream is hot. Mix together well so all of the toffee dissolves and you get a pale caramel sauce. Add a pinch of sea salt to taste and mix well. (Can also be done in the microwave but watch the cream, it WILL boil up high!)
– Turn out the puddings carefully onto a plate. They should slip right out. You may find the the toffee has sunk to the bottom and a little bit remains behind, just scoop this out and pop it back on top.
– Pour over the caramel sauce to serve.
– Luxuriate!
My family are well known for our Pavlovas. My mother will always have a Pavlova base or three ready for an impromptu dessert! One of our best inventions ever was the Banoffee Pavlova. So simple but so right!
Serves 8
1 large pavlova base
1/2 tin Carnation caramel
2 large bananas
300ml double cream, whipped
fruit to decorate
– Gently spread the caramel over the pavlova base, being careful not to crush it.
– Cover with a layer of sliced banana.
– Swirl the cream over the top.
– Decorate with strawberries and blueberries to make a union jack.
I saw this recipe last year in Good Food … actually, thinking about it it could even have been the year before. Anyway, it was a very long time ago. I duly bookmarked it, thought “Gosh, what a good idea!” and forgot about it. What a mistake to make! All this time I could have been enjoying delicious, EASY, homemade ice cream! Because we all know that food you’ve made yourself a) tastes better and b) has no calories, right? Right?
Just pretend you can see the ice cream for all the strawberries, yeah? I grew 3 of those babies! First helping of the year! Woohoo! (Helping is generous, yes, but my strawberry plants have not been happy this year so I’m ecstatic!) I can testify that this ice cream is delicious in many ways: on its own, with cherry sauce, with chocolate sauce and with strawberries. I tested it well for you!
Makes 1.3 (ish) litres (a Mackie’s 1l tub and about a bowl full top of that) (The recipe said a large loaf tin)
600ml double cream
~200g condensed milk (1/2 a tin)
1 tsp vanilla extract
~1/3 of a vanilla pod
– Put the cream, condensed milk and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.
– Split the vanilla pod and use the back of a knife to scrape out the seeds and add these to the mixture.
– Use an electric whisk (or really epic elbow grease) beat the mixture until it reaches stiff peaks. (Recipe said clotted cream consistency.)
– Scrape the mixture into your chosen receptacle(s) and freeze until solid.
For the finale I wanted something that screamed Christmas but wasn’t something traditional. Again, it also had to be something I could prep beforehand and set aside. This produced all of the “Wows” I could have wished for when I brought it out at the end of the meal. Even my dad was tempted to eat some and the man hates desserts! I have to say it was delicious! Despite the fact that it’s made of cream and sugar it’s actually a very light dessert. The perfect end to a gluttinous meal!
– Put most of the cranberries in a small pan with 150g of the sugar. Keep back 16 or so for the garnish.
– Cook the cranberries in the pan with a lid on until the sugar melts and bubbles. Cook for ~10 minutes until the cranberries are soft. They will pop, do not scream like a girl (ahem) when they do so.
– Use a spoon to mash them up once they are cooked.
– Set aside to cool.
– Whilst they are cooling take a large mixing bowl and pour 200ml of the cream and the remaining 50g sugar into it.
– Use a hand mixer to beat until the cream forms soft peaks.
– Stir the remaining 200ml cream into the cranberries until a wonderful pink colour.
– Tip this pink mixture on top of the whipped cream.
– Stir through only a few times to acheive a marbled effect.
– Spoon into four cocktail glasses.
– To garnish take the remaining cranberries and dip them in the egg white.
– Put the 3 tbsp sugar on a plate and drop the cranberries onto the sugar. Roll around until evenly coated in sugar.
– Set aside to set.
– Once hard, plce a few cranberries on each dessert.
– Chill until ready to serve.
Hi, I'm Anna and this is what's going on in my kitchen and growing in my garden.
Everything you see here is how it looked as I cooked and ate it. I don't like to make things too fussy. I want you to know that if you try one of my recipes what you see is what you'll get.
Don't forget to leave a comment, I love to know what you're thinking and if you do try out a recipe then let me know how it worked for you. Happy cooking!
Anna in the kitchen 