Christmas 2009

I love christmas and for me its all about spending time with loved ones and sharing good traditional food. I think theres nothing quite like the festive smells of homemade mince pies straight from the oven with a dollop of fresh whipped cream or brandy butter. I don't think much compares to grandmas/mums famous homemade mince pies and although the supermarkets give it a good go making your own mince pies at christmas is a must. I prefer my mince pies with the pastry extra short (which makes the pastry melt in your mouth!) My mum has always made them this way and although they can be trickier to handle as the pastry is crumblier they're extra yummy. Another twist on the tradtional mince pie is to add a little grated orange zest and sprinkling of either mixed spice or cinnamon. This gives the pastry an added kick and a festive flavour. To get the little ones involved I usually give them the task of cutting out the lids for the mince pies and to make it fun we usually do stars/hearts or christmas trees. Christmas wouldn't be christmas without chocolate cake and these mini double chocolate puds went down a treat as an alternative to mince pies and christmas fruit cake. They're made from my own chocolate cake recipe with milk chocolate chips and melted white chocolate on top and my own sugar hollies making them 100% edible!