I thought I knew my local area pretty well, thought I’d trodden all its paths and roads and could take you to all the best places. Turns out I was wrong as a spontaneous left turn took me to all sorts of corners of Hampshire that I didn’t even know were there. We were planning on doing a bit of local exploring but hadn’t set our expectations too high as we were so convinced we’d already seen it all; we were amazed at all the new places we went and what we saw. I thoroughly advise you should all undertake an adventure right on your doorstep.
Ultimate Hot Chocolate Gifts
I love a good hot chocolate; not too sweet, not too bitter but full of chocolate flavour and I have been working on perfecting my recipe for the ultimate hot chocolate. This recipe is too good not to share, and what nicer way to share it than making some (ever so pretty) make-your-own hot chocolate gifts. You need only four ingredients, a few empty jars, some string, paper and your very neatest handwriting. A word of warning: make sure you make enough to keep one for yourself.
Below are the amounts to make enough mixture for one person so double, triple, quadruple and all sorts depending on who you are making for.
Christmas Food and Gift Guide
If someone is kind enough to get me a gift for Christmas I love it when said gift is food or food related. I think it’s a very personal thing to give, whether it be something they have made themselves or taken time in choosing for you. This is my Christmas Food and Gift Guide; a range of different food and drink ideas from all sorts of places and companies.
Berry Brothers and Rudd had their Christmas preview all the way back in July when I ventured to the famous shop in London to learn more about their festive offerings. There were plenty of fabulous hampers, some just wine and some wine and food, to see and they all sounded great. A particular mention must go to the Cambrook caramelised peanuts that come in one of the hampers, they were absolutely delicious. Their signature gin (above) was very enjoyable too. Berry Brothers and Rudd don’t have a fantastic reputation and pedigree for nothing so you know if you’re getting wine from them it will be a fine example of that wine. They have launched their new book ‘Exploring and Tasting Wine’ which I am keeping my fingers crossed I get a copy of this year! Exploring and Tasting Wine is £30 and their hampers start at £31.50.
White Chocolate Easter Egg Nests
I don’t think a bit of accuracy does anyone any harm and I find myself slightly troubled each Easter as I see many chocolate nests filled with standard size chocolate mini eggs. Not only does it look like an ostrich has laid several eggs in a blackbird’s nest you can only fit three maximum in each nest which doesn’t feel very generous. Now I know these aren’t used for educational purposes and are purely for chocolate enjoyment but I couldn’t bring myself to make something that was so proportionally incorrect. Thank heavens, then, that I found some micro chocolate eggs.
Duck Lettuce Wraps with Gressingham Duck
- 2 Gressingham duck breasts
- 1 pack of Gressingham Duck Mini Fillets
- Oil for frying
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- Wraps
- Whole lettuce leaves
- Cucumber
- Carrot
- Spring onions
- Coriander
- Chillies
- Sesame seeds
- Chilli sauce(s)
- Soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Plum sauce
- First of all, get the table laid and ready then as you get things prepped you can get them straight to the table.
Cranberry and Pistachio Chocolate Truffles
I can find it hard to know what to give people for gifts. When I’m not sure I normally cook or make something for them instead; it’s personal and I quite enjoy doing it. This is the other recipe that I developed for Kenwood (see crumble here) and I think they look a bit like Brussels sprouts if you stand far enough away (and squint). My recipe for Cranberry and Pistachio Chocolate Truffles is really simple and I find I usually have these ingredients in the cupboard at this time of year.
Cranberry and Clementine Crumble
I love cranberries and really try to make the most of them when they are around; they are almost fool proof when it comes to making jams and jellies as they are so full of pectin. This Cranberry and Clementine Crumble is a great way to use cranberries in a different way over the festive period and the addition of Cointreau adds a little something extra. I was asked to come up with a couple of wintry recipes as part of a project with Kenwood. I used one of the new Kenwood Chef Sense machines to test the recipe out at home and then I spent a day filming the recipes! I hope you enjoy it!
Christmas Food Gift Ideas
Every year I have at least one person say something like, “Oi, you like food, what do I get >insert friend/relative/colleague’s name here< for Christmas? They like food too”. Firstly I am never likely to respond to an, “Oi”, but talk about the impossible question. How do I know that they do or don’t like blue cheese, a selection of miniature spirits, dark chocolate or that special coffee that comes out of a kopi luwak? So for all of you who have someone even mildly interested in food to buy for, here are some Christmas food gift ideas. The list may get a little longer if I try anything from now on that I think is worthy of including.
Review: Make your own Easter Egg
I was surprised how easy it was, I didn’t get chocolate everywhere and layering up the chocolate was quite enjoyable. The instructions said to use a microwave to melt the chocolate, and I don’t have a microwave, so I was picturing having to reheat the bowl of chocolate on the hob all the time but the chocolate stayed liquid long enough to do three coats no problem. The chocolate itself was really nice; I’m not one for eating a whole chocolate egg in one go but this one I did! If you’re looking for Easter weekend ideas, rainy day inspiration or want to know what exactly goes into your Easter egg then I can thoroughly recommend making your own.
Thank you to Stay in Devon for the Easter egg kit. All opinions and words expressed are my own.
Review: Maple Pecan Cupcake Recipe from Baking Mad
Ingredients
You will need (original recipe here, mine is slightly different):
- 2 eggs (I used half a goose egg)
- 125g butter
- 125g caster sugar
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
For the icing: - 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 65g butter
- 125g icing sugar (I used the Silver Spoon Chocolate icing sugar I was sent)
- Chocolate chips to decorate (I used the Silver Spoon ones I was sent)
Method
Preheat an oven to 180C and line a cupcake tin with 12 cases. I don’t have a cupcake tin so I use silicone cupcake cases.
Place the eggs, butter, sugar, flour, vanilla and maple syrup in a bowl and mix together until smooth. I used an electric hand whisk for this.
Divide the batter between the cases then place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until baked.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave to cool.
Make the icing by beating together the butter and icing sugar then add the maple syrup and beat until light and fluffy.
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