White Chocolate and Mincemeat Chrstmas Cheesecake

I made this delicious baked white chocolate cheesecake just after Christmas last year - but just never got round to blogging the recipe ! I used some left over mincemeat from an earlier batch (made several loads) from THIS recipe, but the recipe works just as well if you substitute just raisins soaked in alcohol or even soft fruits such as raspberries.

Cheesecake can be rather heavy going at the best of times, so I used some genoise sponge instead of a biscuit base

Genoise base

4 eggs

125g white sugar

125g plain flour

80g butter

cream butter and sugar, add in eggs and sieved flour. Bake at approx 150deg c. Slice in half

450g white chocolate

285ml double cream

400g full fat soft cheese (Philadelphia)

4 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract

1 packed cup of mincemeat - see recipe

Heat the oven to 150deg C fan

Grease an 8" tin and line with baking paper.

Wrap the outside of the tin in foil, and place it in a bain marie (roasting tin filled 1/2 full with boiling water) 

Bake for 1 hour, then leave in oven 1.1/2 to 2 hours (with the oven turned off).

Cool and refrigerate overnight before serving

Mincemeat Streusel Muffins (Plain Muffin Recipe Vamped Up)

This was one of last Saturday's bakes that I took to work.

Saturday mornings in the showroom at Natural Heating  can be stupidly busy at this time of year. The other side of our company sells wood burning and multi fuel cast iron stoves. Lets face it, if we weren't busy selling fires and heating in the Autumn and Winter - there really would be something wrong !

Anyway, it can get crazy busy on Saturday mornings. People come along knowing they may need to wait a little while to be seen. During that time, it's a nicety to be able to offer a warm, home baked cake and a hot cup of coffee or tea.

Freshly brewed Italian coffee and home baked muffins and the scent of burning wood in the air just before you come in our door must be some of the best smells on earth.

This is a very basic muffin recipe I've been using for years. It doesn't stop me changing it around and vamping it up. Last Saturday, I actually made 24 muffins. Half of them were the mincemeat streusel and the others had a great dollop of raspberry jam in the middle and the tops had been brushed with butter and then dipped into caster sugar. The muffin equivalent of a jam doughnut.

The recipe for the mincemeat can be found in a previous blog entry here. For this vamped up version, I put a couple of teaspoons of the mincemeat on top of the batter in each paper cake case and them sprinkled some crumble topping over each one.

RECIPE - Makes 10 - or 12 if you vamp them !

240g plain flour
3 > 4 tsp baking powder

175g caster sugar

250mls milk

100mls oil

1 egg

pinch salt

vanilla

Sift dry ingredients into one bowl. Mix wet in another and then combine the two together. It will be lumpy, and you want to mix briefly - only until dry ingredients cannot be seen. Don't worry about the lumps !

Put into paper cake cases in a 12 cell silicone muffin bakeware mould on top of a baking tray.
 Bake at 180deg C for approx 20 mins or until a cocktail stick comes out clean.

October Visit to Oxburgh Hall

 The following day, Steve and I took Oliver out for a wander round Oxburgh Hall and it's stunning gardens. The last time I was at Oxburgh Hall, was just a few weeks before Oliver was born. They were having a re-enactment day, and when the cannons went off - Oliver certainly must have had a bit of a fright (it was very loud)  it as he kicked 10 bells out my insides !

My cheeky monkey got a handful of stones when we were not looking, then threw then in the moat....

14/10/12 - Oliver and Ellie take a break outside Oxburgh Hall

Looking back at Oxburgh Hall from the Woodland Walk

By the huge wooden doors at the entrance to Oxburgh Hall

Coming down the spiral staircase

Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside the hall - but Oliver thoroughly enjoyed sliding down the old toilet shoot into the hiding place (priests hole) in the middle of the castle wall. Steve went down too, but had a bit of a struggle to get out. If he had a struggle, I think I'd have been wedged tight !

Tending to the bugs in the gardens at Oxburgh Hall

Mummy and Oliver have a game of "Run and Hug"

Sarah-Jane Nash - www.siliconemoulds.com - Silicone Bakeware Specialists - October 2012

Mincemeat Crumble Slices & Christmas Photos

These cake bars couldn't be easier and yet they can be made SO versatile and quick to make. I packed these full of my home made sweet mincemeat on this occasion, but diced peaches or apples with cinnamon and sugar work well - or even just a good thick layer of chunky jam !

Eat them as a cake slice or serve hot as a dessert with custard or a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.

Use a tray, tin or silicone bakeware mould approx 11 x 9" internal size - our Tray Bake Swiss silicone mould is perfect for this (as shown)

700g mincemeat (replace with suitable alternative as desired)

650g flour

325g sugar

300g butter

Rub the butter, flour and sugar together until it starts to clump together. I like to be able to compact it together in my hand so it holds as one lump and them crumble it again so it's like rubble more than crumbs.

Put half the mixture in the mould or tin and roll flat. Spread mincemeat / jam / choice of filling on top and then top with the remaining crumble.

Bake 180deg c fan oven (200deg C normal electric) for 30mins or until the top is starting to turn a light golden brown.

Allow to totally cool before slicing. Makes approx 12 large slices.

May be warmed again later and served as a dessert with good vanilla ice cream.

I've been spending a few days with family in Scotland. We shouted up the chimney just before we left Norfolk so that Santa would know where to bring Oliver's presents on Christmas morning ! I must Santa brought Oliver a spectacular load of toys....including the spitting dinosaur that he really wanted (but is actually rather scared of at the moment)

Uncle Simon (my brother) got given the job of putting all the fiddly little bits of a Playmobil set together.

Oliver was VERY excited on Christmas eve and getting him to bed was a bit of a nightmare. We wrongly presumed that since he was very late going to sleep, that he would not get up until a reasonable hour. Hmm 5.25am isn't quite what I had in mind.......!!!

This one - Smokey The Fire Engine - is most definitely the favourite.

Doctor Oliver doing an examination of Pappy (apparently contagious)

Riding Bullseye (Nanny's rocking horse) on Boxing Day

Santa was rather good to me too. I've got several rather super cookery books that I'm looking forward to trying out new recipes from family and a Masterclass at The Lavender House in Norfolk from my lovely husband.

Can't believe it's almost all over and we go home again tomorrow.

Hope you have all had a fantastic Christmas !

Sarah-Jane Nash, www.siliconemoulds.com - December 2011

Homemade Boozy Mince Pies

Mince pies have to be one of my favourite foods of Christmas. I adore the warmth from the mixed spice and cinnamon traditionally coupled with brandy. I kid you not - there is little easier to make than these adorable mini mince pies. Of course, bigger ones are just as easy - but it doesn't give me the excuse to eat two of them !

In many years gone by, it was common place for mincemeat for these sweet meat pies to ACTUALLY contain ground meat. Some people still make them like that. However, this version does not.

The batch of mincemeat is very very simple to make. It gets better with age and will keep several months properly stored. I made a batch of 24 mini mince pies in my silicone bakeware mould and still had enough mincemeat to fill about 5 good sized jam jars (each of which will be enough for another batch of pies). Makes a lovely Christmas gift !

FOR THE PASTRY (makes 24 mini pies)

275g plain cake flour

110g salted butter (cold and GRATED)

100g icing sugar

1 large egg

zest of a lemon

Rub the grated butter into the flour and icing sugar, until the mixture resembles crumbs. I like to use cold grated butter as it incorporates easier when rubbing together. You want to work pastry as little as possible to keep is short and melt in the mouth.

Add the beaten egg. You may want to combine with a wooden spoon as it does get very sticky - but I get in there with my hands.

Once combined, wrap in clingfilm and shove in the fridge for at least 20mins. This is a VERY soft sweet pastry. I don't even bother rolling it.

When you are ready to use it, pinch pieces off . I've forgotten the exact weight now.. but am pretty sure I used 15 grams per ball.

I used a pastry tamper to form the shapes and then finished the tops with my fingers.

Now fill your mini pies with as much of the mincemeat as they will hold. It's not much - about 1 heaped teaspoon. After filling the ones below, I went back round them and packed a bit more in

MY SWEET MINCEMEAT RECIPE

650g of luxury mixed dried fruit

(mine consisted of raisins, currants, mixed peel, cherries, pineapple, apricot)

100g roughly chopped pecans

juice and zest of a lemon

400g medium diced bramley apples 

1 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp mixed spice

250g Atora suet

100g caster sugar

250g dark brown soft sugar

175ml  of apple brandy

175g plum liqueur

Basically, put all the ingredients into a large bowl and stir. Pop it in the fridge, and give it another stir every time you walk past over the next two days. 

The dried fruits will swell as they absorb the alcohol and strangely enough, the apples are going to shrink. There will be some thick syrupy stuff in the bottom.

After 2 > 3 days, spoon into sterilised jars and seal with a lid. Make sure you split the syrupy liquid evenly between the jars Some people think mincemeat is best left to mature for 2 > 3 weeks before use - but I've found the results and flavour just as good after the first 2 > 3 days.

The pastry tops for my little pies are 6 or 7 gram balls f pastry simply squashed in the palm of my hand.

Put a tiny slit in the top of each one. Liberally douse with caster sugar and bake in a 180deg C fan / 200deg C electric oven for approx 15 mins until the tops are slightly golden.

Enjoy warm with a cup of tea or a glass of mulled wine.

These will store up to a week in an airtight container. Why not make and freeze an entire tray in one go ? Ideal to pull out the freezer and bake when unexpected visitors arrive. Silicone bakeware moulds are totally safe to go from freezer to oven !

Christmas Breads, a Christmas Story & special present

I made some tear and share breads on Boxing Day. At the moment, I'm still at my parents' house in Scotland with Oliver - but we fly back tomorrow. It's fair to say that this has been an eventful trip !

We were due to fly up early on the morning of Christmas Eve. I woke Oliver at 6am and got him ready. My husband and I had our bags packed from the night before, ready to leave first thing that morning. On the realisation that we were about to fly to Scotland and Santa was on his way, Oliver was rather excited to say the least. "Oliver go to Nanny's. Oliver go to Nanny's on plane ! Oliver go now to Nanny's !" he chanted all the way to the airport.

At the last set of traffic lights just before the entrance to the airport, realisation dawned. Steve had forgotten to bring his wallet containing his ID and we were not going to be able to fly without it. Damn and blast ! There was no option but to turn tail and go home for his wallet.... Perhaps Oliver wasn't going to Nanny's and maybe Santa would not come :-(

The roads were really icy and slippy and the return trip home simply took too long. It was impossible to get back to the airport to make the flight - so the only alternative was to make the journey by car.... Approx 8 hours drive versus 1.1/4 hours by plane.

I must say - I really thought such a long car journey would be an absolute nightmare with a toddler.... but Oliver was good as gold the whole way and kept checking whith us that we WERE going to Nanny's.

On Boxing Day, I decided to make some tear and share bread for everyone as a treat... Most especially as I fancied something yummy ! We were meant to go to my aunt and uncle's for Christmas dinner with the rest of the family the previous day, but things didn't exactly work out to plan. Oliver had taken rather poorly again on Christmas eve with fever and vomitting which continued right through Christmas day (and beyond). Thankfully, he was bright enough early in the morning for an hour of opening presents from Santa

My husband and I stayed with Oliver at my parents and had toast and cheese on Christmas day, instead of joining everyone for Christmas dinner

A sick Oliver asleep in front of the television on Christmas day.

My wonderful parents had a very special Christmas present for me which was totally overwhelming. They had created a hard back book of my blog to date - basically a whole year of blogging with all the photos and recipes ! It's such a super thing to have, and extra special to me because there are so many photos of Oliver in it too.

There is an online sharing application which lets me let you all look through it too ! However, it doesn't like me altering the html to centre it on the page for some reason - so apologies for that.

SiliconeMoulds.com See What's Cooking! by Sarah-Jane - SiliconeMoulds.com | Make Your Own Book

Recipe below is enough for two "special" tear and share style breads.

Bread recipe

1000g / 1kg of strong white bread flour

50 g melted butter

3 x sachets of instant yeast

3 egg yolks

2tbsp of sugar

1.1/2 tsp salt

600ml lukewarm water

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl until they come together. Knead for about 10mins until dough forms a smooth ball and glutens develop. Split into two pieces (or just make 1/2 the recipe !)and put each piece into a bowl covered with oiled cling film. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size.

When the dough has had it's first rise, take one of the pieces at a time and roll it into a long, flat piece - about 600mm long x 200mm deep. Spread the first few inches of the dough with the filling of your choice.

I chose 3 fillings. My first bread was some leftover sweet mincemeat. One half of this bread, I also sprinkled dreid cranberries and broken pecan nuts onto the mincemeat. On the other half, I placed tiny little balls of marzipan.

The third filling (for the second bread) is not shown unrolled - but was a homemade cranberry sauce made with orange zest and sloe gin and finished after cooking with some melted dark chocolate.

Roll up your bread from the long end like a giant sausage - adding more filling as is required along the way. You want the filling to stop about 1" / 25mm before the end so you have some plain dough left to seal the bread. Brush this bare section with a little beaten egg wash or some milk.

Cut the giant bread dough sausages into 2" high sections and stand on a non stick bakeware tray. I like to use a 10" round silicone baking pan mould at home. This gives a really good shape to this type of bread and it comes out looking like a big wheel. Search the blog for bread if you want to see examples.

Leave these to rise for about 30mins before baking. I think they took about 15mins in a 170deg fan oven.

 Sweet mincemeat and marzipan tear and share bread - topped with toasted almond flakes. This can also be liberally dusted with icing sugar on removing from the oven.

Pretty - isn't it ?

Whilst I had a little time "creating" in the kitchen, Pappy (grandad) and Oliver had a snooze...

Well - it's almost all over now ! In under an hour, Oliver and I leave for the airport to fly home. Unfortunately, Oliver is still not very well. Steve (my long suffering husband) drove home on Tuesday and as lovely as our visit here has been, it will also be good to get home.

Sarah-Jane Nash - Siliconemoulds.com 30/12/2010