Strawberry ice cream

We made this ages ago, but I forgot to publish the post, oops!

300ml double cream
200ml milk
200g strawberries
2 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Wash, hull, and chop the strawberries. Crush with a hand blender, food processor, or potato masher. Sieve to remove the pips.

Mix the cream, milk and maple syrup or honey. Then mix in the strawberries.

Pour into an ice cream machine and leave to churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. For our machine it takes about 20 minutes to create a thick, yet soft ice cream.

Delicious!

V is for Vacation {Recipe: Christmas pudding}

We're off on our vacation today, so this and the rest of the advent posts have been pre-written and will appear as if by magic while I am far away from a computer!

We will be having a French Christmas this year, with family in north Brittany. Oui! I have packed all the essentials: Christmas pudding, brussels sprouts, mince pies, pigs in blankets. How do the French survive without these annual delicacies? (To be fair, they do feast on fruits de mer, foie gras, and a strange ice-cream concoction which they go ga-ga over for dessert, so they've got their own flavours to gloat over.)

I made my Christmas pudding, as is traditional, on stir-up Sunday, the last Sunday before advent. I can't wait to try it!

My Christmas pudding
Serves 8-10

90g self-raising flour
125g chilled butter
30g flaked almonds
125g carrot, grated
250g raisins
125g currants
125g sultanas
125g breadcrumbs
60g Italian mixed peel
90g light muscovado sugar
Zest and juice of a lemon
A whole nutmeg (you'll use half)
2 eggs, beaten
75ml brandy

Grate the butter into the flour and rub together to a breadcrumb texture. Add the almonds, carrot, raisins, currants, sultanas, breadcrumbs, mixed peel, sugar, and lemon zest. Grate in half of the nutmeg. Mix these ingredients together. Add the lemon juice and eggs, and mix well until fully combined.

Butter a 1.25-litre (2-pint) ceramic pudding bowl, or several smaller bowls (this year I used a 1-litre bowl and two mini pudding moulds). If using a large bowl, cut out a circle of baking parchment to fit in the top of the bowl, butter it well, and place it in the bowl. (This helps the pudding to stay together when you are releasing it from the bowl.) Spoon in the pudding mixture almost to the top. Flatten the surface, pressing down well.


Cut out a circle of baking paper and a circle of foil, each two inches bigger than the diameter of the bowl. Butter the baking paper. Make a pleat in the middle of both the baking paper and the foil. Lay the baking paper buttered side down over the bowl, and the foil on top. Tie them tightly with string under the rim of the bowl.

Put the bowl in a steamer or in a pan of simmering water which comes halfway up the side of the bowl. You now have two options:

1. Steam the pudding fully, for 8-9 hours. Afterwards, remove the foil and baking paper. Pierce several holes in the pudding with a skewer and pour over the brandy. Cover the bowl. with clingfilm. Store in a dark place. On the day of eating, replace the clingfilm and pierce it several times. Microwave on full power for 5 minutes, stand for 3 minutes, microwave on low/defrost for 7 minutes, and stand for 5 minutes before unmoulding.

2. Steam the pudding for 6 hours. Afterwards, remove the foil and baking paper. Pierce several holes in the pudding with a skewer and pour over the brandy. Then put on fresh baking paper and foil, buttered and pleated as before. Store in a dark place. On the day of eating, steam the pudding for 2-3 hours, then rest for 3-4 minutes before unmoulding.

Whichever method you use, you must make sure that you keep topping up the steamer/pan with boiling water.

Serve the pudding with traditional brandy butter, custard, or (my favourite) extra thick cream.

N is for Nuts {Recipe: Honey-Roasted Almonds}

Have you noticed how everyone goes nuts over nuts at Christmas?

The supermarkets roll out platters of lovely mixed fruit and nuts which you couldn't find any other time of the year. Why do we eat so many nuts at Christmas?

My favourite kind of nuts are the roasted, sweet kind. Mmmm. Today, I decided to make my own honey-roasted almonds. It was so easy and they are so delicious!

Laura x

Sweet and salty goodness

Honey-roasted almonds

400g whole almonds

115g runny honey

A pinch of salt

100g granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

2. Heat the honey in the microwave on full power for 30 seconds.

3. Put the almonds in a large bowl and pour over the honey. Add the salt and half the sugar. Mix well.

4. Place the coated almonds on the baking tray in a single layer. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Make sure to stir the whole tray, so the nuts on the edges don't burn.

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 2-3 minutes.

6. Sprinkle over half the sugar and mix well. It is a good idea to move them to new baking parchment at this stage, so that they don't clump together so much. Then sprinkle over the remaining sugar and allow to cool.

You can put them in pretty bags or boxes to give as presents!

H is for Hot Toddy {Recipe}

Hi everyone,

It's turned very chilly here in Oxford this weekend. This afternoon we went for a walk to the local duck pond, armed with bread. Half an hour is more than enough time outside in the cold weather!

So, this evening I'm making warming mugs of hot toddy for us to enjoy while snuggled on the sofa. My recipe is very simple and great for people, like me, who like to cheat or take shortcuts when it comes to cooking!

Hot toddy
Serves 2

Put a measure of whisky, a teaspoon of honey, two or three cloves, a dash of lemon juice, and a slice of lemon in two small mugs. Top up with freshly boiled water.

Note: don't drink this if you have to drive, or if you are taking prescribed medication!

Laura x