Mumsnet Talk

I want to make something cakey/desserty for christmas that isn't christmas puuding, christmas cake, etc... any ideas?

Chocolate log (any swiss roll recipe)

Chocolate and chestnut tart?

A good treacly gingerbread will keep for ages ( the gooey kind, although a crispy gingerbread house is good fun too)

I am making Ma Buche details Noel which involves meringue, chocolate mousse & poached pears... Was recommended on the Poncetastic thread I think. I don't like Xmas pudding so am looking forward to the possibility of cooking something I'd enjoy eating!

Chocolate roulade. Made it last year and will be making it again. I think it's a Great British Bake Off or Mary Berry recipe.

I did choc roulade last year too and was a big hit so Im also planning to do it again. Think it was Mary berry recipe from a newspaper pull out.

Clementine and cranberry panacotta is lovely... the fruit went all sticky yummy!

Sticky Toffee Pudding?

Women's hour this morning had Nigella talking about an alternative Christmas dessert. Sounded ridiculously easy, quite decadant and festive looking. here

Nigella gives a hot chocolate pudding recipe in her Christmas book that meets with DD's (5) approval

I'm planning a Christmas Cheesecake - digestive biscuit base, layer of mincemeat, vanilla cheesecake, caramelised fruit to decorate. Might infuse the cheesecake bit with Christmassy spices like cloves, cinnamon etc but might be a bit much...

On Xmas eve I do a messy festive pavlova type thing - a big swirly meringue base then top with whipped cream flavoured with cinnamon. Then festoon with blackberries and pomegranate (looks so pretty) and grated orange zest. Heavenly!

Thank you for all these ideas... yummy

I am going to make this, no cooking involved, just assembly on Xmas Eve

Xmas bombe

My dcs hate Christmas pudding and also loathe chocolate.

So I normally make homemade utterly fresh mince pies with brandy butter.

We will do cheesecake and a simple fruit salad.

i never have xmas pudding its disgusting,also hate fruit cake.

Just have anything that is fabulous and special!

Chocolate Roulade (again)I use the Delia recipe - haven't tried Mary Berry's.

I make Mary Berry's Victorian Christmas Cake every year. In fact I will make two this year because DH eats it all it goes down so well.

It's not your traditional boozy fruit cake, it's a much lighter sponge with apricots and pineapple in, as well as sultanas and chopped glace cherries. I think it looks beautiful too.

My Gran started our traditional Christmas pudding as she got fed up of 'wasting' a burner all morning steaming a pudding which no-one had room to eat!

Whip cream, chop jelly fruits and soak for a bit in sherry, break up ready made meringues, add maraschino/cocktail cherries, choc chips, flaked almonds, angelica (any or all, as you find them in the cupboard/on special offer). Stir all together, put in bowl and freeze.
Serve with chocolate sauce to instead of dark pud with light sauce its the other way around, we love it and it doesn't take up room in your tummy!

Or sherry trifle
(can you tell Christmas tastes of sherry in my Mum's house?)

A black forest trifle could be nice for Christmas, choc sponge base, cherry pie filling and kirsch, choc custard, cream, decorate with glace cherries
Or chocolate orange, as black forest but with mandarin segments and cointreau instead of cherry layer?

A great big Black Forest Trifle - needs to be HUGE as DH will scoff most of it in one go, he is a total pig when it comes to my trifle

we also don't like the traditional Xmas pud - bleughh

Thats very different to my recipe Yorky -

mines good quality choc chip cookies instead of cake as a base, black cherry jelly laced with cherry liqueur & frozen fruits of the forest, (frozen helps it set) then a layer of chocolate custard laced with brandy, topped with whipped cream laced with a splash of vodka & topped off with a big bag of crunched up chocolate flakes

That Italian guy was doing a really easy peezy trifle on TV this morning with Pannetone (cut into cubes) at the bottom, lots of cream with marscapone, some masala wine, and raspberries - oh and they also made marsala jelly but I guess you could use other flavours like raspberry or add a spash of masala as it sets ?

Looked yummy

Hugh F-W's chestnut & chocolate pud.

I detest xmas pud, xmas cake and mince pies, so always make an alternative! I usually make a traditional sherry trifle like Yorky and that is always a success.

Just put this on - made it at the weekend and it went down really well.

winter eton mess

ps. I am inviting myself to Hoho's house - that pudding sounds superb! Another suggestion, which I admit I have not made yet myself is Mont Blanc

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/montblancchestnutand_79056

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=mont+blanc+dessert&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#biv=i%7C0;d%7CsjCicOgMlD5tcM:

littleabruzzen - I was at a friends for dinner a few weeks ago and they served up Mont Blanc for dessert. Had a very retro vibe...delicious!

I'm doing almond cake with orange syrup served with homemade Ben & Jerry recipe French Vanilla icecream. Nom nom nom.
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9289/almond-and-orange-cake
www.recipesource.com/desserts/ice-cream/02/rec0270.html

Made both before a few times, always turn out gorgeous, really looking forward to this. I'll probably do a trifle too. Ha!

DS and I are having jaffa cake trifle - jaffa cakes instead of sponge, orange jelly, chocolate angel delight instead of custard and dark chocolate Terry's chocolate orange grated on top. 'Tis fab, good for buffets as well.

Hi HoHoHum I posted that recipe though I am no longer poncing! I was going to post that link again here - will make it this year for sure!

I have brought Heston's Xmas pudding as I love Xmas puddings and brandy cream. Forget about the turkey and bits - I am all about the puddings at this time of year. I love real proper homemade cream custard too so will squeeze some of that in..

i made a Cassata the other week- definitely decadent

i used this recipe as a guide Zoe bakes

though i used mascarpone for the frosting rather than ricotta, and made a round cake not bothering with the basket weave finish.

and blue curacao for the orange liquer!!

making pistachio marzipan was actually very easy and it rolls ok, though i should have been careful to sieve the ground pistachios and re-grind to get it really powdery before mixing.

the whole candied peel for the decoration i found in a local pay as you weigh shop.

i think one thing i would do different if i made it again is really soak the sponge in the liquer, and use more lemon/vanilla essence and lemon zest in the frosting.
also i'd probably use sweetened grand marnier for the liquer - or possibly just sweeten the curacao more. since then we've been drinking Blue Dongs and Blue GnT to use it up!

it was nonetheless, a very impressive, delicious and unusual cake.

Banofee pie or warm stollen with custard.

a pudding which is always popular in our house is nougat parfait, simple recipe here or more complex involving cooked meringue

I usually put a mix of nuts, glace fruits and some brandy in mine; i use a mix of lavendar honey and sugar for the boiled syrup

I have brandy butter on a sliced banana personally. I can't stand dried fruit but I just love brandy butter!

I have made a really yummy thing before that I got out of one of the newspapers -- it's a pear tart with spicey flavours and caramel.

Ooh, I always loved brandy butter too Phiney - but not so keen on the Pud !

That pear tart sounds bloody good too

Are you me in fact ?

lemon tart with a raspberry compote

This sticky toffee cheesecake is gorgeous (if a bit sickly) & pretty easy to make & can be made in advance. Also a bit different from the usual Christmassy puds!

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8571/sticky-toffee-cheesecake

or a French pear and almond tart.

french pear tart has advantage in that its good also for breakfast and will keep for a few days

Just found this recipe baileys and chocolate cheesecake, this might be the one for me! Chocolate AND baileys AND cheesecake - can't get any better

Bit of a hijack, but does anyone have suggestions for a pudding that I can freeze, but not to be served frozen IYSWIM? (I'm taking a pudding to MIL's for Boxing Day, but will be doing Christmas for the few days previously, so won't have time to cook at the last minute - but can't keep pudding frozen on the journey.)

mmm bailey's chocolate cheesecake YUM! I detest dreid fruit in any form, so never eat mince pies or christmas pud. Instead I've made Nigella's peanut butter chocolate chip cheesecake, dutch apple cake with cream and Eaton mess. This year I think I would like to do a salted caramel cheesecake (or maybe a bailey's one now!) Or a really good oaty, nutty, spiced apple crumble with homemade custard......

Ooh, can I come round for some of that apple crumble running

We always go for a cloutie dumpling. A much lighter alternative to Christmas pudding - its steamed Scottish suet pudding - traditionally done in a cloth - but we go for a pudding basin which is much easier. And its great.

Also searching for alternative puddings. This thread is great!

lapin lots of cakes can be frozen , a few hours travel time and it should be defrosted. some tarts freeze well. I recently froze a lemon tart and it didn't suffer- even though the packaging said do not freeze (sainsbury's extra special).
chocolate fondants can be frozen. Or make meringue/s way ahead of time and fill on day with a creamy filling of sorts. narrow it down a bit- what sort of thing were you thinking of?

www.deliaonline.com/premium-content/the-big-freeze/freezing-desserts.html

freezable desserts from Delia!

jugglingmeyorkies hop on a plane and join us - we are missing family so much this year that I will have anyone just for a bit more noise and company

I'm being unfaithful to my lovely Nigella and doing Gordon's chocolate cheesecake at the request of the DCs. Will do a Xmas pud for ILs. Needless to say, I'll have both. I'm having a 'do' on the 30th and am doing a dessert table so am taking note of all the great ideas here!

We just have trifle every year in my house :-)

is there a thread for pictures of cakes?

i have a couple of piccies of cakes to share be smug about

try over on baking. lots of regulars share their cake pictures.

Brilliant, thanks for the Delia link thebluenailbrush. Think I'll go for the Lancaster Lemon Tart, as I love bakewell tart and it sounds similar but different.

I had a bloody lovely desert at a kids party the other week (it was on the 'grownups' buffet table LOL) Recipe must have been a bit like this I reckon. It didnt have ice-cream on the outside though, it was just pudding shaped and solid. Someone made it and boy it was great/calorie laden. Very boozy/raisiny/creamy.

lapin , i looked at the lancaster lemon tart you mentioned as i also love bakwell and its sounds lovely- i'm always looking for things to share with work and i do love a lemon tart.

I come from a family of Christmas pudding haters, and for Christmas dinner pudding I'm going to make this Nigella Chestnut ice cream meringue cake. It's really not that difficult and tastes amazing!

We are doing:
Pavalova
Flourless chocolate roulade
Nigella's flourless clementine cake

Yum

Pavlova. Named for the ballerina. Called 'a lovely pav' in Oz.

Another chocolate roulade fan here. But if you are a bit afraid of rolling it up, Nigella's gooey chocolate stack is a kind of vertical roulade/pavlova kind of thing and the separate parts of it can be made in advance and then just assembled on the day. It is my absolute fave.

Inspired by the Nigel Slater webchat this week I'm going to try making this

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/12/nigel-slater-christmas-dessert-pudding-recipes

I have an issue with desserts that mix chocolate and fruit...weird i know!

Sherry Trifle is a favourite here. Been thinking that Baked Alaska feels suitably wintert as well, although a bit last minute for the big day itself.

Nigella's easy holiday trifle from her feast book is lush, I am making for boxing day.

If I want a special cake, I use a choc cake recipe I developed myself - rather than a 2 egg, 60, 60, 60 cake with self-raising flour I do 2 eggs, 60, 60, 60 g plain flour + 2tsp baking powder + 60g melted plain chocolate. ie equal weights of everything. The chocolate is added after mixing the butter/castor sugar and adding the egg yolks only.

I separate the eggs, whisk the whites with cream of tartar and fold in with the flour/baking powder. This cooks in a 10" x 7" tin - enough for 2 layers.

It's then sandwiched with a whipped cream layer, and a truffle fruit layer - ~200/250g of good plain choc with a good slosh - less than 60mls of double/whipping cream whipped until just about milk chocolate colour. To this I generally add raspberries soaked in Cointreau, or blackcurrant with cassis - any combination would work just as well as long as it went with chocolate. This makes the fourth layer.

It's best 'assembled' in something resembling a straight-sided loaf tin - a silicone one would work well - I have one that 'bolts' together at the corners, with a removable base that slides out but the cake often breaks when placing in the base. It's a professional one, but not sure that it's best for the job. The other method is to increase the cake to 3 eggs and use a modern rectangular tin for a 2lb loaf and slice into 3 taking out the middle slice so it fits. However, in a tin that size it tends to crack on the top, so you don't have a 'good' slice for the top.

It's then iced with the choc icing from Larousse Gastronomique. ie plain choc/butter in the proportions of 150g choc to 65g unsalted butter. These are melted together over a bowl of hot water, stirred well, allowed to cool, and then either poured over the cake - need a tray to catch drips to re-pour, or whipped with a balloon whisk until milk choc colour but not too much, when it can be spread like a frosting. You can then roll the sides in grated white chocolate etc chopped nuts and leave the tops plain etc. Hides slightly dodgy plastering - very forgiving really.

Can be cut into slices and frozen individually, so you can eat just 1 slice at a time if you don't want too much. Or even half a slice.

Must post in recipes one of these days - it's been on mumsnet loads of time.

Marking my place . Am planning a meringue/cream/chestnut/ chocolate combo

Blue do you use Lenotre's recipe for your pear amandine?

His I can do from a standing start in 60 mins on a good day. The pastry freezes, the creme patissiere freezes, the creme amandine freezes. Then once baked, the whole tart or slices of it freezes.

Not much gets left in our house - even our 18 year old Maine Coon has a sweet tooth and will cadge scone with jam, cake etc etc. She's never been fat, just wants a taste to feel part of the family.

Hermione years ago, woman/woman's own did a 'nut party gateau'. It would have been published between 1969 and 1972.

It was basically a 3 egg sandwich cake with vanilla essence cut into 3 layers. There were then 2 layers of meringue - softish. Cornflour was added to the meringue, but it wasn't as chewy as a Pavlova one. You could add chopped marrons glacés to it to give texture. It was then slathered - no other word - over the top + sides with a butter cream that had chestnut purée added to it. We tried it once or twice, but found it too sickly.

It might work better with a rather 'bitter choc' flavour chocolate cake to cut the sickliness.

I changed it to coffee walnut, with chopped walnuts in the meringue, coffee sponge, and coffee butter cream and decorated the top with walnut halves instead of marrons glacés.

I can dig it out if you want more details - does that sound like the sort of thing you are looking for?

Every year I make this Sticky toffee pud It's a quick one to make in one pot and I als ofreeze it up to a month in advance.

Sticky date pudding?

I'm making a massive pyramid of profiteroles with baileys whipped cream filling, with hot chocolate sauce poured over the top.

scheh that sounds really lovely!
tb never heard of lenotre!

My mum makes an amazing christmas pudding icecream sometimes

Slice a pannetone (Marks's have got theirs on offer at the moment I think), fry in butter and serve with some dried apricots soaked in booze or juice and ice cream. Amazing