Tell me about your Christmas baking

[Falafelolive]

Christmas baking chat.
I've so far made spice biscuits and brandy snaps as gifts, mince pies and sausage rolls made and in the freezer, and am planning on doing a bit more baking but not sure what.
What have you made so far and what are you planning to make?

I'm making a Yule Log. I'm going to fill it with chocolate cremeaux and top it with Swiss meringue buttercream.

For New Years Eve I'm making Bajan Butter Rum cake in a bundt tin.

I'll be doing my annual frangipane mince pies for dd coming back from uni this weekend. I always forget to make a Christmas cake but might bake the M&S kit one. Did it last year and it's lovely. Mum makes shortbread. I'm making a lotus biscuit lime cheesecake to take to work do on Wed. From Ed Kimber traybakes book.

I've been making the finch's brownie Yule log, my mother in law enjoyed it that much that she's asked me to make one for Christmas Day ☺️

I always make Nigella's chocolate gingerbread for Christmas. Highly recommend. We've already had one batch since the start of December and will probably do another next week. Her notes say it's not kid friendly, but mine love it. (I do leave out the cloves though, because I never have them on!)

Personalised iced vanilla biscuits for presents. (Biscuiteers recipe)

Making a sticky toffee pudding for Christmas Day as I don’t like Christmas pudding.

Banoffee pie to take to my parents’ on Boxing Day

Sone amazing ideas on this thread! Taking notes.

I am not a baker. Am fairly useless in the kitchen but really fancy trying homemade sausage rolls. Could someone point me in the direction of a recipe that is reasonably foolproof?

Try delia's Christmas red cabbage recipe. Freezes very well so can be made well in advance.

@Iwontlethtesungodownonme Easy sausage roll recipe here

Instead of sausage meat, you could buy sausages and take the skins off-Lincolnshire or Cumberland work well

They definitely aren't anything special..! We have a lovely farm shop that sells sausage meat ready seasoned. I've got one lot of Lincolnshire and one lot of cranberry and orange.

I just roll out a long thin sausage shape of meat and plonk that into a long rectangle of ordinary homemade pastry (keep it chilled in fridge before rolling), fold it over and chop up into individual rolls, brush with beaten egg. Repeat until you've run out of sausage meat and bake.

Sausage rolls are really easy and fun to bake.

@Iwontlethtesungodownonme also people add stuffing mix I've never tried that but I like to add some apple, garlic and sage and dion to sausage stuffing but I'd like to try others this year.

Loving reading about all your festive bakes and makes 🙂

If I were to bake as a gift I'd make tablet. But as I don't need to I shall refrain otherwise I'd eat the whole lot myself as it's so delicious.

I've made one batch of mince pie tiffin. Half was for work and the other half was meant for the freezer but didn't make it there.... I hope to have time to make more for Christmas time.

I have just baked a Christmas cake, a last min simmer and bake one, and topped it like you would a Dundee cake but with pecans instead of almonds. I used Amaretto instead of brandy to give a hint of marzipan flavour.

Next will be mince pies and will be trying out a gluten free pastry I saw on Instagram and will top with a frangipan topping or maybe even just grated marzipan as that's really lovely.

I want to make some florentines. Only made them once and got interrupted during it and they were slightly overdone burnt

Our Christmas cake this year will be a Guinness cake topped with royal icing to look like the usual cream cheese topping.

Just buy puff pastry and sausage meat and put it together it's very easy abd delicious

You can add extra bits to the sausage meat like apricots, sage, nuts

Thank you all 😁 am going to give them a go.

Same every year:

1 batch mincemeat
2 Nigella sticky gingerbreads
2 Felicity Cloake Yorkshire parkins
2 batches (at least) of mince pies
And one Jane Asher last minute Christmas cake.

Sometimes ... a buche de Noël ,.. but I buy it sometimes too.

I've made Parkin with added lumps of preserved ginger and bergamot.
There's now some candied pumpkin drying out in the oven, to make panforte.

I make candied orange peel and dip into dark chocolate.
It's very easy.

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=downshiftology.com/recipes/candied-orange-peel-chocolate/&ved=2ahUKEwj5_6um46yKAxVjQ0EAHXWcOLgQFnoECBgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw35GAB3C4RjWhc_foioW28w

Ooh genius idea using amaretto instead of brandy, that sounds lush

Made xmas cake 4 months ago and been feeding it weekly since making it. Ive just covered in marzipan and will ice this weekend.
Also started my rumptoph in June amd smells amazing.
Will make the usual biscuits with the kids amd decorate them
23rd Dec I usually make egg nog and leave it in fridge to marinade a bit ready for Xmas eve.

Millionaires shortbread for the girls in my work. The bags never make it to lunchtime never mind getting home !

I’ve made sausage rolls twice this last week. First one was sausage meat and sage and onion stuffing and todays was pork , clementine and cranberry with a Parmesan crust. Absurdly delicious and all chilled and frozen now ready to be air fried to reheat them. I also made a tea soaked sultana and cranberry sponge cake with a clementine drizzle. I also made and froze giant pigs in blankets and baking wrapped stuffing parcels. All ready for Christmas day.

Loving the sound of the clementine and cranberry sausage rolls, very festive and different

Did the first lot of mince pies end of November, I was bored and needed to get my hands on dough.

I did some Vanilla Kipferl (cresent shaped biscuits) on Sunday and we are planning more mince pies and Amaretto truffles next Sunday and Monday.

Buy ready-rolled puff pastry. Buy good sausages. Spread pastry with something lovely (onion chutney, yellow mustard, cranberry sauce). Take skins off sausages. Lay on pimped up pastry. Roll sausages up and cut into desired sizes. Cook at 180°c for 25 minutes. Cool a little before eating if you can bear it.