What and how much did you bake over Christmas?

[Lolare]

I’m shattered after hosting my first Christmas. Will not be in a rush to host for a while. I made so much bloody food I don’t think I will be able took at a stand mixer for months.

i probably made 5x more than I typically do.

Mince pies, ginger bread, Yule log, cinnamon buns, sausage rolls. You name it really.

First year ever, I didn’t bake anything or make any food.

i had a perforated appendix 10 days before Xmas so managed to go to the supermarket twice to get food with help and even purchased braised red cabbage as I usually cook it in the le cruset and I wasn’t supposed to lift

i did bubble and squeak with left overs by putting in batches in food processor.

i did host Xmas dinner and guests brought puddings

I make the stuff people particularly ask for/appreciate as being home made - I don't bother making mince pies for example as I'm the only person in the family who likes them and I'm happy with decent shop-bought ones.

Christmas cake
Ricciarelli
Speculaas/spice cookies - double batch
Chocolate shortbread - double batch
Spiced roasted nuts
Spicy cheese savouries

Plus a batch of custard tarts to use up the egg yolks from making the Christmas cake icing, nuts and ricciarelli (all of which use egg whites)

DH made a Yule log and gingerbread with DC. DC made sweets by themselves. I made sausage rolls and cheese twists with DC.

I made pigs in blankets but only because I was feeling extra (bought the dough and wrapped them). I order the cakes, Yule log from the store.
when I was growing up my mom and grandma used to spend the whole day in the kitchen baking and cooking just to sit shattered at the end of the day. The food was also way too much and I hated eating leftovers for almost a week. So I make (or more like buy) a moderate amount that can be eaten within a day, 2 max.

I disagree. Homemade is so much nicer. But the secret is to spread it out and freeze as much as you can in advance.

I made my Christmas cake, Christmas pudding and mincemeat on one day in October. They all use similar ingredients so it was easy to shop for them.

Then throughout November I made things and froze them eg cranberry sauce takes ten minutes while you make a meal. Sausage rolls are easy to make and freeze well. I made Yule log and froze it. Same with stuffings, bread sauce, various puddings and cakes etc. I just did them one thing at a time spread over weeks.

I froze some mince pies but they're easy to make fresh, pastry takes seconds in the food processor. I made savoury cheese biscuits to have with nibbles and drinks and frozen them.

I have various Christmas cookbooks and lots of other cookbooks and they all state whether a particular recipe will freeze. For Christmas catering the freezer really is your friend.

Plus leftovers usually freeze well, I froze turkey, gratin dauphinois, boeuf bourguingnon, turkey soup, which did more meals after the day.

I didn't host but I made;
2 x christmas puddings
2x christmas cakes
Gingerbread house
10 x ginger bread star christmas trees
Scotch eggs
Gala pie/plait

In my defence, Im gluten and dairy free so the shop bought options are shite, hence I make my own!

Baking is a real autumn comfort thing for me so I tend to bake gradually throughout the autumn months and freeze/store in advance for Christmas.Youngest DS also enjoys helping out so it's a nice thing to do with him. So this year we made

Christmas cake
Mince pies
Apple pies
Cranberry muffins
Chocolate cake
Chocolate orange cupcakes
Gingerbread loaf cake
Banana muffins
Ginger biscuits
Vanilla biscuits
Peppermint creams
Chocolate mousse

It sounds a lot but as I type this we only have 1/3 of a Christmas cake, a few cupcakes and a handful of mince pies left, so it all got eaten! We generally host for Christmas and Boxing Day (typically 11-12 people), and I always divide up the baked goodies and send guests home with a selection of their choosing, so it works well.

I love Christmas baking but I always buy the Christmas pudding as I much prefer the taste of a shop bought one!

A freezer load of three different soups for lunches
sourdough bread
mince pies
chocolate tiffin (plus gluten free version)
brownies
orange ice cream
mushroom wellington
sausage rolls
cheesy roll
cheese straws
honey biscuits
vanilla fudge
chocolate fudge
turjkey and ham pie
spinach leek and feta pie
apricot and walnut stuffing
all the trimmings for a roast with meat and veggie gravy
Semifreddo
Basque cheesecake
fruit compote
veggie chilli

shortcrust pastry homemade (easy in a good processor). Flaky pastry shop bought. DH made Yorkshire puddings. DD made Christmas Eve meal. DS made breakfasts. Rounded off with a Turkey and ham risotto on New Year’s Day, but more Turkey in the freezer for curries in the new year.

Christmas cake not yet started. That will keep me and DH going until late February.

all eaten. No food waste. All carefully planned. Much cheaper than ready made. We’re a household that likes good food and we like making it.

I make pretty much everything, we just don’t like shop bought . I’ve probably made a rod for my own back as that is what everyone is used to now !
Christmas cake , I make 6 mini puds every few years , freeze the rest for the following year. Stuffing, bread sauce, cranberry sauce. Mince pies including mincemeat, easy and so much nicer . Chocolate log, red cabbage , red pepper relish. Probably more but I don’t want to sound like a complete martyr! I enjoy cooking and we all love eating !

Poor you! I hope you are feeling better MikeRafone

I made:
Christmas cake
Mince pies (home made pastry/ bought mincemeat)
^ that’s it for ‘baking’.

I also did lots of cooking of meals, including Christmas lunch, but I didn’t make anything like the amount of different sweet/ cakey treats that you made, OP.

I did mince pies, sausage rolls and christmas cake as I do every year, then also made a chocolate tart for New Year.

Forgot to mention naan bread, croissants and pain au chocolat.

How big are peoples’s freezers!?

In full transparency my baking was over the course of a week.

I feel wiped out after Christmas, did so much baking this year, will definitely be dialling it back next year:

• mince pies
• milionaire shortbread
• sausage rolls
• chocolate chip cookies
• fudge
• Christmas cake
• chocolate florentines
• files dates
• apricot and cranberry sourdough
• Beef wellington

noting some of that isn’t baking but it wiped me out

Nada
Zilch
Nothing
As I’d eat it all and put on half a stone. I can’t keep sweet things in our house hence my username!

I made a Christmas cake
Mince Pies
Sausage Rolls.

I was happy with the amount I made - but I did over-buy at the supermarket, so I need to be a bit less gung-ho with the "just in case" purchases next year.

Biscuits for Santa, a Yule log, sponge for a trifle, sticky toffee pudding and since we are snowed in but still have some eggs we made a chocolate sponge today with vanilla buttercream

Cheese and onion pies, raspberry cake, crumble and that was it baking wise. Tbh no one eats huge amounts of cake and then I end up eating it. Not going to bake anything sweet next year.

Nothing, DH does it. I didn’t even peel a potato. Baking wise he did cupcakes, cookies, bread, a puff pastry star thingy, a wreath and some pizza dough. Usually does a larger cake too but we had less visitors for various reasons.

Apple,cinnamon rock cakes for DW and myself.

Absolutely nothing. I can't compete with M&S, Waitrose and Sainsburys Taste the Difference so don't even try. I can't be bothered with the mess of baking either. Shop bought goodies heated in the air fryer. Job done!

To the PPs who mentioned making gluten-free Christmas cakes, could I please ask what recipe you use? I am much better avoiding gluten and do quite a bit of g/f baking but haven't yet found a g/f Christmas cake recipe that doesn't result in a very crumbly cake!

My Christmas baking this year was Chrstmas cake (James Martin whisky cake recipe and lovely but not g/f), gingerbread with stem.ginger and glace icing, chocolate sponge for tiramisu, brownies, and am planning a tarte au citron for this weekend.

No baking here
Tbh, we don’t have much baked stuff, just meals.