I have baked two rounds of mince pies this year. Homemade mincemeat with fresh cranberries is just so much better and it's much easier than you think. If you have not made mincemeat with fresh fruit, it's worth every bite and calorie.
Hubby still says that the best mince pies are the ones I made. Smile.
Mince Pies 2018
Pastry:
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup ground almond (or oat flakes)*
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 100 g melted butter
- 3 tablespoons of water
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (up to 1/2 tsp if skipping orange zest)
- zest from 1 orange
Mincemeat:
- 60 ml port
- 75 g soft dark brown sugar
- 300-400 g fresh/frozen cranberries
- 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
- 1/4 teaspoon quatre épices (for pain d'épices)
- 200 g dried fruits (currants, raisins, cranberries or apricots)
- finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange (or clementine)
- 25 ml Ameretto (such as Disaronno)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons honey
Frangipane filling:
- 50 g butter, melted
- 50 g sugar
- 50 g ground almond
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- The butter, sugar and ground almond can increase to 100 g each if more frangipane is required. There is no need to increase the egg or the almond extract.
First prepare the mincemeat by cooking everything together until fresh cranberries burst. Cool the mincemeat before making the pies. This recipe of mincemeat is enough for 24 mince pies.
To prepare the dough, mix wet ingredients into a bowl of dry ones. Stir to combine with a rubber spatula and gather into dough. The dough is ready to roll out to line a 12-hole muffin tin.
Fill each lined muffin hole with 2 teaspoons of mincemeat and one teaspoon of frangipane.
Bake the mince pies in a muffin tin at 200C for 15 minutes and lower to 175C for another 10 minutes.
*After tasting this batch, I think I will revert back to ground oat next time as I prefer the oat texture.
*Next time, try to add one or half of a beaten egg to the dough.
Friday 30 November 2018
Saturday 24 November 2018
2018 weekly - Week 47
Feeling rather poorly this week. Lack of energy due to a number of reasons. And the French exam is making me slightly nervous. Well, all will be well.
I made my first stollen. A lot easier than I thought. It's almost like a cake process but with yeast as the leavening agent. I am letting the stollen "mature" for a week before tasting. The aroma is incredible!
I made my first stollen. A lot easier than I thought. It's almost like a cake process but with yeast as the leavening agent. I am letting the stollen "mature" for a week before tasting. The aroma is incredible!
Saturday 17 November 2018
2018 weekly - Week 46
11/11/2018
Armistice day. Hats off to all those who strive to make the world a better place. You are not forgotten.
12/11/2018
What a chaotic weekend. Starting with a letter from council via our trouble maker tenants to electric shower wouldn't turn off and finished off with wrong content from a takeaway. No matter. We are tough cookies too and when we work together, we solve problems.
13/11/2018
This is going to be a very busy week. I hope to ease back a little after coming back from the work trip this Friday.
16/11/2018
Got mild food poisoning during the work trip. It's the second time I got sick because of Thai food. Recovering from home today.
17/11/2018
Saw the dentist in the morning and review the procedure. Scary but I have to go ahead.
Went to my DELF prepa class in the afternoon as I am hoping that three prepa classes are enough to pass. The teachers are really good and I have a feeling that I'm going to improve (and certainly hoping to pass) after three weeks.
Armistice day. Hats off to all those who strive to make the world a better place. You are not forgotten.
12/11/2018
What a chaotic weekend. Starting with a letter from council via our trouble maker tenants to electric shower wouldn't turn off and finished off with wrong content from a takeaway. No matter. We are tough cookies too and when we work together, we solve problems.
13/11/2018
This is going to be a very busy week. I hope to ease back a little after coming back from the work trip this Friday.
16/11/2018
Got mild food poisoning during the work trip. It's the second time I got sick because of Thai food. Recovering from home today.
17/11/2018
Saw the dentist in the morning and review the procedure. Scary but I have to go ahead.
Went to my DELF prepa class in the afternoon as I am hoping that three prepa classes are enough to pass. The teachers are really good and I have a feeling that I'm going to improve (and certainly hoping to pass) after three weeks.
Saturday 10 November 2018
2018 weekly - Week 45
04/11/2018
I finished last batch of quinces this weekend. 5kg of them, I am glad to see the end of it. They keep well in our cold room, 1 month on still perfuming (and hard). I got 14-15 jars out of those quinces this time. Highly fragrant and nicely set. The key is really to keep the ratio right between raw quinces and the water during the juice extraction stage. Even if you may need to add more water, just remember all the extra water needs to boil off later.
05/11/2018
My first dentist visit. Dreaded.
07/11/2018
A pretty good French class for me, probably not much listening this time. Listening to an audio clip remains the toughest for me.
I finished last batch of quinces this weekend. 5kg of them, I am glad to see the end of it. They keep well in our cold room, 1 month on still perfuming (and hard). I got 14-15 jars out of those quinces this time. Highly fragrant and nicely set. The key is really to keep the ratio right between raw quinces and the water during the juice extraction stage. Even if you may need to add more water, just remember all the extra water needs to boil off later.
05/11/2018
My first dentist visit. Dreaded.
07/11/2018
A pretty good French class for me, probably not much listening this time. Listening to an audio clip remains the toughest for me.
Saturday 3 November 2018
2018 weekly - Week 44
28/10/2018
1. Ox cheek is back to my local supermarket!
2. Two whole pieces of ox cheeks get fork tender after 45 minutes in the pressure cooker. Miracle.
29/10/2018
I think I may have found my favorite cookie recipe. Recipe found here!
1. Ox cheek is back to my local supermarket!
2. Two whole pieces of ox cheeks get fork tender after 45 minutes in the pressure cooker. Miracle.
29/10/2018
I think I may have found my favorite cookie recipe. Recipe found here!
Thursday 1 November 2018
I make - Our favorite chocolate chip and cherry cookies
Having baking cookies for a few weeks. The recipe below is our current favorite and is adapted from the famous Flour Bakery Chunky Lola Cookies.
Our favorite chocolate chip and cherry cookies
- 150 g butter
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt flakes
- 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)
- 1 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2/3 cup cooking oats, flash ground
- 1/2 cup desiccated shredded coconut , flash ground
- 1/2 cup ground almond
- 1 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
- 150 g dark chocolate, in small chunks
- 1/2 cup dried sour cherries (or replace with 50 g dark chocolate)
Make brown butter (beurre noisette) with 100 g of the required butter. Remove the pan from the stove and stir in the remaining 50 g of the butter. Set aside and let cool to at least blood warm.
If you have a stick blender, blend the oats for 10 seconds and tip it out to a small bowl. Repeat the same process with the shredded coconut. I found the unblended oat + coconut (as specified in the original recipe) yielded a rather coarse texture which we did't like.
In a mixing bowl beat together sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt until well combined. Drizzle in the cooled brown butter with the mixing action on.
Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and coffee powder if using. Then add in oat, coconut, ground almond and toasted nuts. Use a rubber spatula to combine everything together. When the dough is about to come together (after 5 or 6 scrape and fold), stir in chopped chocolate and sour cherries. Scrape and fold for a few more times. Cover the bowl with a cling film and rest in the fridge for at least one hour.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Portion the dough into balls of golf ball size. I get 21 golf balls out of this recipe. Flatten each cookie dough slightly on a baking sheet and bake them at 180C for 15 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before removing them to the cooling rack.
With this recipe, I bake six each time and wrap individual cookie dough with cling film, put them in a ziplock bag to freeze. Every time I feel like some cookies, I take out a few and bake. Everything is better with a piece of freshly baked cookie, don't you think?
Our favorite chocolate chip and cherry cookies
- 150 g butter
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt flakes
- 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)
- 1 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2/3 cup cooking oats, flash ground
- 1/2 cup desiccated shredded coconut , flash ground
- 1/2 cup ground almond
- 1 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
- 150 g dark chocolate, in small chunks
- 1/2 cup dried sour cherries (or replace with 50 g dark chocolate)
Make brown butter (beurre noisette) with 100 g of the required butter. Remove the pan from the stove and stir in the remaining 50 g of the butter. Set aside and let cool to at least blood warm.
If you have a stick blender, blend the oats for 10 seconds and tip it out to a small bowl. Repeat the same process with the shredded coconut. I found the unblended oat + coconut (as specified in the original recipe) yielded a rather coarse texture which we did't like.
In a mixing bowl beat together sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt until well combined. Drizzle in the cooled brown butter with the mixing action on.
Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and coffee powder if using. Then add in oat, coconut, ground almond and toasted nuts. Use a rubber spatula to combine everything together. When the dough is about to come together (after 5 or 6 scrape and fold), stir in chopped chocolate and sour cherries. Scrape and fold for a few more times. Cover the bowl with a cling film and rest in the fridge for at least one hour.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Portion the dough into balls of golf ball size. I get 21 golf balls out of this recipe. Flatten each cookie dough slightly on a baking sheet and bake them at 180C for 15 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before removing them to the cooling rack.
With this recipe, I bake six each time and wrap individual cookie dough with cling film, put them in a ziplock bag to freeze. Every time I feel like some cookies, I take out a few and bake. Everything is better with a piece of freshly baked cookie, don't you think?
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