Schwarzwälder kirschtorte

Ingredients 120g caster sugar, 3 eggs, 100g self raising flour, 50g cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 1L double cream, 25g dark chocolate, 3 tbsp cherry jam, 4 tbsp kirschwasser liquid plus cherries to decorate.

Preparation: 1 hour

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Germany and my final recipe as they won last night!. Following my glorious adventures with Kirsch, I knew that my final dish for Germany would HAVE to be the iconic Black Forest Gateau. Chocolate and cherries are a marvellous combination and this simple chocolate sponge, laced with kirsch and smothered in cream to form a moist, trifly concoction is utterly moreish.

1)  Cream together 100g sugar and 100g butter using an electric whisk, then whisk through the cocoa powder and eggs, one egg at a time.

2) Add a tablespoon of the kirsch syrup and sift together the flour and baking powder. Whisk into the cake batter, then bake in a buttered tin for 35 minutes at 155 degrees or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cake rack to cool completely before slicing in half horizontally.

3) Whisk the cream using an electric whisk or hand beater until stiff peaks form and transfer to a piping bag. If you wish you can add vanilla seeds and icing sugar before whisking but I'll be honest, I think the clean taste of the cream is necessary to cut through the richness of the chocolate and the heady, boozy cherries.

4) Spoon the remaining kirsch syrup onto the top layer of the chocolate cake (it will absorb more easily if you do this on the cut side rather than the top side, alternatively you can poke a few holes with a skewer into the top) then sandwich it together with a layer of cherry jam and whipped cream in the middle and the remainder of the cream on the top.

5) Shave the chocolate using a grater and sprinkle liberally over the cream. Stud with cherries and allow to rest in the fridge until chilled before serving.

Turkey risotto

Ingredients    Roast turkey, turkey carcass, water,  risotto rice, double cream, brandy, butter, leek

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30


Perfect for leftover Christmas turkey, this is a great way to use up your meat and use the carcass too for making stock. All risottos (no matter what the ingredients) can be made in 3 simple stages. The first is called tostatura - coating the rice in fat, the second involves cooking off some alcohol (in this case brandy to give it that extra Christmassy flavour) and the third involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time.


1) To make the stock: Pick the meat from the turkey carcass and set aside, then add the carcass into a stock pot and cover with water. Allow to boil for 1-2 hours, strain away the turkey and allow to cool. Skim off the fat from the surface and then the stock is ready to use. If you don't want to make turkey stock, you can use chicken stock instead.


2) To make the risotto: Finely dice the like and sautee in a little butter until soft. Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre and pour in a glug of brandy.


3) Once the brandy cooks off, add the first ladle of stock and stir through.


4) Continue adding the stock, one ladle at a time, adding the turkey with the final ladle of stock.


5) Finish with a little cream and freshly grated black pepper and serve.

Mince pies

Ingredients450g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 240g unsalted butter, 1 tbsp caster sugar, 140ml orange juice, zest of 2 oranges, 3 roses, 250g cranberries, 100g sultanas, 100g raisins, 2 apples, 1 tbsp allspice, 1 tsp cinnamon, 100ml brandy, 20g brown sugar.

Serves: 24 Preparation: 2 hours (plus overnight)


I love mince pies - the crumbly texture of all butter pastry with a hint of orange, the heady, boozy fruit in the centre and that dollop of thick cream. Mmmm. Nothing is more Christmassy and they're so easy to make.


To make the mincemeat: 


1) Pour the sultanas and raisins into a bowl and cover with brandy. Leave to soak overnight.


2) Wash the roses thoroughly, remove the petals and cover the petals with the brown sugar. Leave overnight.


3) The next day, peel, core and dice the apples, then add to a pan with the cranberries, rose petals and sugar. Add a little water and allow the mixture to come to the boil. After about 5 minutes the fruit should be macerated and most of the liquid evaporated. Add the brandy, sultanas and raisins, allspice and cinnamon.


To make the pastry:


4) Cut the butter into small cubes and add to a food processor with the flour and sugar. Pulse until it becomes the consistency of breadcrumbs.


5) I like to use clementines for this because they're the Christmassiest oranges! Zest two, then squeeze the juice of about 5, giving you about 140ml of juice. Add the zest of the oranges into the food processor, then the juice in a steady stream until the pastry begins to form a ball.


6) Remove from the blender - if it's sticky, add a little more flour - roll up in clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour to firm up.


7) Roll out the pastry (you shouldn't need a floured surface - if the pastry is sticky then you have used too much liquid) to about 1/2 a centimetre thickness and cut out circles of dough. I like to use a large circle on the bottom and a smaller circle for the top but you could use a dough shape like a star or a tree if you like for the top.


8) Press the large circles of dough firmly into your baking tin and add about a teaspoon and a half of the mincemeat. Add the tops and bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 200 degrees.


I like to eat these hot, served with a generous dollop of champagne cream.

Sailor Jerrys Egg Nog

Ingredients3 eggs, 1 pint whole milk, 50g caster sugar, vanilla, 100ml Sailor Jerry's rum (or brandy if you prefer), nutmeg for dusting.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

Christmas is coming and this food blogger is getting fat. (And probably gout to boot with all of these indulgent puddings and boozy treats) Egg nog is nothing if not the most indulgent Christmas booze - essentially it's an alcoholic custard that you drink warm or cold and then wonder why you're waking up on a traffic island wearing your pants on your head come Christmas morning... (no? just me?)

1) Put a pan on a low-to medium heat - for this recipe you do not want to allow the mixture to boil otherwise you'll end up with scrambled egg, it must be warmed gently.

2) Whisk the eggs and whisk in the milk and sugar, transferring to the pan and allowing to warm through, stirring gently until the mixture just coats the back of your spoon. I like to add just a splash (1/4tsp) of vanilla essence to bring out the sweetness but Sailor Jerrys already contains vanilla so adding a vanilla pod like traditional egg nog would be far far too much!

3) Stir through the Sailor Jerrys rum and then serve warm, dusted with freshly grated nutmeg or cold. This mixture will thicken up a little as it cools so don't be alarmed

Pink peppercorn sauce

Ingredients   100ml double cream, pink peppercorns, brandy, salt

Serves: 4 Preparation: 5 minutes (best made the day before required)


The picture above is of the peppercorn sauce when made just before required, if you allow this to mature overnight in the fridge it will thicken up to the texture of soured cream which is fabulous to spoon over steak or roast chicken.


1) Using a mortar and pestle, crush 2 tablespoons of pink peppercorns.


2) Add a tablespoon of brandy and a pinch of salt, then grind until a paste has formed.


3) Stir in the double cream and add a few whole peppercorns for decoration.

Butternut squash arancini

Ingredients Leftover Butternut squash risotto, sausage meat, old bread, egg.

Risotto is rubbish when reheated - it tends to congeal and lose the lovely soupy-ness so I like to put that to good use and once it's cool, roll it into risotto balls or arancini di riso if you speak Italian.


1) Pulse old bread in your blender to form breadcrumbs. In this case I used some mediterrean rustiques - garlic, tomato and herb bread.


2) Roll out the sausage meat and form it around the risotto ball. Dip in whisked egg and roll about in the breadcrumbs.


3) Deep fry until golden and crispy - or sizzle for 1 minute and bake in the oven for 4 minutes if like me you're not a fan of fried food.

Butternut squash risotto

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Ingredients Risotto rice (arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano - I would recommend carnaroli), vegetable stock, white onion, garlic, sage, rosemary, butter, butternut squash, brandy.

All risottos (no matter what the ingredients) can be made in 3 simple stages. The first is called tostatura - coating the rice in fat, the second involves cooking off some alcohol (white wine, brandy or vermouth produce the best flavours) and the third involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time.

1) Peel the butternut squash, slice it in half and remove the seeds before cutting it into chunks. Melt a little butter and chopped sage leaves and stir the butternut squash into it. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

2) Separate 5 cloves of garlic from the bulb and roast in the oven for 30 minutes (within the skin) Squeeze the garlic from the skin and stir into a pint of vegetable stock.

3) Melt a knob of butter in a pan and add some chopped sage and rosemary leaves and half a finely diced white onion. Soften the onions for about a minute and then stir in the risotto rice. Stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre and pour in a glass of brandy.

4) Once the alcohol has cooked off, stir through the stock one ladleful at a time, adding the roasted butternut squash with the second ladle of stock.

5) Serve once the rice has softened and the starch has created a creamy sauce.

Pea, mint and pancetta risotto

Ingredients Risotto rice (arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano - I would recommend carnaroli), vegetable stock, brandy, garden peas, pancetta cubes, halloumi, onion, cream.

All risottos (no matter what the ingredients) can be made in 3 simple stages. The first is called tostatura - coating the rice in fat, the second involves cooking off some alcohol (white wine, brandy or vermouth produce the best flavours) and the second involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time.

1) Finely dice half a white onion and add into a hot pan along with a generous glug of olive oil. Stir through and after 30 seconds add in 1 cup of risotto rice (this will serve one - add a half cup for each additional person).

2) Stir through until the olive oil has coated the rice evenly. When you see the grain of rice becoming clear, revealing a white dot in the centre add a shot of brandy or glass of white wine and stir through.

3) Add a ladle of vegetable stock and continue to stir the rice.

4) Add additional stock, ladle by lady as the stock cooks off. By the third ladle add a good handful of chopped mint and your peas. With the last ladle, add some cubed halloumi and the pancetta.

5) When the rice is soft (takes about 20 minutes) serve. A good risotto will be a little soupy rather than dry. It should be possible to form a mound of rice but when the dish is tapped it should sink down. if you wish add a dash of cream.

Whore's carbonara

Ingredients brandy, hazlenut butter, courgette, cream cheese, linguine, thyme, mushrooms, bacon, brie, almond butter, garlic,

1) Drop your linguine into a pan of boiling water.

2) Crush some garlic and chopped thyme and sautee in a second pan with a knob of butter and a teaspoon of hazlenut butter.

3) Dice a handful of mushrooms (I used shitake) and 3 slices of bacon into lardons and stir into the butter. Add a shot of brandy and stir through.

4) As the mushrooms begin to soften stir in a tablespoon of cream cheese.

5) Using a potato peeler, shave razor thin strips of courgette and drop into the pan of pasta

6) Drain the linguine (separating the courgette) and add to the pasta sauce along with a generous knob of brie (I used Coeur De Lyon - fabulous honeyed taste) and stir through.

7) Serve topped with the courgette

Carrot and kiwi soup

Ingredients 6 carrots, 1 butternut squash, 1 sweet potato, 1 parsnip, 2 garlic cloves, 1 pint vegetable stock, sage, 6 kiwi fruit, basil oil, brandy, brown sugar Optional - to garnish grated cheddar

1) Crush 2 cloves of garlic and sautee in basil oil for 1 minute before adding a shot of brandy and a teaspoon of brown muscovado sugar to caramelise the garlic

2) Peel and cube the carrots, parsnip, squash and sweet potato and add into the pan along with a pint of vegetable stock and the chopped sage

3) Simmer for 20 minutes before separating the vegetables from the liquid and pureeing. Pass the puree through a sieve for a smooth liquid and add back into the pan of liquid along with the sliced kiwi

4) After 10 minutes puree a final time and serve with grated cheddar for contrast