Cherry chocolate spice cake

Ingredients 200g butter, 100g icing sugar, 75g dark chocolate, 120g caster sugar, 3 eggs, 100g self raising flour, 25g cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 150ml red wine, 1 tsp cinnamon,

1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp allspice, 100g natural glace cherries, 2 packs chocolate fingers, 1 pack maltesers. 

Serves: 6 Preparation: 1 hour

When it comes to Christmas, mulled wine is at the top of my list of indulgences. The scent fills the house and warms the blood. When it comes to festive cakes, not everyone likes the traditional fruit cake so I always make an alternative. Last year it was mulled wine cake, which was lovely... but this year I wanted something a little more decadent, which meant at LOT more chocolate. Unlike the "dry" spice cake of last year, this cake involves cherry mulled wine syrup to flavour the cake, glaze the cake and ice the cake. A holy trinity of taste that I will definitely be making again and again!

1) Bring the red wine, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and cherries to the boil in a pan. Add 20g sugar and simmer until the wine has reduced to a syrup, pour through a sieve (saving the cherries) and set aside to cool.

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

3) Add a tablespoon of the mulled wine 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.

4) To make the chocolate icing, melt the chocolate gently in a bain marie. Cream together 100g butter and 100g icing sugar, then slowly add the melted chocolate and a tablespoon of the mulled wine syrup, whisking continually.

5) Using the remainder of the mulled wine syrup, glaze the cake thoroughly before spreading on the chocolate icing. To decorate the cake, stick the chocolate fingers round the edge, using the chocolate icing as sort of grouting. The chocolate fingers form a sort of dish in the centre to fill with maltesers and the mulled cherries. I also dusted this with edible gold shimmer because CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Turkey

Ingredients   Turkey or turkey crown, 1 tbsp allspice, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 150g salt, 100g sugar, star anise, caraway seeds, honey, butter, bacon

Serves: an army... Preparation: 2 days

So this is Christmas... and we're all exhausted from the shopping and the wrapping and the decorating and wondering how in the hell we're going to fit everything in the fridge, in the oven and on the table.
With this recipe I promise that your turkey will be absolutely delicious and hassle free - all it takes is a little preparation! I use a brine bath and I'll tell you why; here comes the science bit... the salt in the brine bath breaks down some of the proteins in the meat which allows water to enter all the little cells. It's important to add this extra liquid because when you roast a turkey, the proteins contract which forces out the natural liquid and can leave you with a dry, stringy turkey instead of this lovely juicy beast.

(PS I will update the image on Christmas Day once I've roasted my bird!)

23rd DecemberUsing a stock pot (if you have a small turkey or turkey crown) or a large bucket big enough to fit the turkey in fill it 1/2 full of the salt, honey, sugar, spices and water and chuck in your turkey.

You need to cover this well and keep it somewhere cool until Christmas morning, cool enough to stop the meat spoiling (the cellar or even outside) but for god's sake don't leave it out in the snow or your turkey will freeze!

25th December1) Get up early and remove the turkey from the brine bath, ensuring all the liquid drains from the cavity, then pat it dry and pop it in the roasting dish.

2) If you're stuffing the turkey (I recommend my chai tea loaf, pancetta, pear and leek stuffing), do this first and then get to massaging and pinching the skin of the turkey so that it's loose enough for you to work two tablespoons of butter under it and press and massage until it's evenly distributed under the skin.

3) Lay strips of bacon over the top of the turkey and it's ready to pop in the oven! The magical thing about brining the turkey first is you don't have to faff about with covering it and uncovering it to baste it and cover it back up again... the only thing you really need to get right is the timings for cooking which really depends on the weight of the turkey/turkey crown.

Once it has cooked, remove it from the roasting tin and put it on a serving platter, covered with foil to keep it warm and allow all the juices to settle back into the turkey. If you press the skin you will see how they have risen to the surface in an attempt to escape as steam - by allowing the turkey to rest, they do work their way back down so you don't lose any of that essential juiciness. This 30 - 45 minutes resting time is also very useful because you have space in your oven to do your roast potatoes or other trimmings!

4) To make gravy, skim off most of the fat from the roasting tin and then whisk in a teaspoon of flour. If you add the flour first, it will mix well with the fat to form a sort of roux and you will never get lumpy gravy. Add the flour last and you risk getting chunks of flour and a cloudy gravy rather than a lovely, rich, clear liquid. To the roux, add stock or wine - whichever you prefer and give it a good stir as it warms through.

Black cherry tart

Ingredients Black cherries, red wine, cinnamon, star anise, marscapone, 250g butter, 100g sugar, 500g plain flour, 2 eggs, milk.

1) To make sweet shortcut pastry: sift the flour and sugar and add small cubes of the cold butter into your blender and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add 2 beaten eggs and a splash of milk and pulse until a dough ball forms. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge to cool for an hour.

2) To make the cherry filling: Halve and de-stone your cherries and put into a hot pan with 50g of sugar. Stir as the sugar begins to caramelise and add a glass of red wine, some cinnamon and a star anise. Stir through for about half an hour until the cherries soften and the juice forms a syrup with the cooked off red wine and sugar.

3) Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and cut out circles of dough. Press firmly into pastry cases and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

4) Spoon marscapone cheese onto the pastry cases and top with the cherries.

Tomato, basil and goats cheese tart

Ingredients Eggs, marscapone, basil, piccolo tomatoes, bell pepper, red onion, pine nuts, goats cheese, cinnamon, star anise, 4oz plain flour, 2oz butter.

1) To make the shortcrust pastry measure 4oz of plain flour and 2oz of cold butter. Cut the butter into small cubes and drop along with the flour into a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Drip in 2-3 tablespoons of cold water until the mixture quickly forms a ball. Wrap this in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 15 minutes. Once chilled, roll out and press firmly into a pastry case. Bake blind for 5 minutes and set aside to cool.

2) Peel and slice half a red onion. Separate the outer rings and discard the smaller centres. Remove the core and seeds from 2 bell peppers and slice fine slivers of the fruit. Poach these along with the onion rings in red wine with a teaspoon of cinnamon and star anise.

3) Layer the pastry case with basil leaves, tomatoes, slices of pepper and onion and crumbled chunks of goats cheese.

4) Whisk together 3 eggs and 2 tablespoons of marscapone. Pour this evenly over the tart and sprinkle with pine nuts. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Mulled pepper & goats cheese tart

Ingredients 4oz plain flour, 2oz butter, bell pepper, spinach, goats cheese, eggs, marscapone, dill, balsamic vinegar, red wine, red onion, honey, olive oil, cinnamon, star anise.

1) To make the shortcrust pastry measure 4oz of plain flour and 2oz of cold butter. Cut the butter into small cubes and drop along with the flour into a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Drip in 2-3 tablespoons of cold water until the mixture quickly forms a ball. Wrap this in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 15 minutes.

2) Whilst the pastry is chilling finely dice a red onion and slice slivers of red bell pepper. Add into a pan with a tablepoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of honey and sizzle for 2 minutes. Add in a slosh of red wine, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a star anise and simmer until the onions are soft. Strain the onions and pepper from the liquor (discarding the star anise) and set aside.

3) Whisk together 3 eggs and 2 tablespoons of marscapone. Add a little chopped dill and stir through.

4) Take the pastry from the fridge and roll out to a half centimetre thickness.
Either line a large flan dish or make individual tarts by cutting circles of pastry. Press them firmly into a yorkshire pudding tin and blind bake for 5 minutes with another yorkshire pudding tin sat in the top to prevent the pastry from rising beyond the "cup" shape required.

5) Add fresh spinach leaves to the pastry cups, chunks of goat's cheese and the onions and peppers. Pour some of the egg and marscapone mixture into the cases and bake for 10-12 minutes. Serve with a drizzle of balsamic glaze.