Tag Archives: Gift

Mince Pies!

Plate of Mince Pies

This year I didn’t want to go too overboard on baked presents for family & friends (as I have a severe a tendency to!) So I asked my Mum if there was anything that she would like and she said, “mince pies please!” I adapted this recipe from one I found on the BBC Good Food site. Here is what you will need to make approx 16-18 pies.

  • 225g Unsalted Butter, cold & cubed
  • 350g Plain Flour, sieved
  • 100g Golden Caster Sugar
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 410g Jar of Mincemeat*
  • 1 Eating Apple, pealed, cored & diced
  • 1 Egg
  • Icing Sugar for dusting

* I used Waitrose traditional mincemeat with apricot purée and orange oil. I don’t even like mince pies but that orange oil made them smell so tempting and delicious!!

Preheat your oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C.

First – make the filling. Mix together the diced apple & mincemeat in a bowl and set aside. The Filling To make the pastry, rub the butter and the flour together either by hand or pulse in a food processor until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. I find a food processor to be much quicker & easier! But be careful not to overwork the pastry. Flour & Butter MixtureAdd in the golden caster sugar & the salt and mix lightly/pulse a few times. Beat the egg and add a third of it into the mixture. Pulse/mix briefly until a dough forms. Reserve the egg for brushing later. Sweet Pastry DoughTip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until it all comes together. You can use the dough straight away but if you wrap it in cling film, flatten into a disc and refrigerate for 30 minutes it will be far easier to work with.

When the dough has chilled and is slightly firmer – roll out to a thickness of about half a centimetre and cut larger circles out for the base of the pies. (The size will differ according to the muffin tin you are using.) Then cut out slightly smaller circles for the lids.

Lightly grease the holes in the muffin tin and wrap a small ball of the dough in a double layer of cling film.

Carefully place a larger circle into one of the tin holes then, using the ball of cling filmed dough, gently press the pastry in and very carefully push the sides up to the top of the mould. Repeat until all the holes are filled.

Moulding and Filling the Pies

Place the prepared filling into each pastry mould – but don’t overfill them, you don’t want it bubbling it’s way out!

Egg Washed & Ready for the Oven!

Top the pies with the slightly smaller circles of pastry and press down the edges. You don’t need to egg wash them – they will stick anyway.

Using the reserved beaten egg, lightly brush the tops of the pies. Place into the middle of the preheated oven for 20 minutes turning halfway to ensure an even bake.

Leave the pies in the tin for 5 minutes then carefully remove them and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

When the pies are cooled, cut a shape out of cardboard – I made a heart. Place the shape in the centre of a pie and dust icing sugar over the top. Remove the cardboard shape and now you have a pretty design on your pie! Repeat for all the remaining pies.

Festive Mince Pie

So that’s my version of a mince pie. Quick and easy to make but also a lovely gift for someone you love.

Merry Christmas my lovely KitchenMasonites!

Love

Miss KitchenMason

Summer Berry Vodka

Fancy something different to drink at Christmas this year? Why not have a crack at making your own flavoured vodka! It’s easy peasy lemon squeezy. Well actually, you don’t squeeze the lemon – you just use the zest but you get my point!

Here is what you will need to make about 800ml.

  • 300g Pack of Strawberries
  • 125g Pack of Raspberries
  • 1 Lemon, pared zest
  • 200g Caster Sugar
  • 1 Vanilla Pod
  • 70cl Bottle Vodka

Special Equipment

This recipe is adapted from a book I have called Gifts from the Kitchen.

First up, hull and quarter the strawberries and pop them in a large bowl along with the raspberries and the paired zest of the lemon. (The zest cut into strips.)

Halve the vanilla pod and add it to the bowl along with the sugar. Mix well and leave to one side for about 2 hours.

Once the contents of the bowl have started to swim in their own juices, you are ready to jar.

Using a 1 Litre Kilner Jar that has been sterilised, (find out how to do this here) ladle in the contents of the bowl. Then add the vodka, mix really well and seal the lid.

Now to be patient! Store this in the fridge for anywhere between 1 week to a month. It’s the first time I’ve ever made this but I’m guessing it’s like a marinade, the longer you leave it the deeper the flavour. Just be sure to shake it occasionally to ensure the flavours are mixing well.

When you want to use it – strain the vodka through a fine sieve or a piece of muslin and decant into bottles. It will keep in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Summer Berry Vodka

Happy making your own booze-ing!

Miss KitchenMason

Mars Bar Cupcakes!

Ever since I can remember my brother has always been obsessed with Mars Bars. As it’s his birthday this Saturday, I decided to turn his favourite chocolate bar into his favourite cupcake!

I found a recipe for them over at Mummy Mishaps which I have adapted slightly.

Here is what you will need to make about 20 cupcakes. (Yes I know it’s a lot but trust me, you will eat them all!!)

  • 3 Mars Bars, chopped
  • 1 tbsp Milk
  • 200g Unsalted Butter
  • 200g Golden Caster Sugar
  • 200g Self Raising Flour
  • 25g Cocoa Powder
  • 4 Eggs

Chocolate Buttercream:

  • 190g Unsalted Butter
  • 250g Icing Sugar
  • 3 tbsp Cocoa Powder
  • 1 tbsp Milk
  • 1-2 Mars Bars, chopped to decorate

Preheat your oven to 190°C/Fan 180°C & Line a cupcake tin with cases.

Put the milk & the chopped Mars Bars into a heavy based pan and melt gently over a low heat. Leave to one side until needed.

Cream together the butter and the sugar with an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy.

Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl.

One at a time, beat 2 of the eggs into the butter and sugar mix. Then add half the flour/cocoa and stir until just combined. Repeat until all the eggs & flour/cocoa have been incorporated.

Pour in the melted Mars Bar and stir to combine.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the cases (about 2 thirds full) and cook in the centre of the oven for 18 minutes. Turn halfway to ensure an even bake.

You will need to cook them in two batches as this recipe makes so many!

Test with a skewer to see when they’re ready then remove from the oven. Allow to sit in the tin for 5 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Sieve the icing sugar & the cocoa powder into a bowl. Set aside.

Put the butter into another large bowl and soften with an electric hand whisk.

Mix the icing sugar/cocoa powder into the butter in thirds. Beat well after each addition.

Add the milk to loosen the mixture and make it smooth.

Then fill a piping bag prepared with a nozzle of your choice and pipe onto your cupcakes.

If you fancy it, chop up a Mars Bar and place a couple of pieces on top of each cupcake to decorate.

These cakes are moist, chocolatey and delicious! But in all fairness, they bloody well should be at just short of 350 calories per cupcake!

This beauty paves the way for many other chocolate bars to be turned into cupcakes though. I can’t wait to give some of them a try!

Mmmm, Galaxy cookie cupcakes, Cadburys flake cupcakes, Lindt lindor cupcakes, Yorkie cupcakes, Tobelerone cupcakes, Terry’s Chocolate Orange cupcakes, oh my god the list is actually endless! It’s a shame my stomach isn’t. Must.. make.. more.. cupcakes!!

God help my waistline.

On another note, I’m at the BBC Good Food Show again this Sunday helping my favourite chocolate pizza company! You should come and say hi if you get a chance, we’re on stand FLF34. If you haven’t already, go check out their website. www.gourmetchocolatepizza.co.uk. Their products are to die for!

Finally, a special shout out to my Dad who is in Sweden at the moment. He’s not long finished cycling in the Vätternrunden and totally smashed his previous time so well done Dad! I hope you have an awesome Fathers Day on Sunday and I will eat several Mars Bar cupcakes in your honour/absence. It’s a hard job but someone’s got to do it!

Until next time my lovelies!

Miss KitchenMason

Turkish Delight

Last week it was my Dad’s birthday and I said I was making a little surprise for him. He loves Turkish delight so I thought I would have a crack at it. The recipe I used is from one of my favourite cook books, Gifts from the Kitchen. This is what you will need to make about 20 pieces.

  • 375g Caster Sugar
  • Juice of 1 Lemon
  • 25g Gelatine Powder*
  • 100g Cornflour
  • 25g Icing Sugar
  • 2-3 tsp Rosewater
  • Red/Pink Food Colouring
  • Square silicone baking tin

* see end of post for possible changes to this.

Put the sugar, lemon juice & 300ml of water into a medium sized pan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved then gently bring to the boil.

In a bowl or jug, mix the gelatine with 75g cornflour & 200ml water. Add it to the pan stirring all the time until the gelatine is dissolved. Then Simmer for approx 20 minutes until it resembles something like really thick but smooth wallpaper paste.

Remove from the heat & allow to cool. Then add the rosewater and food colouring. You can use pink if you have it. I used a couple of drops of red instead which still came out a light pink. (It seems to lighten in colour slightly once set.)

Lightly oil a square silicone tin. Mix together the remaining cornflour & icing sugar and lightly dust the tray. Tip out any excess.

Pour the cooled mix into the silicone tin and leave to set for at least 4 hours.

When completely set, remove the Turkish delight from the tin and cut into cubes. Roll the pieces in what’s left of the cornflour & icing sugar mixture. Store in an airtight container.

Unfortunately I found that after about an hour, the Turkish delight was expunging water and turning the powder into a sticky icing. I thought I would try rolling them in more powder but it still resulted in exactly the same thing. Not knowing what went wrong, I scoured the internet for a while to find out. I came across a web page called Seasoned Advice which had the answer to my specific problem.

Apparently, it was happening because of either the lack of strength in the gelatine or the presence of too little gelatine. Supposedly you can fix it by melting the mixture back down and adding a pinch of Xanthan Gum. ( A stabiliser.)

Sadly I did not get a chance to try this though as by the time I had found out why this was happening, I was out of time.

So if you attempt this recipe, maybe try using a stronger gelatine or using slightly more of it. If not, make sure to have xanthan gum to hand in case what happened to me, happens to you.

Thanks for reading!

Miss KitchenMason