Christmas Baking Recipes

Christmas Cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cake: 120g softened butter, 120g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 1tsp vanilla extract, 120g self-raising flour
For the icing: 140g softened butter, 275g icing sugar, 1-2 tbsp milk, food colouring
Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c and fill a cupcake tin with your cupcake cases.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs and vanilla.
3. Fold in the flour and add milk little by little until it has a drop-like consistency, and spoon into the paper cases.
4. Bake until golden - approximately ten to fifteen minutes - and then leave to cool completely.
5. Beat together the ingredients for the icing and spoon into a piping bag.
6. Pipe your design onto your cakes and serve
7.  Top tips: These cakes are so simple to make that you can experiment with any festive flavours. Try adding spices or fruit zest to the batter to create Christmas Cake cupcakes, or, for an adult twist, add cream liqueur to the icing. This recipe is perfect for creating cupcake wreaths - a wonderful way to serve your guests and create a centrepiece. Simply decorate your cupcakes as if they were one cake for a tear and share experience. You could even turn them into traditional Christmas characters by making legs and faces from fondant and chocolate.

Mince Pies

Ingredients:
For the mincemeat: raisins, currants, chopped mixed peel, apple, brandy, cold grated butter, dark brown sugar, vanilla, mixed spice, zest and juice of an orange and lemon.
 For the pastry: 350g plain flour, 150g softened butter, 50g icing sugar, 2 egg yolks
Method:

1. Mix the ingredients for the mincemeat and leave it in the fridge for 24 hours or overnight. We've purposefully left out the measurements here so you can add a little, or as much, of the ingredients as you like for a taste that's unique to you. If you're making these pies for kids, try swapping out the brandy for orange juice.
2. Using your hands, mix together the flour, butter and sugar until it resembles breadcrumbs, then incorporate the egg yolks with a little water if necessary. When the dough has come together so it's smooth and soft, wrap it in cling film and chill it for half an hour.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 180c and grease your muffin or cupcake tin.
4. Roll out your dough to the thickness of a pound coin and cut out your bases using a cookie or pastry cutter that's a size larger than the space in your tin, and place them inside.
5. Fill your pies with the mincemeat mixture and cut out the lids using a cutter that is a size smaller than your tin.
6. Top the pies with the lids and crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers. Wash the tops with beaten egg using a pastry brush and sprinkle sugar over the top.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crisp and golden. Leave to cool and serve.