There is no guest more welcome than one who arrives with a homemade treat in hand. A glass jar of golden pickled pears; a pot of crimson cranberry sauce; or a marzipan-laden stollen made just for you. There might be a coarse and crumbly homemade terrine in a white dish; a bowl of blissfully indulgent dessert; or a pot of just made relish still warm in its jar.
It could be something I have put much effort into – a dessert made up of layers of chocolate mousse and wine-saturated sponge – or something I have stirred for just a few seconds, such as cranberry and orange relish. (Honestly, it’s a doddle.) It will still be given with love.
The collection below is of recipes you may like to consider offering as a gift, but they will be equally useful at home over Christmas. The terrine, freckled with sweet dried figs, will last for a few days in the fridge and is something to pick at. The pears can be brought out for weeks, giving a lift to anything they accompany. And if you make the terrine or dessert in a dish you are happy to give away, you will have solved two problems in one.
Chocolate raspberry mousse (pictured above)
I used sugared almonds and crushed freeze-dried raspberries. You can make this with or without them. I add them for their deep fruity note among the chocolate and cream, with which they have such affinity.
If you are taking this as a gift, keep it cold till the last minute. If you can make it in a dish with a lid, then so much the better.
Serves 8
sponge cake 250g
brandy 150ml
eggs 4
caster sugar 100g
dark chocolate 150g
hot espresso coffee 4 tbsp
butter 80g
freeze-dried raspberries 4 tbsp
double cream 250ml
sugared almonds 12
Cut thin slices of sponge cake to fit the base of a large dish or tin (I use a baking dish 17cm x 25cm), pushing them in like pieces of a jigsaw. Use half of the cake and reserve half for the second layer. Sprinkle or spoon over half the brandy, just enough to moisten the crumb of the cake.
Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a bowl with the sugar, and whisk till thick and creamy.
Break the chocolate into pieces and put it, together with the coffee, in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Avoid stirring, but leave the chocolate to melt, occasionally pushing any solid pieces under the surface with a spoon. Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter cut into small pieces and gently stir it in.
Crush the freeze-dried raspberries to a coarse powder with a rolling pin or the back of a spoon. Gently fold the chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Beat the egg whites till almost stiff then fold them into the chocolate mixture with a large, metal spoon (this works better than using a wooden spoon).
Pour half of the mousse on top of the sponge in the dish. Sprinkle over half of the raspberries.
Place the reserved pieces of sponge cake over the chocolate mousse, sprinkling them lightly with the reserved brandy. Spoon the remaining half of the mousse on top of the sponge. Cover and place in the fridge for four hours.
To finish, whip the cream until thick enough to sit in soft mounds – stop well before it can stand up in stiff peaks. Spoon the cream over the sponge and decorate as you wish. I use the remaining raspberries and a few sugared almonds. Return to the fridge for 20 minutes, then serve.
Pork and fig terrine
A terrine should probably be coarse in texture, and on the moist and crumbly side. I use a coarse pork mince from the butcher but chop the bacon myself. A good fatty streaky bacon will help the texture and keep the mixture from being too dry. I keep the seasoning simple, but introduce ground coriander and a little nutmeg. Should you have ground mace in your spice cupboard, this is the recipe to add it to. A half teaspoon should be enough.
If you are taking this to someone’s house, seal it tightly and keep it chilled. You will probably never get the dish back, but it could be the start of a festive to-and-fro with them returning it the following year, full of something they have made for you. I like to place a couple of bay leaves, a slice of orange and perhaps a cranberry or two on the surface, but that is up to you.
Serves 12
dried figs 200g
brandy 4 tbsp
onion 1, medium
butter 30g
garlic 2 cloves
thyme leaves 1 tbsp
rosemary leaves 1 tbsp
smoked streaky bacon 300g
coarsely minced pork 700g
To finish
smoked streaky bacon 8 long rashers
fruit jelly 4 tbsp, apple or medlar
You will need a 1.5-litre capacity terrine or baking dish.
Cut the figs in half and then into thick slices. Put them in a mixing bowl or jar, pour over the brandy and leave the fruit to marinate for an hour, stirring occasionally.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Melt the butter in a small pan, add the chopped onion and cook for 10 minutes or so until translucent. Peel the garlic, then crush to a paste and stir into the onion. Continue cooking for a few minutes, then chop and add the thyme and rosemary leaves, and cook for a further 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Remove from the heat.
Remove the rind from the 300g of bacon. Roughly chop the bacon and add to the minced pork in a large bowl, then season with salt and pepper. Be generous. Add the onion and aromatics, the figs and any marinade they haven’t absorbed, mixing thoroughly. (I like to do this with my hands.)
Put the mix into the terrine or baking dish, packing it into the corners and lightly smoothing the surface. Set the oven at 160C fan/gas mark 4.
Place the rashers of smoked streaky bacon over the surface, tucking them down the side, leaving gaps of meat showing on top. Cover tightly with clingfilm, then kitchen foil.
Put the terrine into a roasting tin, then pour in enough hot (not boiling) water to come half way up the sides of the dish. Carefully lift the tin to the oven and bake for 90 minutes. When the terrine is firm but springy to the touch, remove from the oven. Put a heavy weight on top to press it down.
When cool, transfer it to the fridge, still topped with its weight, and leave to rest overnight. Melt the fruit jelly and brush the surface generously with it. Chill briefly, then slice as needed.
Apricot and marzipan stollen
My usual recipe for stollen produces a loaf the size of the baby Jesus, so I have been working on a smaller version. This one also sees a more generous touch with the spices. The marzipan is threaded through the crumb in pieces rather than a single length. It will cut it into 10 or 12 generous slices. It takes a full afternoon to make stollen. I love kneading the raw dough, radio on, watching its progress from sticky mess to smooth and shiny ball. You can work it either by hand on a floured board or with a food mixer and a dough hook. I like to do it by hand, pushing and pulling the fruit-speckled dough until it is soft and silky to the touch, and heavy with candied fruits and butter. It will keep in a tin for several days.
Serves 12
For the dough
butter 125g
milk 150ml
dried fast-acting yeast 10g
plain flour 375g
caster sugar 75g
salt ½ tsp
egg 1
For the filling
sultanas 100g
dried apricots 100g
orange 1
candied citrus peel 50g
brandy 4 tbsp
vanilla extract 1 tsp
green cardamom pods 8
poppy seeds 2 tsp
ground cinnamon ½ tsp
mixed spice ½ tsp
flaked almonds 50g
marzipan 200g
To glaze
butter 50g
reserved marinade from the fruit
icing sugar
You will need a parchment-lined baking sheet.
To make the filling, tip the sultanas into a mixing bowl. Cut the apricots into small pieces and stir them in. Finely grate the orange zest and squeeze the juice, then add to the fruit along with the candied citrus peel, then pour in the brandy and the vanilla extract. Mix well and leave the fruit to marinate for about an hour.
For the dough, melt the butter in the milk in a small pan without letting it boil, then leave to cool. (It should be just warm, a comfortable temperature when tested with your finger.) Mix together the yeast and the flour in a large mixing bowl, then add the sugar and salt. Break the egg into a small bowl and beat lightly with a fork, then add to the flour with the butter and milk.
Mix thoroughly to a sticky, shiny dough. Turn out on to a generously floured board and knead for about 8 minutes. You can do this in the mixer with a dough hook attachment, if you wish. The mixture will get less sticky with time. When it feels soft and elastic, return it to the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm, draught-free place for a good hour until it has risen a little. (Don’t expect it to rise like a plain bread dough.)
Crack open the cardamom pods, extract the seeds and grind them to a powder. Mix them with the poppy seeds, cinnamon, mixed spice and flaked almonds. Turn the dough back out on to the floured board, then knead the mixture of spices and poppy seeds, the pieces of marzipan and the soaked fruits (drained of their marinade) into the dough. Reserve the marinade. Pat the mixture into a long, thick loaf, about 22cm x 7cm. Place the loaf on the lined baking sheet and set aside for half an hour in a warm place, covered with a tea towel.
Set the oven at 160C fan/gas mark 4. Bake for about 45-50 minutes, covering the surface with kitchen foil if the loaf is browning too quickly. It should be firm to the touch.
For the glaze, melt the butter with the reserved fruit marinade in a small pan. As soon as the stollen comes out of the oven, brush with the melted butter and leave to cool, then dust it as thickly as you like with icing sugar.
Cranberry and orange sauce
Glistening, deep scarlet in its glass jar, this looks like you went to a lot more trouble than you did. It is not a preserve as such, so is very much for a last-minute gift. A quick and easy sauce for everything from nut roast to pork pie. I used fresh cranberries but you could use frozen instead.
Makes 2 x 500ml jars
cranberries 500g
granulated or caster sugar 200g
redcurrant jelly 200g
orange 1 large
juniper berries 6
bay leaves 3
red wine vinegar 1 tbsp
You will need a couple of 500ml sterilised storage jars.
Tip the cranberries into a medium-sized, heavy-based saucepan over a moderate heat, then add the sugar and redcurrant jelly. Using a vegetable peeler, remove 2 or 3 long strips of peel from the orange, then add them to the cranberries.
Squash the juniper berries with a heavy weight such as pestle or rolling pin, then toss them into the pan together with the bay leaves.
Watch as the berries start to wrinkle and burst, then remove from the heat and stir in the red wine vinegar. Ladle into sterilised jars and seal. Keep them in the fridge till you are ready to give as gifts.
Golden pickled pears
I dream of trudging through snow to someone’s door with the gift of a jar of golden pears. These would be fruits that have been pickled with cider vinegar, aromatics and honey, and would be intended for eating with cheese, perhaps something blue or a wooden box of almost molten vacherin. That said, they might be rather splendid with festive cold cuts too – slices of Christmas ham or cold roast goose, or leftover nut roast.
As these luscious, sweet-sharp pears are intended to be given as a gift, I have added a pinch of saffron stamens with the other spices, if mostly for the luminous golden colour it sends the pickling liquor. The pickling juices are extraordinarily good. Knife-sharp at first, then softened as the notes of honey come into play. I have a fancy to trickle it over vanilla ice-cream.
The pears will keep for several weeks in a storage jar but sterilise it with boiling water first and keep it tightly stoppered.
Makes 1 x 1kg jar
cider vinegar 750ml
granulated sugar 250g
juniper berries 8
cloves 4
star anise 2
coriander seeds 2 tsp
black peppercorns 12
runny honey 100ml
pears 1.25kg
You will need a large glass storage jar, sterilised with boiling water and dried.
Put the cider vinegar, sugar, juniper berries, cloves, star anise, coriander seeds and peppercorns in a large saucepan, pour in the honey and bring to the boil. When the sugar has dissolved, lower the heat to a simmer.
Peel the pears, cut them in half then remove their cores with a teaspoon – I like to leave the stem and flower end intact – then put them into the simmering pickling liquor and cook till tender to the point of a knife. If your fruit is hard, you can expect them to take about 20 minutes to soften, less if they are approaching ripeness. The exact timing will depend on the ripeness of your pears.
Lift the fruit carefully into the sterilised storage jars (I use a large plastic spoon), then turn the heat up under the pickling liquor and reduce until you have 600ml. Pour the liquid, including the aromatics over the pears, seal and set aside to cool.
