We consult a food writer, some cookery students, a German baker and a chocolate company, to find their sweetest Christmas treats.
Not a raisin in sight: Tom Doorley's alternative Christmas pudding
Christmas pudding was a bit of a misnomer when I was growing up. We did have Christmas pudding, but it was never eaten on the day. It was produced, of course, after Christmas dinner; on occasion it was even set ablaze. But I can't remember it every being eaten until a day or two nearer to New Year.
Not that there was anything wrong with the pud, of course. On the contrary. It may have contained enough suet and butter to send a dietician into anaphylactic shock, and it was weighty enough to suggest that it contained lead shot, but it sure was tasty. When Johann and I got married, I discovered that not all Christmas puddings are the same. Her family's version was superficially similar, but it seemed as light as gossamer by comparison. And so it was this pudding with which we tended to mark Christmas, until our children came along. And our children, without exception, can't abide raisins or sultanas. Christmas pudding, and even Christmas cake is, as they say, barred. And so we have tried to get the flavour of Christmas - which is all about spices, isn't it - into something that doesn't contain dried vine fruits. Or suet for that matter.
The result is a parfait, in other words, a frozen pudding. Its creaminess is cut by the presence of a sharp purée of apple and quince, and the whole thing is fragrant with spices. To gild the lily we melt Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate, which is pungently spiced, and drizzle it over the parfait before serving. Speaking of Green & Black's organic dark chocolate, this can form part of the simplest Christmas dessert. Simply melt a generous quantity of it and dip strips of candied peel, brazil nuts and undyed glacé cherries in it. Lay them on greaseproof paper until the chocolate coating sets. These chocolate doo-dahs, as we have have christened them, also make a great last-minute present.
SPICED APPLE PARFAIT Serves 6.
I make this with our own eating apples such as Cox's or Worcester Pearmains. The quince is not essential, but gives an added flavour and better texture to the purée. If you want to serve it as a fool, leave out the egg white, just fold together the cream and purée and serve chilled.
170g apples peeled and chopped
80g quinces peeled and chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp water
3 cm piece of cinnamon stick
2 cm fresh ginger peeled and cut in half
3 cardamom pods, bruised
4 cloves
2 tbsps sugar
250ml cream
1 large egg white
30g Maya Gold chocolate (or other orange flavoured dark chocolate)
Put the apple, quince, lemon juice, water, spices, and sugar into a saucepan. Put the pan, with lid on, on to a very low heat. Bring to the boil and simmer until the apple and quince are soft. Fish out the spices - using whole spices and big pieces of ginger will make them easier to find - and purée the fruit mixture in a blender. Allow this to cool, then whip the egg white in a large bowl, add the purée, and keep whisking until evenly mixed. Whip the cream in a separate bowl and fold into the purée and egg white. Pour into a one litre pudding bowl and freeze.
Take the pudding out of the freezer and let it warm up enough to turn out onto a plate. Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a bowl over some hot water. Take the bowl from the water and let the chocolate cool, but remain liquid.
Using a teaspoon, drizzle the chocolate over the pudding; if the chocolate is too hot it melts into the parfait, whereas it is meant to sit on top and dribble down the sides. Pop it back into the freezer to set.
Serve cut in slices like traditional pudding. Coins wrapped in greaseproof paper may be hidden in the parfait when it is half frozen.
JOHANN DOORLEY'S CHRISTMAS COMPOTE Serves 4
With all the good dried fruit available coming up to Christmas, it's great to let it shine on its own. Delicatessens have loose dried fruit so you can buy as much or as little as you need. I like this just warm or at room temperature, though it is best to store it in the fridge. Try it with yoghurt for breakfast. Mix in any fruit you like but these are my favourites.
juice of one orange
100 ml water
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods bruised in a pestle and mortar
2 slices of peeled fresh ginger
a strip of orange peel without pith
2 cm cinnamon stick
4 soft dried figs cut in quarters
8 dried apricots cut in quarters
2 tbsp sultanas
3 pieces dried mango cut in strips
2 tbsp dried papaya chunks
3 prunes, quartered and stones removed
Put the orange juice, water and spices into a saucepan and add the dried fruit. Bring slowly to the boil and simmer for five minutes. Take off the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl. Keep this warm in a low oven or let it cool. Serve with the parfait, or some whipped cream. If Christmas pyrotechnics are called for, a couple of spoons of whiskey may be warmed and poured over the compote and set alight, hence the heat-proof bowl.
A stunning stollen: Slane's master baker Georg Heise makes a German speciality.
George's Patisserie & Delicatessen in Slane, Co Meath is so busy the cakes are bought faster than owner Georg Heise, a hugely experienced and well-travelled master chef, can stock the shelves. Heise does 90 per cent of the baking himself, including a range of breads that cater for people with allergies, using ingredients such as soya, chickpea, and rice flours.
"I only use the best ingredients, butter instead of margarine, fresh country eggs and organic flour. We run what I would call a European or continental-style patisserie or café, like you have in Austria. And it's successful because no one else does it. I feel that to be successful, you have to do something different, and the quality speaks for itself."
His cakes are truly special. Last Christmas he made 75 Christmas cakes, and if he could get someone to stand making them all day, he could sell thousands of his mince pies. His traditional stollen is also in great demand.
CHRISTMAS STOLLEN
A traditional German Christmas cake from Dresden.
1kg plain flour
¼ litre warm milk
50g yeast
100g sugar
2 eggs
400g butter
200g flour
350g raisins
100g chopped almonds
50g mixed peel
40ml rum
¼ tsp vanilla
200g marzipan
20g mixed spice
2g nutmeg
For glazing:
200g butter (for melting)
300g icing sugar
Mix all the dry ingredients, except the 200g of flour, in a bowl. Shape a well in the centre. Add the yeast and warm milk. Leave to ferment for 20 minutes. Add the eggs and beat slowly until the mixture is smooth. Mix the remaining flour with the butter. Knead into the dough mix. Add all the fruits and chopped almonds and knead until a smooth texture is achieved. Place dough in bowl and cover it with a tea towel. Leave to prove for at least 45 minutes.
Shape the marzipan into a long roll, the exact length of the finished stollen. Remove the dough mix from bowl. Knead it briefly and roll out into a rectangular shape approximately two inches thick.
Shaping the stollen is a process best described as "folding a letter". Place the marzipan roll at the front end of the now rectangular dough mix. Fold the dough mix from the front over the marzipan roll, taking care only to use the front third of the dough mix. Now, starting from the back, fold the remaining two thirds of dough mix in half, and continue folding the mix on to the front of the marzipan roll. Place the entire stollen onto a greased and flour dusted baking tray. Leave for approximately 30 minutes to prove and rise. If all has been going well for you up until now, you can expect your stollen to have almost doubled in size. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.
Remove from oven and leave to cool. However, while the stollen is still warm, begin to generously brush it with melted butter and cover the entire Stollen with icing sugar. Should you be able to resist eating it right away, you can store it, wrapped in a layer of cling film with an outer layer of kitchen foil, in a dark, cool place until Christmas.
George's Patisserie and Delicatessen on Chapel Street, Slane, Co Meath is open Tuesday to Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday. 041- 9824493.
CHEF'S TIP
If you replace half the original 400g of butter with 200g of rendered beef suet, the stollen becomes more moist, and stays so for longer. Serve lightly toasted with ice cream for a special Christmas treat.
Foolproof mince pies and mulled wine from DIT’s culinary students.
FRANGIPANE MINCE PIES
SWEET PASTRY
8oz plain flour
5 oz butter
2 oz castor sugar
1 egg
Mix the flour and sugar together and then rub in the butter until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Add in the beaten egg and carefully combine until pastry is formed. Rest the pastry in the fridge before rolling out and lining tartlet moulds.
FRANGIPANE
4 oz ground almonds
4oz castor sugar
4oz butter
2oz plain flour
2 eggs
Put the first four ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Add the beaten eggs and continue to blend until you have a smooth paste (two minutes approximately). Line the tartlet moulds with pastry, and add a tablespoon of mincemeat. Top with a thick layer of frangipane mix and bake in a medium oven (180 degrees) for 15 minutes, or until nice and golden. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.
MULLED WINE
2 bottles red wine
½ lemon studded with cloves
1 cinnamon stick
¼ jar honey
3oz brown sugar
1 small orange sliced
½ pint orange juice small glass of Brandy or Cointreau (optional)
Gently warm all ingredients in a pot to dissolve the sugar and infuse flavours, but do not boil. Serve hot.
Choc therapy: a mouthwatering mousse from the Green & Black company
GREEN & BLACK’S DARK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE
1 tbsp ground almonds, plus extra for dusting the tin
300g dark chocolate (min. 60% cocoa solids)
275g caster sugar
165g unsalted butter
pinch sea salt
5 large eggs
icing sugar or edible gold dust (from specialist cookshops)
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas four. Brush a 20cm or 23cm removable base cake tin with a little melted butter and dust with the ground almonds, shaking off any excess. Melt the chocolate, caster sugar, butter and salt in a heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of barely simmering water, then remove from the heat. Whisk the eggs with the ground almonds and fold into the chocolate mixture. The mixture will thicken after a few minutes. Pour into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove the sides of the tin and leave the cake on the base to cool, then dust, using a fine sieve ,with icing sugar or brush with edible gold dust. From Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes, edited by Caroline Jeremy, published by Kyle Cathie, (£14.99 in UK).