Merry Christmas!
After stuffing myself silly with turkey, ham, pumpkin, potato, feta salad, veggies, custard, mince pies and truffles, on Christmas Eve, I woke up this morning to a tree full of presents and a slightly-less eager family who just wanted to sleep in.
Luckily I managed to get them out of bed by 9 am – motivating them mainly with warm, fruit-mince tarts that I freshly baked.
Earlier in the morning I was inspired by a recipe in my Mum’s old Donna Hay cookbook.
First I prepared the filling, by combining the following in a bowl and set it aside in the fridge:
- 1 cup Granny Smith Apples, finely chopped
- Pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon
- Dash of Brandy
- 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
- 1/2 cup currants
- 3 tsp lemon rind
- 50g butter melted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
Whilst waiting for that to chill, I used cookie cutters to cut little circles in shortcrust pastry and place them into greased cupcake baking trays. Then I prepared my star toppings using a smaller star cookie cutter.
After the hour was up I took the filling out the fridge and distributed it into the moulds. I placed the little star cutouts on top of each one and brushed them all with melted butter.
Then, I popped them into the oven (160C/320F) for 25-30 minutes.
Everyone enjoyed fruit mince pies, gourmet chocolate truffles (from Belle Fleur Fine Chocolates – a boutique chocolate shop in Sydney’s Inner West), and mulled wine whilst opening presents.
I got very spoilt this Christmas, and got a Mimco Supernatural Medium Pouch, some cute Kikki K stationary and the Antler Aire Large Suitcase.
Clearly I was spoilt by family and friends – hope you had a wonderful Christmas and got everything you wished for!
xx
CLARE HOPKINS 