Create A Magical Christmas

      Mincepie & chocolate yule log Recipe's

mincepies:-

Ingredients:

• 12 oz/350g all purpose/plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 8oz/ 225g butter, cubed or an equal mix of butter and lard
• 1 beaten egg + 1 cold water as needed
• 1 jar of mincemeat, shop bought or homemade
• 2 tbsp icing sugar

Preparation:

Heat the oven to 400°F/205°C/Gas 6

To Make the Pastry

1.Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean bowl.

2.Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm.

3.Add the egg to the mixture and using a cold knife stir, add cold water a teaspoon at a time until the mixture binds but don't make it too wet that it is sticky.
4.Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes.

To make the mincepies

5.Choose a muffin or bun tin for the size of the pie you want. Choose from a standard 12-cup muffin tin down to small canapé size. The number of pies will depend on the size of cup you choose.
6.Dust a work surface lightly with a little flour and roll out two-thirds of the pastry to 1/8"/3mm thick. Cut circles to line the cups of your tin, don't worry if the pastry doesn't come to the top.
7.Fill the pastry lined tins 2/3 full with mincemeat.
8.Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness and cut smaller circles to fit as lids on the tarts or to be decorative, & cut stars or tree shapes like we have. (adds more interest) 
9.Dampen the edges of the tart bases with a little cold water and press the lids on. Make a small hole in the surface of each pie with a small sharp knife to allow the steam to escape (you can omit this if using star-shaped lids).
10.Bake in the preheated oven for 20 mins (15 mins if making canape size) or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the icing sugar.
I love my mincepies served warm with some brandy sauce...yummy!


Chocolate yule Log:-

To make the sponge

Start with a basic sponge as if you were making Swiss Roll, but replace one quantity of flour with cocoa powder.

• 75g (3oz) caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• pinch of salt
• 50g (2oz) plain flour
• 25g (1oz) cocoa powder

1. line a 18 x 28cm (7 x 11in) Swiss-roll tin with baking parchment and grease well. Pre-heat your oven to Gas 4/180°C/350°F.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Now gently fold in the flour and cocoa powder. 
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and spread out.
Bake for approx. 20-25 mins.
Remove the sponge from the oven and leave to completely cool.           Meanwhile, make the filling........

For The Chocolate Filling You will Need

284ml carton whipping cream
200g (8oz) best dark chocolate

1. Break up the chocolate into chunks and melt over a bowl of hot (not boiling!) water. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl or the chocolate will curdle.
2. In a small pan heat the cream. When close to boiling point, take off the heat and stir gently into the melted chocolate until completely combined.
3. Leave to cool, then place in the fridge to chill.
4. When ready to use (and very cold) beat the mixture until fluffy.

How To Assemble Your Yule Log

1. Spread about 1/4 of the filling over the sponge, then roll up carefully
2. Place on a large plate or tray, join it up underneath.
3. Cover with the rest of the chocolate cream using a fork to mark the covering into the resemblance of tree bark.
4. Dust with a little cocoa powder or sprinkle dark chocolate curls and shavings over the top.
5. Decorate with holly leaves and berries.

ENJOY!! xxx