Now, bring us some figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer!

Hey all you Christmas elves :) Yup that's me still feeling festive, hopefully it will wear off by tomorrow evening and i'll be ready for the new year and what's to come rather than thinking about the past. I guess this post is a way to say goodbye to christmas and HELLO to the New Year :)

These are some two of the many thing that Paloma and I baked for our Christmas dinner party but can easily be baked throuought 2013. So...what's everyones New Years resolutions? and more importantly, are you going to stick to them :) Mine is to blog more, start jogging and try hard at my A levels (by making 3, at least one should be successful)

Loads of Love, Jess xxx

Paloma's Outfit - Dress- Primark, Shoes-Deichmann, Belt- H&M
My Outfit- Dress-H&M, Shoes- Deichmann

Christmas Pudding Cupcakes (without the xmas pudding part)

For the cake you will need:

150g/5oz of Butter

150g/5oz of Caster sugar

3 Eggs

1tsp of Vanilla Extract (or 2...or 3)

175g/7oz of self raising flour (sieved)

2tbsp Cocoa powder

Step 1- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4 and prep a muffin tray with cases. Cream the butter and caster sugar in a bowl until pale (I like to use a electric whisk for this, doesn't take so long). Add the eggs one by one whisking in between and then skip to step 3 and add vanilla extract.

Step 2-Carefully fold in the flour and the cocoa powder into the mix until the mixture's of drooping consistency. If a little stodgy, add a couple of teaspoons of milk.

Step 4- Divide the mix into the cupcake cases and place in the oven for 15-20 mins.

Step 5- Take out of the oven when a skewer comes out clean or it springs back when pushed. Once cooled, remove cases and cut off the tops so that they are sturdy when placed upside down.

For the icing:

3/4 of a pack of icing sugar

140g of butter

Water

Ready rolled coloured icing to decorate

Step 6- In a bowl mix the icing and butter until combined and add the water until drooping consistency buy thick enough to stick and not run. Apply to the tops and allow to drop slightly down the sides

Step 7- use the ready rolled coloured icing and make berries out of red and holly leaves out of green

Step 8- Dust with icing sugar

Step 9- Plate up on a cake stand to present your masterpiece

Step 10- Eat and Enjoy :)

Stained Glass Biscuits



You will need:
350g/12oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
100g/3½oz butter
175g/6oz soft brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp golden syrup
24 wrapped fruit-flavoured boiled sweets in different colours

Step 1- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
For the biscuits, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a bowl.
Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar.

Step 2- In another bowl, beat together the egg and golden syrup, then pour this mixture into the flour mixture and mix to make a smooth dough, kneading lightly with your hands. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge.

Step 3,4 and 5- Crush the sweets in their wrappers using a rolling pin. Take care while crushing the sweets. You might find it easier to crush them in a plastic bag.

Step 6- Roll the dough out on a floured work surface to about 0.5cm/¼in thick, then cut into shapes using a selection of Christmas-themed cookie cutters. Transfer the biscuits to baking sheets lined with baking paper.

Step 7- Cut out shapes in the centre of each biscuit, making sure you leave a good edge all around the biscuit. Completely fill the hole in each biscuit with crushed boiled sweets.

Step 8- Make a hole at the top of each biscuit using a drinking straw so that you will be able to thread a ribbon through it later. Bake the biscuits in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden-brown.

Step 9- Remove the biscuits from the oven. While they're still warm, check that the holes are still there - if not, push a straw through again. Do not remove the biscuits from the baking tray until they have cooled because the boiled sweets need to harden. Once the sweets have hardened, gently lift the biscuits onto a wire rack with a palette knife to finish cooling.

Step 10- Eat and Enjoy :)