Polish spiced Christmas cookies

Even if you don't normally bake it's worth taking the time at Christmas and what could be more perfect than this Polish spiced Christmas cookie recipe from Ren Behan's lovely book Wild Honey & Rye

I first met Ren years ago when she came along to a writing workshop I was giving at a blogger's conference and it's great to see how she's gone from strength to strength. Do visit her lovely website renbehan.com

POLISH SPICED CHRISTMAS COOKIES (PIERNICZKI ÅšWIÄ„TECZNE)

These Christmas cookies very quickly became the most popular recipe on my website when I first posted them in November 2011, just a year into starting my food blog. Since then, I’ve loved receiving emails and photos of the cookies that friends and readers have made for their own trees, or to give as gifts ahead of Christmas. Instead of making the icing to decorate the cookies, you could buy writing icing. Since I use wild honey and rye (flour) in my cookies, the title of my book was hidden within this recipe – long before I knew it!

Makes about 24 cookies, depending on the size of cutters used

115g/4oz/½ cup unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

115g/4oz/generous ½ cup soft dark brown sugar

8 tbsp runny honey

450g/1lb/scant 4 cups plain (all-purpose) flour or rye flour, plus extra for dusting

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp mixed spice

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 egg

To decorate

150g/5½oz/generous 1¼ cups icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted

1 egg white

1 tbsp water

food colouring (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Lightly grease three large baking sheets with butter.

Put the butter, brown sugar and honey in a small saucepan over a gentle heat. Stir only until the butter has melted. Set to one side.

In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together, mix well, add the egg and mix again. Pour the melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until the dough starts to come together.

Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead to form a ball. If the mixture is too crumbly, add a tablespoon of water at a time and knead again until it comes together. Roll out the dough to about 3mm/1⁄8in thick. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and carefully lift the cookies onto the baking sheets; leave about 1–2cm/¾in around each cookie – they don’t spread too much. Bake the cookies for 7–8 minutes per batch, until golden.

While the cookies are baking, make the icing by stirring together the icing sugar, egg white and water. If you like, divide the icing into different bowls and add a little food colouring to one or more bowls. Mix together really well until you have a thick paste that will pour evenly off a spoon. Fill a piping bag fitted with a fine nozzle with the icing and set to one side.

When the cookies are baked, they will still be a bit soft. Using a palette knife, carefully lift them onto a wire rack and leave to cool. If you are decorating the cookies for the tree, use a chopstick to make a small hole in the top of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven, but be careful not to break the top off the cookie by pressing too hard.

Once cooled, decorate your cookies with the icing. Store in a tin for up to 2 weeks, as they will soften. If used as Christmas tree decorations, they can be left on the tree for the season.

Extracted from Wild Honey & Rye: Modern Polish Recipes by Ren Behan published by Pavilion at £20. Image credit Yuki Sugiura (cropped to fit from the original)

How to make an eggnog

I have to admit I was never very grabbed by the idea of eggnog until I tried it out for myself and discovered just how delicious it is - like velvety, vanilla-and-rum-scented air.

It’s not as straightforward as some other cocktails admittedly but if you’re used to making meringues or mousses you’ll won’t find it daunting at all. This version is based on the one in American bartender Dale Degroff’s excellent ‘The Craft of the Cocktail’.

Serves 6-8

3 scrupulously fresh large free-range eggs
75g/3 oz caster sugar
100ml/3 1/2 fl oz bourbon
100ml /3 1/2 fl oz spiced rum
570 ml /1 pint creamy breakfast milk
275ml /1/2 pint whipping cream
A nutmeg for grating

Separate the egg yolks carefully from the whites and put them in separate large bowls.

Beat the egg yolks, gradually adding 50g/2 oz of the sugar until they turn light in colour and moussey in texture. Beat in the bourbon and spiced rum then stir in the milk and cream.

Clean and dry your whisk thoroughly then beat the egg whites until beginning to stiffen. Add the remaining sugar to the whites and whisk until they form a soft peak.

Fold the whites into the egg nog mixture and grate over a little nutmeg. Ladle out the egg nog into small glasses or cups. Have teaspoons available for those who prefer to spoon rather than sip it.

Image (not of my recipe) © Anna Puzatykh at shutterstock.com 

Cranberry gin sling jellies with spiced cream

A simple and delicious Christmas dessert from my mate Sarah Randell, food director of Sainsbury's Magazine, which combines two of my favourite things, jelly and cocktails.

Sarah says: An elegant and refreshing dessert with a cheeky alcoholic kick. To make the jellies low-fat (as if you'd be worried about that at Christmas FB) top each with a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt instead of the cream.

Prep 15 mins
Total time 20 mins, plus setting
Get ahead Make the jellies up to the end of step 3 one day ahead

6 leaves fine-leaf gelatine (Sarah used Supercook Select)

500ml cranberry juice

100g caster sugar

75ml gin

3 tbsp sweet vermouth

1 wine-mulling spice bag

1 cinnamon stick

a dash of Angostura bitters

To finish

150ml whipping cream

a pinch each of ground cinnamon, cloves
and ginger

1 tbsp icing sugar

a few fresh cranberries, tossed in caster sugar

1 Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 10 minutes.

2 In a pan, gently heat the cranberry juice, sugar, gin, vermouth, wine-mulling spice bag and cinnamon stick. Simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and add the gelatine leaves (squeezed of excess water). Stir until dissolved. Add the Angostura bitters.

3 Remove the spice bag and cinnamon stick. Pour the liquid into four glasses. Cool, cover and chill overnight.

4 Whip the cream with the spices and icing sugar. Top each jelly with the spiced cream and a cranberry or two.

Sarah is also the author of Weekend Baking and co-author of The Camper Van Cookbook and Camper Van Coast. You can find more of her recipes, posts and cooking tips on the new Sainsbury's Magazine blog Kitchen Secrets

Photo © Martin Poole

Celeriac, leek, chestnut and cranberry pies

If you're vegetarian - or catering for one - you expect more than the Christmas sides while everyone else tucks into the turkey. This delicious pie from Rachel Demuth of Demuths Cookery School in Bath fits the bill perfectly.

Celeriac, leek, chestnut and cranberry pies

Makes: 1 large 20cm pie or 4 individual pies using large (100ml) ramekins or 3 7.5cm/3 inch metal rings

For the pastry:

• 300g plain flour
• 150g butter (or margarine if vegan)
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• A little water as needed
• Milk to glaze
• Olive oil to rub the pie tin

Filling:

• 1 leek, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 small celeriac, peeled and cubed into 1 cm cubes
• 100g pre-cooked chestnuts
• A small glass of white wine or dry sherry
• A handful of chopped sage and thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• Rapeseed oil to cook
• 4 tbsp cranberry sauce – either homemade or shop bought
• Optional extras: grated cheddar or vegetarian Parmesan cheese, cubes of Brie or Stilton, a splash of cream

1. Preheat oven to Gas mark 6/200°C

2. Put the flour and butter into a bowl (or a food processor) and rub (or whiz) until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the mustard and stir in well, or whiz, until the mixture forms a ball. If the mixture is too dry add a little water until it comes together easily. Wrap the pastry in cling-film and leave in the fridge to chill for at least an half an hour. (This can be left overnight and will keep for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.)

3. Split the pastry into the number of pies you want to make and then take about 2/3 of each ball to make the pie case - the rest is for making the lid. Roll out the larger ball of pastry out to a thickness of 2mm with a rolling pin. Rub the inside of the ramekins or rings with olive oil and push the pastry gently into the dish so that it goes into all of the edges and hangs over the top. Trim off the overhang to 1cm below the top of the ramekin (the pastry will shrink when cooking). You will be left with extra pastry for topping the pies later. Wrap this in cling-film so it doesn’t dry out.

4. Bake the pastry cases blind (without their filling) for 10 minutes – if you have some you can use baking beans on a piece of greaseproof paper. Remove the beans and paper and return to the oven for 5 minutes-the pastry should look dry; if it is wet return it to the oven for a further 5 minutes.

For the filling:

1. Heat a large saucepan and 2 tbsp of rapeseed or vegetable oil. Add the leeks and gently cook, with the lid on, for 10 minutes, checking that the leeks aren’t colouring as you cook.

2. Add the garlic and celeriac and raise the temperature. Fry the celeriac until it is starting to turn golden around the edges. Add the chestnuts, wine and herbs and stir well. If you want to add a splash of cream and/or cheese add it now.

3. Cook for 10 minutes or until the celeriac is just cooked. You may need to add a splash of water or wine to stop it from drying out. Taste and add salt, pepper, lemon juice and more herbs to your taste

To assemble the pies:

1. Carefully divide the filling mixture between the pastry cases (any leftovers are great to serve as a side dish or keep to eat the next day) make a hole in the middle of the filling and fill with a spoonful of cranberry sauce, then push the celeriac filling over the top of the cranberry.

2. Brush the top edge of the pastry with olive oil. Roll out the remaining pastry and place over the top of the ramekins. Press the edges securely and press a fork around the edges to seal.

3. Using a sharp knife trim off the cooked overhang and the uncooked pastry top neatly.

4. If you like you can decorate the pies with shapes such as stars, holly or whatever cutters you have or shapes you can cut with a knife. Stick these on with a little water and glaze the top of the pie with soya milk.

5. Bake for 15 minutes until the top of the pies are golden (or for 45 mins at 180° if you're making a single large pie). If you want to freeze or reheat the pies don’t overcook them at this stage, if you are eating them straight away bake for a further 5 minutes or a little longer for a whole pie. Allow to cool slightly and then carefully turn out the pies.

What to drink: Fortunately you can pair much the same type of wine with this pie as others in the family may be drinking with the turkey: a creamy chardonnay or a Rhône or Rhône-style blend of syrah, grenache and mourvèdre would both work well

Demuths is the centre of Bath at 6 Terrace Walk, BA1 1LN. Tel: +44 (0)1225 427938