Two weeks to go, Ruadhán Jones suggests some treats you can prepare in advance
Christmas is a time to celebrate. We have good reason to, for our Saviour is come! While there is a strong ascetic tradition in the Church, there is another which sees the Earth’s bounty as a sign of God’s love. The Eucharist is a feast, after all, and the bread of life a reminder of how God unifies our labours with the gift of his creation.
When we cook and bake, we are bringing to fruition our human labours, “the daily work of those who till the soil, sow and harvest [the wheat] and, finally prepare the bread,” writes Pope Benedict XVI in Heart of the Christian Life: Thoughts on Holy Mass. “However, bread is not purely and simply what we produce, something made by us; it is fruit of the earth and therefore is also a gift.”
A sacramental understanding opens the possibility of our every action being a sign of God’s great love. So, as we come to Christmas season, it is a good time to cook and eat, to experiment with new things and continue with the old.
That isn’t always easy, however, especially as we come closer to the day itself. So here are a few suggestions for sweets and treats which can be prepared ahead of time. They are simple, fun and suitable for children.
Christmas pudding
Usually around the end of November, my mother will begin making Christmas puddings and cakes. Several may be made and stored in bowls to be handed out as gifts. I think Christmas pudding, along with a little brandy butter, is the definitive Christmas flavour. Rich and juicy, like a well-cooked roast, it crowns Christmas dinner.
It is the most complicated of the recipes I will recommend and if children are making it, they will need adult supervision. This is a good treat to make ahead of time as it does benefit from maturing. Some extra pieces of equipment you will need are a tea towel, 1 litre pudding basin, greaseproof paper, foil and string.
Ingredients:
-200g mixed fruits (sultanas, raisins, dried cranberries)
-Citrus zest (zest and juice 1 lemon, 1 orange)
-50g chopped glacé cherries
-100g softened butter
-100g dark brown sugar
-50g self-raising flour
-1 tsp each cinnamon and mixed spice
-2 eggs, beaten
-1 apple (cooker or eater) peeled, cored, grated
-1 tbsp ground almond
Now the recipe:
1 – Soak the mixed fruit and zests in the orange and lemon juices overnight, stirring occasionally. If you have time, leave it for three days.
2 – Butter your pudding basin and line the bottom with a greaseproof paper circle. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Sift in the flour and spices, stir, then add eggs.
3 – Add your soaked fruits, apple and liquid, mixing with the chopped cherries and ground almonds.
4 – Fill the basin with the mixture, then cover with two layers of greaseproof paper, pleated in the centre. Cover this with a layer of foil, pleated in the middle and tie tightly with string.
5 – Place the pudding in a deep saucepan or roasting tin and add boiling water up to halfway. Cook for 3½ hours in the oven at 100ºC/Gas Mark ¼, or in a steamer on top of the cooker.
These can be eaten immediately but are best left for a week or longer to mature. When you are eating them, steam them again or else reheat in the microwave. If you want an ‘adult’ version, replace the fruit juices with stout.
Sugar mice
That’s the hard stuff out of the way, onto the easy! Sugar mice are a simple and delightful little creation, as much fun to design as they are to make. These have been made in our family for years and are quite a favourite. Again, these need to be made at least a day in advance to allow time to dry.
The ingredients list is short: 1 large egg white, 400-450g sifted icing sugar, 3 tablespoons glycerine, lemon juice and food colouring. For the recipe, you sift 350g sugar into a bowl, add your egg white, glycerine, lemon juice and food colouring. Gradually mix in the remaining icing sugar to make a smooth paste.
Now the real fun begins! You want the paste to be almost like dough. Divide it into 8 mice by rolling the dough into a walnut sized ball. Roll it into a cone, with one flat side to rest on. At one end, pinch little ears and form a pointed nose. You can add chocolate sprinkles or silver balls for eyes, and for the tail use a short piece of string.
If you’re feeling especially artistic, use a cocktail stick to dab some pink food colouring on the nose. Put the mouse on a baking sheet and dry it next to a heat source for at least a day, preferably several. These are a wonderful treat to get your children involved in, requiring only the simplest skills to create and quite safe.
Salt dough sculptures
Salt dough sculptures are fun for children to make, essentially a decorative (and inedible) cookie. They are ideally suited to Christmas, and can be used to create a homemade nativity set. All you need is plain flour, salt and warm water.
Mix 400 grams flour and 250 grams salt. Gradually add 235 ml of water, stirring with a spoon and knead until it’s soft and pliable. Roll it out until about a centimetre thick on a sheet of baking paper. Using cookie cutters or a knife, cut shapes out to create a nativity scene. Human figures will be generic, mostly, and after the dough has hardened you can use paint to decorate. Don’t forget the sheep!
Once you have cut out your shapes, place them in a preheated oven 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). They should take about an hour to harden sufficiently. Now, you can decorate them using paints and varnish!
Christmas cookies
Who doesn’t love edible decorations? Easy to make and appealing to look at, they’re also easy to tidy away. For my last recommendation, here’s a recipe for jewelled Christmas tree cookies, made using a boiled sweet.
For these cookies, I would simply recommend using your favourite biscuit or gingerbread recipe. Chocolate or cinnamon are probably the best, as they will give a more tree-like colour. Once you have the mixture complete, roll it out onto a floured surface and use festive cookie cutters to make the shapes.
Now, in the centre of your cookie, cut out a roughly Christmas tree shape. Put your boiled sweets in a bag, one for each cookie, and crush them with a rolling pin. Fill the holes with crushed boiled sweets. Use a skewer to pierce one last hole in the top.
While the cookies bake, the sweets should melt and fill the holes. Leave them to set once out of the oven and carefully lift the cookies onto a wire rack. Thread the hole at the top of each cookie with ribbon or thread and hang them on the tree!
