A Spoonful of Sugar

Spotlight On... Christmas!

(And Other Winter Festivals)

Christmas is fast approaching. Have you made your cake yet? Don't fret if you haven't, there's still time to make a gorgeously rich fruit cake. It won't be quite as boozily moist as it would have been if made last month and fed religiously with brandy, but it will be good.

If you're not a huge fan of the traditional fruit cake/marzipan/icing combo, then why not try a Chocolate Christmas Cake?

It still contains dried fruit, but the predominant taste is chocolate. Lots and lots of glorious chocolate. It still looks wonderfully festive too.

And what would Christmas be without Stollen? I made these beauties as Christmas presents (amongst other goodies) a few years ago, and they were very well received. I'm told that it's not a traditional stollen if there's almond paste inside, but who cares when it tastes so good!

I've made a lot of mince pies in my time, but ever since Nigella Lawson wrote How To Be A Domestic Goddess—one of my all-time favourite books—I've been absolutely hooked on her Frangipane Mince Pies. Utterly delicious, especially if you go the whole hog and make her mincemeat and almond pastry. If you can bear to part with them, they make wonderful gifts.

Foodie Gifts

If you're feeling especially kind and generous, then giving a little basket of treats to your friends and family can be very rewarding.

Cookies make wonderful festive gifts, and I can't think of any cookie that screams Christmas! more than Cinnamon Star Cookies. Stacked up on a square of (food-safe) cellophane and tied with a ribbon, they'll look (and more importantly, taste!) the part.

Apricots in Amaretto are incredibly quick and easy to make and are guaranteed to impress in both looks and taste. They're also versatile and can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes.

Darkly rich Korova Cookies are another good choice for seasonal gift-giving. Provided you can summon enough will-power to avoid eating the whole batch before packaging them--they're wickedly good when still warm from the oven--they'll be a great hit with the lucky recipient.

And now for the jewel in the crown... Scottish Butter Tablet. This never fails to impress. Even people who initially declare it "too sweet" always gravitate back to the platter for "just another piece." And another, and another.... If packaged securely then it keeps very well indeed. I recommend giving it away in generous quantities as once the bag has been opened, everyone in the vicinity will want a piece!