Gingerbread men

Is it possible to enjoy Christmas without gingerbread present in some form? Unlike last year, I didn’t have the time (or inclination) to make a huge gingerbread house so decided on gingerbread men.

Here is Gingerbreadland’s entry for the next Olympic synchronised swimming team event:


If you’re admiring the rather cool silver glitter plate they are resting on, it was a Christmas present from my nephew (The Boy Wonder).


There is something so cute about gingerbread men. I always eat their limbs first saving the head until last. After I’d taken the photo I realised that this poor chap is getting kicked in an unfortunate place:


These gingerbread men were of a theatrical nature. Here they are re-enacting the famous scene from Hamlet. Alas, poor Yorrick......for he is made of gingerbread and is soon to be eaten....


Ingredients:
This quantity made me 18 medium gingerbread men:
125g unsalted butter
100g dark muscovado sugar
4 tablespoons golden syrup
300g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons ground ginger, I used loads more, so perhaps the quantity should be “as much as you dare!”

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.
- Line two biscuit trays with baking paper.
- Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan.
- Mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger.
- Beat in the melted butter mix to make a stiff dough.
- Roll out half the dough between two sheets of baking paper to a thickenss of approx 0.5cm. Work quickly as the dough stiffens.
- If the dough stiffens and won’t re-roll, it can be revived by kneading in a dash of warm water.
- Use whichever cutter you choose and place biscuits on prepared trays. The dough does not expand that much on cooking so you can place the biscuits fairly close together.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until firm and a little dark at the edges.
- Leave to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate as required.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

New ways with old favourites...

Whenever I make a celebration cake or anything involving sponge, you are virtually guaranteed it will be made with Genoese sponge, the recipe for which can be found here.

This time I went for a snowman theme. I think the cold winter light we’re having at the moment works rather well in this photo:


What is the collective noun for snowmen? A slush?

I used glace icing for these as it dries smooth and icy looking. It’s very simple to make and is simply icing sugar and water. Add the water sparingly as a little goes a long way.


Genoese sponge is yummy. It’s dense texture and crumbliness is lovely to eat and it keeps for several days too.

Charlotte Royale

Of all the things I have ever made, I must confess this is the one that spooked me the most. I have had the recipe for months and never quite had the guts to make it – but, after deciding that it would be a spectacular dessert for Christmas Day, I realised that I had to confront my fears and get on with it. Thank goodness I did, for I consider this my masterpiece!!!

It’s so pretty!


So why the nerves? Well, there just seemed so much that could go wrong. It requires three Swiss rolls (what were the chances that all three would roll nicely?) and a rather involved custard (what were the chances it would be lump free?) and then bringing it all together with cream to make a perfect dome (what were the chances that it would be perfect?)



The custard is beautiful and so tasty; here it is before I added it to the cream and fruit:


Like most complicated tasks if you break this recipe down into the component parts it quickly becomes manageable. The Swiss rolls can be made days in advance. The whole dish can be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge overnight.

I love that the slices still show the Swiss roll and – surprisingly – it cut easily. But don’t take it out from the fridge before you want it.


This is a special occasion dessert for no other reason than it’s huge! The Bavarian cream recipe makes approximately two litres and when you start adding fruit to that you can see that you end up with a big dessert! The bowl you assemble it in should be bigger than two litres as the Swiss roll lining takes up some volume.

One bowl prepared and ready to receive goodies:


If you have the time and the inclination then I could not recommend this recipe more highly. It was delicious. The filling is not overly sweet but the Swiss roll is, so they compliment and balance each other perfectly.


The filling is so smooth and creamy but light. Exactly what was needed after a heavy Christmas dinner.

Happy Christmas!

Ingredients:
For the Swiss Roll - You will need three Swiss rolls. The ingredients below are for one. I recommend making one Swiss roll at a time.
3 eggs
125g caster sugar
90g self raising flour
Icing sugar for dusting
160g jam, whichever flavour you wish. I used raspberry

For the custard:
6 leaves or 20g gelatine
600ml whole milk (the dish contains 8 egg yolks, what’s the point in using low fat milk!)
2 vanilla pods
8 egg yolks
65g icing sugar

For the cream:
475ml whipping cream
35g icing sugar
250g fruit – I used raspberries and blackberries
Optional: 2 tablespoons of liqueur of your choice. I didn’t bother.


How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.
- Lightly grease a Swiss roll tin (30cm x 25cm and 2cm deep) and line with baking paper. NB. I tried non-stick foil but it didn’t work as well.
- Beat the eggs until they are thick and pale. This will take several minutes and you mustn’t be tempted to rush as this is how the air and lightness gets into the sponge.
- Continuing to beat the eggs, gradually spoon in the sugar. Beat until the mixture looks puffy and light.
- Sieve the flour into the batter and fold in.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the sponge is light golden and springy to the touch. Mine took 12 minutes. It is important not to overcook the sponge.
- While the sponge is cooking, lay a clean tea towel on the work top. Also cut a sheet of baking paper to tip the Swiss roll onto and dust this with icing sugar.
- As soon as you remove the Swiss roll from the oven turn it out onto the clean piece of baking papery and remove the backing paper.
- Carefully roll the sponge up from the short end, rolling the paper inside the roll. Use clothes pegs to secure the ends.
- Leave for 5 minutes on a wire rack.
- After 5 minutes, unroll the sponge and leave to cool for 3-5 minutes.
- Spread with the jam and re-roll. The jam is much easier to spread if you beat it with a spoon and soften it up.
- Keep in an airtight tin until required.
- Line a bowl of approximately three litres capacity with clingfilm. It sticks better if you grease the bowl with some oil. Ensure that the clingfilm overhangs the bowl.
- Slice the Swiss rolls into 1.5cm slices and line the bowl placing the slices as closely as possible so no filling can seep through. Keep some slices back to finish off the top (the base on turning out).
- Protect and hold the Swiss roll in place by turning the excess clingfilm back into the bowl.
- Refrigerate until needed.
- Now make the custard. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water so that they are covered. If you’re using powdered gelatine add to 3 tablespoons of cold water.
- Cut the vanilla pods open and scrape out the seeds. Add both pod and seeds to a saucepan containing the milk.
- Heat gently and then add the gelatine. If you’re using leaves make sure you squeeze out any water.
- Stirring all the time, bring the milk gently to the boil. This takes a long time but don’t try and rush it by upping the heat.
- Remove from the heat and put to one side.
- Whisk together the egg yolks and icing sugar until smooth.
- Remove the vanilla pods from the milk.
- Pour the egg yolk mixture through a sieve into the milk and continue to stir constantly.
- Stir over a gentle heat until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon i.e. without running straight off. Again, this takes some time and must not be rushed otherwise you’ll end up with cooked eggy bits in your custard.
- Pour into a bowl and leave to cool to room temperature.
- When the custard is cool you can refrigerate it but be aware that the gelatine will start to set. I did refrigerate it because that’s what the recipe said, but when I make it again I wouldn’t do this. If your custard does set too quickly you can always make it creamy again by whisking. It’s important that the custard is creamy so that it folds in nicely.
- Now make the cream. Whisk the cream until it just starts to hold its shape.
- Add the icing sugar and whisk until you get soft peaks.
- Fold in the fruit and liqueur, if using.
- Fold the cream and fruit into the custard.
- Spoon into the Swiss roll lined bowl and use the remaining slices of Swiss roll to cover the top.
- Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until needed.
- To unmould, take off the top layer of clingfilm and turn out onto the serving plate. Remove the clingfilm that lined the bowl.
- Garnish with whipped cream if desired – I didn’t bother.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Things to do with mincemeat.....2008

Firstly, in case you want even more ideas, things I did with mincemeat last year can be found here!

As ever, my glorious mincemeat was made by the CCM’s (Caked Crusader’s Ma) own fair hand using Delia Smith’s recipe. To quote Bruce Forsyth, “didn’t she do well?”

This year I have used mincemeat in three ways and although all three use shortcrust pastry and mincemeat, they all somehow taste different.

To start, here are star topped mince tarts. These are quite traditional but by having less pastry on top, they are lighter and allow the mincemeat to take a starring role.


Is it just me, or can anyone else see that the way the star drapes over the mincemeat looks just like Patrick Star (of Spongebob fame) lying on top of his rock? You have no idea how much time I spent surfing the net for a picture of Patrick on his rock to prove this but couldn’t find one.

The reason I started thinking about Patrick was because the first star cutter I used looked more like a starfish. You can see it in this photo – it’s the middle one in the far left column:


I find these pretty. I like the clean, unfussy lines of them:


The second way of using mincemeat came from one of my Swiss cookbooks and I’ve never seen the idea anywhere else – mincemeat rolls:



You roll shortcrust pastry out into a rectangle, completely cover it with mincemeat and then roll it up. After chilling (the mincement roll, not you!) it cuts beautifully into slices and you bake it.

Here they are raw ...ok, I realise they look like Vincent Van Gogh threw a wild party and everyone got carried away!

The third version is frangipane topped mince pies. This is a standard mince pie but instead of a pastry top, the tart is given an almond sponge layer.

These were very popular and the combination of mincemeat and frangipane worked brilliantly. I expected the mincemeat and frangipane to stay separate layers but you can see from this photo that they melded together to create a gloriously succulent filling:

The CCM's mincemeat is juicy stuff - just look at the plump fruit waiting to burst with sweet goodness when eaten:

Shortcrust pastry recipe

Ingredients:
For the shortcrust pastry (I found this amount makes approx 16 tarts but it depends on how thick you have the pastry and the size of your bun tin etc):
230g plain flour
160g unsalted butter
4 tablespoons icing sugar
2 egg yolk

How to make:

- Put the flour and butter into a bowl and rub together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs either using your fingertips, or a food processor.
- Add the icing sugar and stir in.
- Add the egg yolk and bring the dough together until it is smooth, glossy and soft.
- Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before you need to use it – this relaxes the dough and stops the cooked pastry from shrinking.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Do not eat yet – it’s raw!


Star topped mince pies

Ingredients:
Shortcrust pastry – recipe set out above. 1 quantity will yield approx 16 tarts
8-10 tablespoons mincemeat (approx half a tablespoon for each tart)
Splash of milk, for glazing
2 tablespoons golden caster sugar

How to make:

- Use the appropriate amount of the shortcrust pastry (recipe above) for how many tarts you wish to make.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- If you trust the non-stick of your patty tin there is no need to grease it as the pastry contains so much butter. If in doubt I’d say you’re best off greasing it as it would be too heartbreaking to ruin your tarts getting them out of the tin.
- Roll the pastry out between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 0.5cm.
- Using a cutter cut out 16 pastry discs and line the patty tin. Re-roll the pastry as required – it’s quite good natured and will take many re-rolls.
- Spoon the mincemeat into the pastry discs. The mincemeat bubbles when it cooks so to keep the pastry edge nice and clean don’t put too much mincemeat in. I found half to three quarters of a tablespoon was ideal.
- Cut out stars and top each mince pie with one.
- Brush the stars with milk and then sprinkle over the golden caster sugar.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden and looks cooked.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing the mince pies. This is because the pastry is fragile on coming out of the oven.
- Remove from the tin and leave to cool completely.
- These will keep for a week in an airtight tin.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.


Mincemeat rolls


Ingredients:
Shortcrust pastry – recipe set out above. 1 quantity will yield 2 rolls from which you will get approx 20 slices)
1 jar of mincemeat (standard jam jar size)

How to make:

- Use the appropriate amount of the shortcrust pastry (recipe above) for how many rolls you wish to make.
- Cut the pastry in two as it is more manageable to roll out a smaller amount.
- Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking paper until it is about 0.5cm thick. Try to roll it so you end up with a neat rectangle.
- Spoon mincemeat all over the pastry leaving a gap on the long edge.
- Roll the pastry up using the paper to help you.
- Wrap tightly in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Repeat with the other piece of pastry.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Line two biscuit trays with baking paper.
- Remove the mincemeat roll from the fridge and cut into slices 1-1.5 cm thick. I found that a serrated bread knife gave the cleanest cut.
- Place the slices on the baking trays a little apart. They will expand on baking but not much.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and cooked.
- Cool for 10 minutes on their trays before using a spatula to transfer them to the wire rack to cool completely.
- These will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Frangipane mince pies

Follow the ingredients and method for the star topped mince pies set out above but, before baking make the frangipane topping.

Ingredients
For the frangipane topping:
100g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g ground almonds
1 level tablespoon plain flour
1 teaspoon almond extract
For decoration: handful of flaked almonds

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.
- Follow the recipe for the star topped mince pies until you have the pastry cases filled with mincemeat in the patty tin.
- Now make the frangipane topping. Place the butter and sugar in the food processor and blend until soft and creamy.
- Add the eggs and blitz some more until well combined.
- Add the ground almonds, flour and almond extract and blitz again.
- Spoon the frangipane onto the mincemeat and then, if desired, scatter some flaked almonds on top.
- Bake for approximately 2o minutes or until the pastry and frangipane look golden and cooked.
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Classic Swiss roll

I was nervous about making these – specifically the rolling stage - but they couldn’t have been easier. I made four and recommend that you concentrate on them one at a time as they are quick to make but you have to do things at certain times and to have more than one on the go might get confusing. I made four in quick succession and it didn’t even take 2 hours.

Here is one Swiss roll rolled up and cooling but not yet filled. I found that clothes pegs keep all the paper in place and make it easy to lift:


Rolling the Swiss roll straight from the oven, but without the filling really helps. When you unroll it, you can see that there is a natural lip that makes the re-rolling with the filling a doddle:


Here’s one rolled and filled but not tidied up yet:


Why did I make four? Oh, I have plans for them....updates to follow...watch this space!

Ingredients:
3 eggs
125g caster sugar
90g self raising flour
Icing sugar for dusting
160g jam, whichever flavour you wish. I used raspberry

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.
- Lightly grease a Swiss roll tin (30cm x 25cm and 2cm deep) and line with baking paper. NB. I tried non-stick foil but it didn’t work as well.
- Beat the eggs until they are thick and pale. This will take several minutes and you mustn’t be tempted to rush as this is how the air and lightness gets into the sponge.
- Continuing to beat the eggs, gradually spoon in the sugar. Beat until the mixture looks puffy and light.
- Sieve the flour into the batter and fold in.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the sponge is light golden and springy to the touch. Mine took 12 minutes. It is important not to overcook the sponge.
- While the sponge is cooking, lay a clean tea towel on the work top. Also cut a sheet of baking paper to tip the Swiss roll onto and dust this with icing sugar.
- As soon as you remove the Swiss roll from the oven turn it out onto the clean piece of baking papery and remove the backing paper.
- Carefully roll the sponge up from the short end, rolling the paper inside the roll. Use clothes pegs to secure the ends.
- Leave for 5 minutes on a wire rack.
- After 5 minutes, unroll the sponge and leave to cool for 3-5 minutes.
- Spread with the jam and re-roll. The jam is much easier to spread if you beat it with a spoon and soften it up.
- If you’re serving it as a Swiss roll trim the ends to tidy it up.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Christmas spice and treacle traybake

This cake would be lovely any time over the winter period but there is something festive about ginger, spices and black treacle. I guarantee nothing will make your kitchen smell like Christmas – in a good way - quicker than baking this!

Here’s the baked cake before it is transformed into a winter wonderland:


I love the flecks of ginger in the icing:


I see this as a Christmas health food and am sure it has restorative powers to help us all over the festive period of indulgence. Ginger is well known to aid digestion and calm rebelling stomachs, but don’t just take my word for it – Universities are backing me up!

Did anyone say “kitsch”?


Due to the high content of black treacle you might find that the cake sinks as it cools, although mine didn’t. Doesn’t matter a bit, in fact it’s almost desirable as the cake will be stickier and more gorgeous. One thing I would advise if your cake does sink is to flip it upside down before you ice; that way, you ensure a nice smooth flat surface for the icing.


I love this photo; it looks like all the crumbs are climbing up the right hand side of the cake and racing each other across the icing. Or maybe my medication is just wearing off?


The cake is ultra-moist but not at all heavy. It is a delight to eat alongside a cup of tea. The spices are flavoursome but not overpowering. I always think that black treacle is an unmistakable ingredient - it adds such depth of flavour to a cake.



Ingredients:
For the cake:
225g unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
225g black treacle
300g self raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
1 teaspoon ground allspice
4 eggs
4 tablespoons milk (whole or semi skimmed)
3 bulbs stem ginger, finely chopped

For the icing:
150g icing sugar
4 tablespoons stem ginger syrup from the jar
1 bulb stem ginger, finely chopped

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Line a traybake tin (approx 30cm x 23cm, 2cm deep) with non stick foil. If you don’t have this, use baking paper.
- Put all the cake ingredients in a mixer and mix until you achieve a well combined smooth batter. This will take about 4-5 minutes.
- Pour into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out cleanly. Mine took 45 minutes.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack. You can make this cake the day before serving, but I recommend only making the icing on the day that you will serve.
- Take the cake out of the tin before icing. This will allow the icing to run down the sides, which I always think looks lovely.
- To make the icing mix together the icing sugar and syrup. If the icing is too thick add more syrup, or if you prefer, some water. You’re aiming for a glossy, smooth, pliable but not too runny mix.
- Beat in the chopped ginger. You can, if you prefer sprinkle the ginger over the icing when it’s on the cake but I find it too sticky to guarantee even distribution.
- Pour/spread over the cake.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Christmas Fruitcake

I feel guilty that, as the Caked Crusader, I can’t abide fruit cake. Never have liked it, but members of my family do and, in truth, I rather enjoy making it. It’s a satisfying cake as it won’t be rushed and always works. It is also incredibly easy to make.

Like last year, I have made my trusted Australian Women’s Weekly fruitcake but have made two changes. Firstly, I have made it in a round tin (OK, not exactly revolutionary), secondly I have used chopped crystallised ginger in place of one of the fruits – just pick your least favourite fruit ingredient and blue pencil it.

The most fun part of this recipe, because it feels so odd, is when the cake comes out of the oven. Straightaway you have to brush the additional brandy over the cake and then wrap the whole thing (the cake is still in the tin) tightly in tin foil. For the rest of the day whenever I wander past my mummified cake I can’t resist feeling the foil to see how hot it still is! It takes hours to cool down – it will take overnight.

The cake is very moist – this photo shows how the brandy seeps into the cake:


As is the way with a Christmas cake, it won’t be cut until the big day so I’ll post pictures of cut slices when that happens. My Christmas cake is always served sans marzipan and icing because it only gets picked off and left on the plate. I asked the CCD (Caked Crusader’s Da), who is the main consumer of Christmas cake, whether I should put some whole blanched almonds on the top for decoration and he looked at me like I was insane. Fruitcake for him is just that.

Although I’ve called this Christmas fruitcake it would better be named Year cake for me, as the CCD is pretty much the only one who eats it and he makes it last throughout the year. The cake keeps perfectly in an airtight container and doesn’t dry out at all.

Post Christmas update:

The cake has now been cut and declared a success. The consensus was that the addition of ginger was most welcome. As always I served the cake simply with just a frill and a message!

The happy snowman frill is very cute:


You can see that the cake is moist and packed with fruit:

Ingredients:
250g sultanas
250g raisins
140g chopped seeded prunes
110g currants
125g chopped seeded dates
110g chopped crystallised ginger
60g chopped glacé cherries
125ml brandy
250g unsalted butter
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
200g brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
4 eggs
225g plain flour
75g self raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
60ml brandy for brushing on the hot cake

How to make:

- At least one day before you make the cake, place all the fruit (i.e. the first 7 items on the ingredients list) into a large bowl and pour on the brandy. Cover the bowl and, whenever you think of it, give the fruit a stir so it evenly absorbs the brandy.
- Preheat oven to 150°C/fan oven 130°C/300°F/ Gas mark 2 and line either a 19cm square tin or 23cm round tin with greaseproof paper. As the baking time is so long, use two or three layers of paper and make sure that the paper comes up approximately 5cm above the edge of the tin. This protects the cake from burning.
- Beat the butter, lemon rind and sugar in a bowl until well combined.
- Add the honey and beat until combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. By the time you reach the final egg the mix may start to curdle but don’t worry – nothing bad will happen! If curdling upsets you add a little of the flour to counter it.
- Stir in the fruit and then stir in the flours and spice.
- Spoon into the cake tin and even the surface.
- Bake for approximately 3 hours or until a skewer comes out cleanly. I’d recommend checking the cake after 2 ½ hours. If the top is colouring too much, put a sheet of baking paper over it. Mine took exactly 2 hours 45 minutes.
- This is where the recipe differs to other fruit cakes you may have made. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, brush on the extra brandy.
- Wrap the cake, still in the tin, tightly in foil. This ensures the cake extra moist. Leave to cool completely over night.
- The next day, remove the cake from the tin and wrap in fresh greaseproof paper and foil. Keep in an airtight container until you are ready to use.
- Decorate as desired.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

I’ve been tagged...

.....by Maria who has a site called The Gourmet Challenge.

Apparently the rules of tagging are as follows:

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on the blog
3. Write 6 random things about yourself
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

OK, so 6 random facts. Here goes:

1. I am the proud guardian (note: guardian, not owner) of two goldfish – a Red Cap Oranda called Philip and a Chinese Fan-tail Moor called Marlowe. Marlowe was recently constipated to the point of being near death (it’s more serious for goldfish than people) and I learned that peas are a fish laxative. Marlowe is now fine!

2. The names of my fish are a big clue as to one of my non-cake based obsessions. My favourite Philip Marlowe lines, which I’d like to have the guts to use when people start telling me a boring story, are “skim it, I only want the cream” and “shake it up and pour it, I haven’t got all day”. I love his hat too. And everything else about him....sigh.

3. I am a lifetime member of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

4. My favourite novel is either Catch 22 or 1984 – I’m undecided. But it’s odd that they both have numbers in the title.

5. I have no self control where lychees are concerned. I can eat them till I’m almost ill.

6. I love the “World’s Strongest Man” competition and have watched it on TV every Christmas since it was televised. It just seems so much effort for such futility and for that reason, it is to be admired. Curses, by setting up the link, I've spoiled it for myself and seen who wins this year (it's not shown live). If you're a fan do not click on the link. Repeat, step away from the link.

So, now I must pass the baton over to 6 worthy others. I pick:

Jessie of Cakespy
Trashalou of Trashcan
Beth of Jam and Clotted Cream
Sam of Antics of a Cycling Cook
Katie of Apple & Spice
Emily of Sugar Plum

Steamed golden syrup sponge pudding

Don’t get me wrong, I have love in my heart for all steamed puddings but I always feel a little bit sorry for the others because they obviously all really want to be golden syrup sponge puddings. Put simply, there is the golden syrup sponge, and then there’s the rest.

The golden syrup sponge is perfection in pudding form. It has everything: soft, light sponge, sinful sweetness and that sticky moist syrupy topping that bakes into the sponge making it almost too moist. With every mouthful you feel happy warmth spreading in your stomach and it makes you forget that your hips are probably an inch bigger than they were before you started eating. Just look at the sticky splodges of golden syrup and tell me you’re not feeling the love:


Even better news is that this perfect pud is easy to make. Putting the batter together is the work of minutes and, once in the steamer, your work is done!

This pudding has to be treated with respect and should only be served with proper thick custard. None of this crème anglais nonsense!



Ingredients:
115g unsalted butter
115g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)
115g self raising flour
1-2 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons golden syrup

How to make:

- Butter an 850ml (1.5 pint) pudding basin.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Gradually beat in the eggs and vanilla adding some of the flour if the mix looks like it might curdle.
- Fold in the flour and enough milk to make a dropping consistency.
- Spoon the golden syrup into the bottom of the pudding basin.
- Spoon the batter into the pudding basin and secure the lid. If your basin does not have a lid cover with greaseproof paper and foil, pleated to allow room for the sponge to rise.
- Steam for 1.5-2 hours, a little more will do no harm.
- Turn out onto a serving plate and serve hot with custard.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.