Cranberry and red onion relish

I think I prefer a relish to a chutney – I like the combination of fruit and a vegetable, letting the remainder of the ingredients do their thing. The other huge plus is that it doesn't take long. A chutney is fruit with additional spices and aromatics – usually taking at least an hour to cook and you have to live with the aroma in your kitchen for quite a while.

Here goes :

Cranberry and red onion relish

300g dried cranberries

3 medium red onions, finely diced

3 tbsp olive oil

7 fl oz of Balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp of preserving sugar

celery salt and black pepper

6 jars – my discovered stash, they

are 7 sided and measure 5cms/1¾” in diameter

x 7cms/2¾” high

Sweat the onion in the olive oil. Add the cranberries, vinegar and sugar and simmer gently for 25/30 minutes until sticky and reduced, season with celery salt and black pepper.

This recipe will give you 780g of relish – I filled seven jars as per the photos that follow.

If you can't get hold the preserving sugar you can use granulated.

Easy peasy!

Here come the festive fotos ...

Now for some festive savoury stuff!

It might seem an odd contribution to the Christmas menu - all I can say is that if ever I'm asked to cook or bake for a gathering cheese scones are top of the list. However I must be getting something right when the range of M&S Party Food includes “Extra Mature Barber's Cheese & Ham Scones”!

This recipe works for me and my family and friends :

Cheese Scones

500g plain flour (1lb 2oz)

1 tsp salt

2 tsps bicarb

4½ tsps cream of tartar

125g (5oz) unsalted butter

75g (3oz) mature Cheddar cheese, grated

300ml milk

1 large egg, beaten

6.5cms/2½” fluted cutter

flour on the side to dip the cutter

Pre-heat oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7

Sift the flour, salt, bicarb and cream of tartar into a large mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until you've got breadcrumbs, add the grated cheese then add the milk – all of it – mix with a round bladed knife, roughly and then tip onto a floured surface and knead lightly so that you have a dough. It should be 3cms/1¼” thick. Remember to dip your cutter into the flour before cutting.

How many scones you get depends on the size of the cutter you use – using a 6.5cms/2½” fluted cutter you'll get 12 – they are huge. If you're intending to use as part of a Christmas Box/Brown paper package then you might want to consider using a smaller cutter – scaled down they'll look neater when bagged and tagged to go in your Box! 5/2” or 6cms/2¼” approx would be perfect.

Place on a baking sheet, dusted with flour, then brush with beaten egg. Bake for 10 minutes – risen and golden brown.

Give your family and friends what they love - not what the season dictates - a person can only suffer so many boxes of dates or the orange and lemon slices from yesteryear.

Hmm, perhaps a little festive relish to go with?

My variation – home-made …

… sauces

As I've said the fast option is to use a jar of salted caramel sauce (260g) – easily available at most large supermarkets – fold into the mixture to give a marbled effect.

However if you'd like to make your own salted caramel sauce here's my recipe :

Salted Caramel Sauce

110g/4oz unsalted butter

225g/8oz soft dark brown sugar

275ml/10 fl oz double cream (or whipping cream)

1½ tsp salt

Heat together the butter and sugar. When dissolved add the salt and whisk in the cream.

Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring.

One batch of the recipe produces approximately 539g of the sauce and you can portion and freeze for convenience. Yippee – more for another time!

Alternatively if you don't like salt in your caramel sauce, then here's the alternative :

Sticky Toffee Sauce

4oz unsalted butter

8oz soft brown sugar

2oz chopped stem ginger (optional)

10 fl oz double cream (or whipping cream)

Heat together the butter, sugar and ginger. When dissolved add the cream.

Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring.

The stem ginger in this recipe is optional but it makes a good addition when serving the sauce as an accompaniment to nursery puddings and ice cream.

One batch of either recipe produces approximately 539g of the sauce, or, over two portions to fold through ice cream. It can be frozen for convenience. A shop bought sauce is usually 260g per jar. I think you'll find that making your own sauce it is less sweet and really enhances the flavour of the vanilla ice cream.

Double yum!

Now for some festive savoury stuff ...

Finally, an ice cream!

It would be rude not to include an ice cream and so here's the old faithful :

Vanilla ice cream

Prep – 5 minutes

Total time – 5 minutes

plus freezing at least 6-8 hours

or until firm

Gives you 1.6 litres of ice cream is equal

to 18 scoops

1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk

1 x 600ml double cream

2tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Put the condensed milk, cream and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until the mixture is quite thick and stiff, like pipeable whipped cream.**

2. Spoon the mixture into a lidded freezer-proof container and free for at least 6-8 hours or until firm.

** My variation – take a jar of salted caramel sauce (260g) – easily available at most large supermarkets – fold into the mixture to give a marbled effect.

A no-churn ice cream that is delicious and so useful!

Then there's the crumble ...

… to go with the toffee apples!

This is a new version of crumble. Crumble is personal, some like it soggy, others not.

For those who don't like that uncooked line of crumble you always seem to get when baking straight on top of the fruit, then this is for you.

Baked separately, it adds another element to a pud – it freezes well too.

Serves 6-8

depending on portion size!

120g cold unsalted butter, cubed

120g plain flour

60g caster sugar

60g demerara sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Using a large mixing bowl, add the flour and butter and rub in until you have fine breadcrumbs, then add the sugar and combine. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet and leave to cool. Box and fridge when cool.

Here it is :

A buttery, biscuity crumble and no uncooked

layer in the middle!

Assembly is easy peasy - sprinkle on top of your warmed toffee apples when you want a sweet hit.

Crunch!

Another idea …

… for the Christmas holidays – apples again but with a zhuzh!

Here's a series of separate elements that can be used on their own or put together to suit the occasion – they have one thing in common – they are all easy peasy.

Toffee Apples

but not as you think of them

6-8 large Cox's apples, peeled, quartered and each

quarter sliced into 4

115g/4oz unsalted butter

125g/4½oz soft dark brown sugar

1 medium orange, zest and juice

Place the apples, butter, soft dark brown sugar, orange zest and juice into a large frying pan and cook for 10 minutes until tender.

The recipe given will give you 1.5k/3.3lbs of toffee apples. I box up in smaller quantities – it's more economical and so no waste - you can pull out whatever you need. It's whatever suits you.

The world really is your lobster with the toffee apples :

You can serve hot or cold over ice cream or custard

You can use as a base for crumble

You can serve on top of waffles with ice cream or cream

You can serve as a filling in a crepé

Here's what they look like :

I'm so sorry you can't smell the apples.

Less is definitely more – treacly sugar, fragrant and zesty oranges and the richness of the butter – finally the hero - Cox apples.

Now for the photos!

Here they are :

the cake in the tin

and out of the tin

a portion with the clotted cream

The bonus – you get a cake or a pudding, hot or cold!

This cake recipe does exactly what it says on the cake tin and then some - it has a delicious richness with a hint of cinnamon, just right. Sticky, treacly from the muscovado sugar, not as heavy as traditional Christmas Cake - I think it would be the perfect alternative!

The cooking apples don't taste like cooking apples, they are soft and taste like plump pieces of squidgy toffee apples.

More pluses :

this cake is good warm or cold – serve with cream,

custard, brandy butter, ice cream or clotted cream -

the choice is yours, whatever takes your fancy!

it keeps well. I made it on a Friday, wrapped in foil – twice.

By Tuesday it was as good as Friday – just that there were

only two portions left!

Scrumptious … well I think so!