Christmas tray
PREP TIME 1 hour incl chilling time COOKING TIME 20 minutes SERVES 4-6 INGREDIENTS
● 250ml brandy cream ● 6 clementines with leaves ● 6 decorate-your-own gingerbread men
For the Christmas pudding baubles
● 350g leftover Christmas pudding or rich fruit cake ● 100g dark/bittersweet chocolate (70 per cent cocoa), broken ● 300g white chocolate, broken ● red and gold oil-based food colouring ● red, gold and silver edible dust (optional)
For the walnut and cinnamon mince pie pinwheels
● plain flour, for dusting ● 320g puff pastry dough ● 2 tbsp melted butter ● 1 tbsp ground cinnamon ● grated zest of 1 clementine ● 50g walnuts, chopped ● 1 tbsp brandy ● 400g mincemeat ● 1 egg, beaten ● 2 tbsp icing sugar
Equipment
● a round metal tray works well with the sparkly Christmas pudding baubles ● a few cocktail sticks/ toothpicks/ skewers ● icing pen
METHOD
1 To make the Christmas pudding baubles, mash the leftover Christmas pudding in a bowl. Melt the dark/bittersweet chocolate in the microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring in between, then pour into the mashed Christmas pudding and mix thoroughly. Working quickly, roll out ping-pong ball-sized balls and place in the fridge for around 20 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate in the microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring in between, then divide into three warm bowls. Add red colouring to one bowl, gold to another and leave one bowl plain.
3 Insert a cocktail stick/toothpick into the pudding balls and dip each one into one of the bowls of coloured melted chocolate, then place on a wire rack to set. You should have three sets of different coloured balls. Once almost dry, you can dust with the matching edible dust to give them a shimmer, if you like – use silver on the white ones. Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
4 To make the walnut and cinnamon mince pie pinwheels, start by preheating the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan/Gas Mark 7.
5 On a lightly-dusted work surface, roll out the pastry into a rectangular shape about 3mm thick. Next, brush the surface with the melted butter, before sprinkling over the ground cinnamon, half the clementine zest and the chopped walnuts.
Mix the brandy with the mincemeat/mince pie filling until it’s fully incorporated, then spoon over the pastry in an even layer.
6 With the longest side nearest to you, roll the pastry into a log, brushing the final edge of the pastry with the beaten egg to stick it together. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes (this makes it easier to cut).
7 Use a sharp knife to cut the log into 1.5cm ( 1⁄2in) slices and place onto the lined baking sheet. Brush the remaining beaten egg over the top.
8 Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
9 To assemble the feast, put the brandy cream in a bowl, sprinkle with a little clementine zest and place on the tray. Arrange the decorated gingerbread men, mince pie pinwheels and Christmas pudding baubles. Serve with mulled wine or a spiced, fruit punch.
COOK’S TIP This Christmas tray is designed to be versatile, so you can add any festive biscuits or sweet pastries that you like.