The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
SWEET LEFTOVERS
HOW TO STORE THEM
Store leftover mince pies, cake, pudding and panettone separately in airtight containers at cool room temperature, except the pudding which should be kept chilled.
HOW TO TRANSFORM THEM
➤ It goes without saying that panettone makes the best bread and butter pudding and trifle and most of us have cottoned on to pairing Christmas pudding and cake with a creamy or piquant cheese.
➤ My other favourite festive match is mince pies with chocolate. To strike the perfect balance I like a mix of creamy milk and bitter dark chocolate to contrast harmoniously with the spiciness of the mince pies.
➤ Any sweet leftovers can be crumbled finely and mixed with softened vanilla cream with brilliant results.
MINCE PIE AND MARZIPAN ROCKY ROAD
Rocky road is a brilliant way to reinvigorate those stocking-filler odds and ends. Mini-mince pies are particularly good here due to the higher ratio of pastry to filling and their cute appearance, but any size will work well. Add cubes of nougat, small chocolates and broken biscuits, or some salted caramel sauce.
METHOD
➤ Gently melt 100g of butter, one tbsp of golden syrup, 300g of milk chocolate and 150g of dark chocolate in a large saucepan, stirring until melted and well combined. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in four to eight mince pies (if they’re very small they look attractive if left whole, otherwise break into smaller pieces), 100g of diced golden marzipan and diced Turkish delight. Spoon into a lightly oiled 20cm square cake tin then cover and chill for three hours or overnight until set. Lift out of the tin and cut into 16 squares to serve.