I may try these next time - similar to the traditional mince pie, but with an
almond frangipane topping!
After making my usual mince pie recipe for Christmas, I still
have plenty of delicious little tarts remaining to see us through New Year!
Yes, I make a lot because that's what my mother always did back home in
Merry Old England. After all, it was only polite if a neighbor or friend stopped
by during the holiday season to offer a glass of sherry and a mince pie!
The sweet little pies/tarts filled with 'alcoholic mincemeat', just fruits no
meat, were a tradition, as was fruitcake topped with almond paste (similar
to marzipan) and thick white royal icing forked up to resemble snow.
The addition of a sprig of holly, tiny bottle-brush tree, ceramic snowman etc.
turned a plain dark fruitcake into the loved-by-all Brits, well most of them,
Christmas Cake, and everyone's Mum hoped to win the title "Best Fruitcake'
in the family or neighborhood!
Sugar overloads were never a concern when baking for Christmas back
in those days! I guess we were better at pulling on our wellies and
mackintoshes and "walking it off" after a slap-up meal, heading up the
sodden country lanes in rain and wind, but rarely snow down south in Devon.
With no central heating it was always chilly in the house unless you
sat close to the hearth, so a little extra fat was needed to stay warm
in that damp climate.
At dinner on the 25th there was always the steamed Christmas Pudding
(or plum pudding), topped with brandy butter or clotted cream, or a
pour-over of rich, hot vanilla custard. . . . . after being doused in more
brandy and set alight, often a bit scary! A good portion of sugar and fat
in the Christmas 'pud', but nobody talked about calories or passed
up at least a small portion that I recall!
For me, those childhood Christmases were the best - the ones revolving
around hours in the kitchen learning from Mum how to put on a real
traditional Christmas year after year.
So, are you eating leftovers or planning to bake again for New Year's Eve?
Once again, due to COVID, sadly there will be no 'First Night '
celebration downtown here. We are left up to our own means to plan
something. For us it won't be much. We'll most likely be here alone,
nibbling good cheese and crackers and those Christmas leftovers, along
with a bottle of Champagne as we watch something dramatic or
criminal on the television!!!
New Year's Day? Walking off the nibbles and bubbly, writing a plan
for the coming months - but not really RESOLUTIONS, they are broken
too easily - and still hoping for at least a dusting of snow sometime
before winter is over.
Staying home might take up much of our time in the coming few
months, but definitely hoping for travel possibilities come spring!
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