With just four of us for Christmas lunch this year we decided to roast two small chickens.
That way we all get a leg each!
Also, plenty left over for Christmas dinner pie on Boxing Day!
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2025!
I recently needed a gluten free dessert recipe and none of the ones I had used before seemed to be just right. So I did a bit of internet research and stumbled across this recipe for a flourless chocolate cake. It had all the usual ingredients you would expect but also mascarpone cheese and as it happened I had a tub of it in the fridge. (A random purchase from when I thought "let's have tiramisu this weekend" but never got around to it.)
It was very easy to make but not so easy to get out of the tin! The instructions suggest it can be served warm or cold and to leave in the tin to cool for 30-40 minutes. I misinterpreted this and tried to remove it from the tin at this point when the cake was still slightly warm. It nearly disintegrated but luckily I managed to stick it back together on the cake stand with just an ever so slightly wonky appearance!
Lesson learned! If I wanted to serve it warm as a dessert I would bake it in something that it can be served in at the table and slice it straight from the dish. To get it onto a cake stand I would let it go completely cold before I tried to move it, which is clearly what I was supposed to do!!
It was however, delicious, very brownie-like and extremely rich, which is what you would expect with all that chocolate, butter and cream cheese in it! I served it in small slices with a poached pear alongside (see recipe here). It went down very well with our guests and I would definitely make it again.
Other similar cakes I have written about before include the chocolate amaretti cake, the flourless chocolate torte, chocolate and chestnut fondant and the gluten free black forest cake . Take your pick, they are all worth the effort (but not all of them are gluten free, check the recipe).
Update…….
I also noticed that Nigella Lawson made a very similar cake which contains amaretto during the recent repeat of her series "At my Table". Yum!! The recipe is available online on the BBC Food website. I shall try it myself and report back!
Ingredients
200g dark cooking chocolate (It doesn't need to have a high percentage of cocoa. I used SuperU own brand cooking chocolate. Cadbury's Bournville would work well.)
200g butter
3 eggs
175g golden caster sugar
100g mascarpone cheese (or soft cheese)
¼ tsp vanilla extract
100g ground almonds
30g cocoa powder
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° fan / gas mk 4. Line the base of a 20cm springform tin with baking paper.
Chop the chocolate and butter into cubes and melt using a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Leave to cool slightly.
Put the eggs and sugar into a large bowl and, using an electric hand whisk or stand mixer, whisk for several minutes until thick and creamy. Whisk in the mascarpone and vanilla until evenly combined.
Fold in the melted chocolate mixture until everything is an even colour. Fold in the ground almonds then sift in the cocoa powder and a pinch of salt and fold in.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Place it on a baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes. The top will crack and the cake will puff up, but bake until there is not too much of a wobble in the middle. (Mine took an extra five minutes.) It will sink back down but the cracks will remain.
Remove from the oven an allow to cool. Serve warm as a pudding or cold as a cake (see my notes in text).
You can, if you wish, dust it with more sifted cocoa powder before serving which would hide the cracks a bit. I found it chocolatey enough without this and nobody seemed to mind the cracks!
Cuts into 10 slices at least as it is very rich.
It's years since I cooked a red cabbage. Nick is not keen because he sometimes finds them too vinegary so I don't bother just for myself. However, it was by now December, Christmas is not that far around the corner so I thought "why not" and decided to give it a go. Then I started looking for recipes.
A lot of recipes had apple in the ingredients. I didn't have any apples so carried on looking and found this recipe which didn't include apple and also looked very straightforward. You simply put everything into a large saucepan and cook it on the hob for a very long time. No need for sweating the onions separately.
The recipe uses cider vinegar which I didn't have so I used the sweetened vinegar called Melfor which I thought might do instead. Also, in a nod to all those recipes that do include apple I added a couple of tablespoons of the apple compote that contains chunks of apple for the last few minutes of cooking. (We have it on our cereals and porridge so get through a lot of it.) Both added to the sweetness I think and it was very tasty. Everyone had seconds including Nick so it will definitely be on the menu this Christmas.
Ingredients
1 small or ½ a large red cabbage (roughly 900g)
1 large red onion
70g soft light brown sugar
70m cider vinegar or similar
150ml red wine
1 large knob of butter
1 cinnamon stick
2 tblsp apple compote or apple sauce (optional)
Method
Trim the cabbage, remove the core and shred finely.
Peel and thinly slice the onion.
Put all of the ingredients (except for the apple compote) into a very large saucepan and season with salt and pepper.
Heat gently until simmering, stirring often. Turn the heat right down, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick or burn on the bottom of the pan. Remove the lid and simmer for another 30 minutes or until the cabbage is nice and tender.
If using the apple, stir in just before serving and leave on the hob for a few minutes to make sure it's warmed through. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving. Serve hot.
This can be made one or two days before needed. Keep in the fridge and reheat either on the hob or in the microwave until piping hot.
Serves 6-8, depending on how much you like red cabbage!
