Christmas spirit is a state-of-mind. I hope today’s newsletter – a trio of sweet things – will help you get there. My Burnt Clementine Cheesecake glows orange with that festive fruit; we have mince pie toadstools; and my good friend and great cook Ryan McCann (formerly of Taco Queen) shares his Christmas Ice Cream recipe with us, humming with brandy and pieces of mince pie or Christmas pud. Wishing you all the comfort and all of the canapés.
I want to say a massive THANK YOU for being a subscriber and a supporter of this newsletter this year. I hope December has been treating you well. I can’t lie to you folks, it’s been a challenge for me to recipe-test the last month or so, because my home has been covered in building dust and I spent a good two weeks without a fridge. The outdoors is nature’s refrigerator, that’s one thing I learned. I remain committed though and so I persisted, and today I bear tidings of Christmassy puds. I hope you will find them delicious.
By this point if you are cooking for people this Christmas, either on the day itself or around it, you have probably planned what some of your courses are going to be. If you’re still not sure on dessert, and you want to do something different from the usual figgy pudding, pavlova or trifle, I hope one of these recipes might appeal to you.
Cheesecake rules because it’s sweet, tangy and rich without being cloying. In this recipe, the clementine topping adds a real refreshing note. It’s a good prep-ahead pud for the season, since you can make it a day ahead and just decorate right before serving. I’m into burning citrus at the moment because it looks cool but mostly because it tastes cool. I hope you agree!
In other news, I wrote a piece about the state of food education in Britain for Vittles’ Schools Week, an excellent series that’s part of their Food and Policy season. You can read it here if you like!
AND the good folks at Northern Pasta Co have given me their entire range of delightfully chewy, British-grown pasta to giveaway on Instagram, if eating a lot of pasta is a thing you’d enjoy. I can’t wait to see what the winner cooks with it.
Wishing you a gloriously Merry Christmas!!!!!!!
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