Great British Food Christmas 2024

4. Whip 200ml/7fl oz/scant 1 cup of the cream with the sugar and vanilla until it will just hold its shape. 5. Fold the melted chocolate into the whipped cream until combined, creating a rich chocolate mousse. 6. Cut the Swiss ( jelly) roll into 1cm/ 1/2in-thick slices and use two thirds of them to line the bottom and sides of a deep trifle bowl. 7. Pour half of the orange-juice mixture over the Swiss-roll layer. 8. Spread the chocolate mousse over the cake. 9. Arrange the segmented oranges over the mousse, keeping a few back for garnish. 10. Add another layer of Swiss-roll slices, then drizzle them with the remaining orange-juice mixture. 11. Pour the custard all over, spreading it out evenly. 12. Whip the remaining cream until it will just hold its shape (the soft peaks stage). 13. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the remaining chocolate to create chocolate curls for decoration. Or simply grate it. 14. Top the trifle with the whipped cream, remaining orange segments and a sprinkle of chocolate. 15. Chill in the fridge, preferably for 2–3 hours, or overnight, which gives the dessert time to set. (Although, it will still taste terrific if you have to eat it straight away.) BrownSugarMeringue, RoastedPear&Salted Caramel Sauce Amelon ballermakes a great pear corer – halve your ripe pears and use it to scoop out the seeded bit from the core. If you don’t have amelon baller, a teaspoonwill do. Serves: 4 Prepare: 30minutes Cook: 2 hours 30minutes 2 ripe pears, peeled, halved and cored 25g/1oz unsalted butter, melted 1 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar 40g/11/2oz/ 1/3 cup hazelnuts, skins off 100ml/31/2fl oz/scant 1/2 cup double (heavy) cream For themeringue 2 large eggwhites 55g/2oz/ 1/3 cup caster (superfine) sugar 55g/2oz/ 1/4 cup light brown soft sugar, sifted to remove hard lumps For the caramel sauce 25g/1oz/2 tbsp dark brownmuscovado sugar 25g/1oz salted butter 50ml/13/4fl oz/31/2 tbsp double (heavy) cream 1. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 4. 2. Arrange the pear halves on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon of caster (superfine) sugar. Roast for 20 minutes, or until tender and lightly caramelized. Leave to cool. Lower the oven to 120°C/100°C fan/235°F/ Gas 1/2–1. 3. To make the meringue, in an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites to stiff peak. A spoonful at a time, with the motor running, add both of the sugars. Keep whisking until you have a lovely, shiny meringue. 4. Spoon the meringue into four equal portions on a lined baking sheet. Use the back of a spoon to create a well in the centre of each. Bake the meringues for 2 hours, then turn off the oven and leave the door slightly ajar to let the meringues cool and dry out. 5. Shake the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan on a high heat until lightly toasted. Remove the pan from the heat, tip the hazelnuts on to a cold plate and leave to cool. Once cold, roughly chop, then set aside. 6. To make the caramel sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan on a medium–high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until smooth. Leave to cool. 7. Whip the 100ml/31/2fl oz/scant 1/2 cup of double (heavy) cream until it will just hold its shape. 8. To serve, put the meringues on to four dessert plates. Spoon on the whipped cream, then add a roasted pear, and drizzle over the caramel sauce. Finally, sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts. Christmas Cake Ice Cream Few children like Christmas pudding, but I’ve nevermet one who didn’t like ice cream. About forty years ago, I started using the leftover Christmas cake or lump of Christmas pudding in Christmas dessert mademostly of vanilla ice cream. Now everyone expects this version of Christmas “pud”. Some years the ice cream is flavouredwith leftovers, sometimes I just buy a jar of mincemeat and use that. Sometimes it’s crumbled mince pies. But the essential thing is to get enough of that Christmas flavour – so taste as youmix, and add a bit of powdered cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and/or ginger, if you need to. Serves: 8 Prepare: 10minutes Freeze: 6 hours 1 litre/35fl oz shop-bought soft-scoop vanilla ice cream About 350g/12oz leftover Christmas cake, pudding ormince pies, roughly crumbled 3 tbsp brandy 1. In a large, chilled mixing bowl, combine the softened ice cream with the crumbled leftovers and the brandy. Take care not to over-mix – you want to see nice big pieces of Christmas pudding, or whatever, throughout. 2. Line a large plastic pudding bowl or a large loaf tin with cling film, making sure to leave plenty of overhang so that you can wrap the contents fully. Transfer the mixture into the container, then cover the top and “Amelon ballermakes a great pear corer” RECI PES | PRUE LE I TH greatbr i t ishfoodawards.com 58