Great British Food - Christmas 2025

4 MAKE SNOW GLOB E COOK I E S This is such a fun activity to dowith children, and the results are spectacular. You end upwith biscuits containing edible confetti in themiddle, whichmoves when you shake them! In a food processor combine 100g unsalted butter, 100g golden caster sugar, 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoons water, 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract, 200g plainwhite flour and a pinch of salt. Pulse and bring together into a dough. Wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 180ºC (fan) and line two baking sheets. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough to the thickness of a £1 coin and cut out circles with a 10cmround cookie cutter. Then use a smaller cookie cutter (5cmto 7cm) to cut out the middles of the cookies. Continue until all the dough is used up (you need an even number). Place the cookies on your prepared trays. Crush 100g clear boiled sweets (we used mints) finely and sprinkle a thin layer into the hole of each biscuit, entirely covering the space. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes and allow to cool. In the meantime, prepare 200g royal icing to the pack’s instructions. Take a biscuit and pipe a thick layer of icing around the edge, close to the centre. Decant the sprinkles of your choice (a scant teaspoon) onto the sugar ‘window’ and topwith another cookie to seal. Allow to dry, then enjoy the pleasure of shaking (and eating) your cookies. This recipemakes 8-10. 5 ROL L UP SOME RUM T RUF F L E S ‘Retro’ is in in in a big way, and nothing screams ‘retro’ more at Christmas than a batch of good old fashioned, cakey rum truffles. Crumble 250g sponge cake (ideally chocolate or vanilla) into crumbs and combine with a glug (around 2 tablespoons) of dark rum, 100g melted dark chocolate and 25g salted butter. Chill for 15minutes, then roll into golf ball shapes with wet hands and press into chocolate vermicelli strands. Pop into cake cases to set and have with coffee on Christmas night. 6 V I S I T A CHR I STMAS FOOD MARKE T Warm your cockles with a visit to a Christmas market for mulled wine, grilled German sausages, sugar and spice. We like Bath Christmas Market (16th November to 22nd December), Edinburgh Christmas Market (15th November to 4th January), and Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market (1st November to 24th December). 7 H I GH - LOW ENT E R TA I N I NG Hosting a bunch of friends, family or colleagues this Christmas?Worried about how far the budget will stretch?We suggest a drink and crisp pairing night. Matching gourmet crisps withwine, cider, spirits or even cocktails, is one of the hottest trends of 2025, and it won’t cost you the earth – especially if you ask guests to bring along some of the bottles. 5 pairings we love include: • Prawn cocktail crisps with fizz • Cheese and onion crisps with farmhouse cider • Chilli crisps with Riesling • Meaty crisps with stout • Salt and vinegar crisps with unoaked Chardonnay Head to the Great British Food Youtube channel formore drink and crisp pairing inspiration. 9 P R E P I N ADVANCE So many elements for Christmas Day can be made in advance and stowed away in the freezer. Pre-prep your stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, cranberry sauce, braised red cabbage and gravy. Recipes for all can be found on the Great British Food website. A top tip for gravy is to start saving your Sunday roast bones now. Pop a large container in the freezer and add any leftover meat bones. When you’re ready to prepare your gravy, you’ll then have the best ingredients to get started with. 8 BR EW MUL L ED C I DE R While we’re mulled wine fans, let’s face it, mulled cider is infinitely easier to clean up if there’s a spill (almost inevitable at this time of year). Our favourite way to make it is by pouring a large bottle of medium or sweet cider into a pan, adding a slosh of apple brandy, a few cloves, a couple of cinnamon sticks, a generous grating of nutmeg and a couple of tablespoons of light brown sugar. Bring to the boil, then keep on the lowest heat on your hob. Serve into mugs with cinnamon sticks and slices of fresh apple. greatbr i t i shfoodawards.com 14 FEATURE | WINTER INSP IRAT ION