*Midnight Baking means starting to bake after work – usually no earlier than 8.00pm – and not pulling the finished products out the oven until at least Midnight.

Last year, I was more ambitious than ever with my Christmas baking frenzy. The Brooding Architect calls it “going over the top, as usual”. I baked double (or in some cases, triple) batches of mince pies, speculaas (a spiced Danish butter cookie) and gingerbread men. This resulted in around 300 little baked treats being forced upon workmates, friends and family – plus a plentiful supply of gingerbread men in the freezer. I think this year, I may need to go back to single quantity batches, or rope The Brooding Architect to assist me in the kitchen.

The Gingerbread Men recipe I used is a combination of Margaret Fulton’s and David Herbert’s gingerbread recipes – with the addition of treacle, citrus peel, brandy and extra spices for a more intense, spicy, Christmas-y flavour. You might want to leave out the brandy and citrus peel if you are making the Gingerbread Men for young children though.

Gingerbread Men fresh from the oven at Midnight.

Gingerbread Men

(Makes 40, depending on size of cutters)

Ingredients

• 250 grams unsalted butter, chopped
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4½cups plain flour, sifted
• 1/4 cup golden syrup
• 1/4 cup treacle
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (I use CSR dark brown sugar for a rich, molasses flavour)
• 3 tablespoons ground ginger
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate soda
• 1 tablespoon citrus peel (optional)
• 1tablespoon brandy (optional)
• Currants, dried cranberries, slivered almonds and citrus peel, to decorate

Method

1. Melt the butter, golden syrup, treacle, brown sugar, brandy, citrus peel and spices in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until the butter has melted and the brown sugar has dissolved. The mixture should be thick and glossy. Add the bicarbonate soda.  Remove the bowl from the heat as soon as the mixture begins to bubble. Set aside the bowl to cool.  The mixture will start to ‘puff up’ slightly as it rests.
2. Add the eggs and 1 cup of flour to the bowl and mix well. Gradually add the remaining flour, in 1/2 to 1 cup lots, and bring the dough together using hands.
3. Knead the dough gently on a lightly floured board or kitchen bench, until the dough is soft and smooth.
4. Divide the dough into four even sized portions and wrap each portion in plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour.
5. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line two baking trays with grease proof baking paper.
6. Once the dough is chilled, roll a portion of the dough between two sheets of baking paper to 5mm thick. Repeat this process with each portion of the dough. If you are working in hot conditions (i.e. the Australian summer) and the dough has become very soft and difficult to handle, you may want to place the rolled sheets of dough in the fridge until firm again.
7. Using gingerbread men cutters, cut out gingerbread men shapes from the rolled dough. Arrange gingerbread men on the baking tray.
8. To decorate the gingerbread men, press currants for the eyes, a sliver of a dried cranberry for a mouth and citrus peel or almonds for buttons.
9. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, until starting to colour and firm to the touch. Total baking time will depend on whether you prefer soft and chewy – shorter baking time, or crisp gingerbread men – longer baking time.
10. Allow to rest on trays for 5 minutes, before allowing to cool completely on wire racks.
11. Store for up to 7 days in an airtight container. To re-crisp gingerbread men before serving, heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and bake for 2 to 3 minutes.

An army of Gingerbread Men

I stuffed my turkey with a whole lemon, as well as an apple, prune and pistachio stuffing – based on a recipe found in the book Margaret Fulton’s Christmas. The recipe below makes lots of stuffing, enough to stuff the turkey, as well make an extra stuffing log which can be served as a side dish.

A brief word of warning, roasting a turkey requires a degree of organisation on Christmas morning. I roasted a 5kg bird and this took about 4 hours to roast, plus 30 minutes resting time.  This was the end result (you will have to excuse the clutter though,  bench space is a highly sought after commodity at our Christmas gatherings):

Roast Turkey stuffed with Apple, Pistachio & Prune

Roast Turkey stuffed with Apple, Pistachio & Prune

Serves lots (at least 8), with plenty of leftovers

Ingredients

• 4.5kg – 5kg turkey (organic if possible)
• 250g unsalted butter
• 1 cup white wine (use something that you will happily drink over lunch, or while you prepare lunch – I used one of my favorites, Brokenwood Semillon)
• 4 day-old bread rolls (I used 2 white and 2 grain), roughly torn into small pieces
• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Granny Smith apples, coarsely grated
• 250 grams pitted prunes, chopped
• 150 grams pistachios, peeled
• Small bunch sage, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon chopped thyme leaves
• 2 lemons
• Glug of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

The Hungry Lawyer’s Tips to Avoid Dry Turkey

Tip No. 1 - Stuff lots of butter under the turkey skin.

Tip No. 2 - Baste regularly.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
2. Line a large roasting tray with foil (this will make clean up much easier!).  Put this roasting tray aside for the turkey.
3. On a separate baking tray, layout the torn up bread rolls in a single layer. Place in the oven and bake for between 10 and 15 minutes (you want the bread to dry out, but not to brown).
4. Wash the turkey inside and out and dry thoroughly with paper towel. Place the turkey – breast side up – on the prepared roasting tray and allow it to come to room temperature while you prepare the stuffing.
5. Heat the olive oil and 50 grams of the butter in a fry pan over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic for approximately 5 minutes, stirring until soft. Add the grated apple and cook for a further 2 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl. Add the torn up bread rolls, prunes, pistachios, sage, thyme and the finely grated rind of 1 lemon to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix with your hands until the stuffing mixture is well combined and holds together.
6. Heat 100 grams of butter and the wine in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and set aside for basting.
7. Using a sharp knife, carefully make 2 or 3 small incisions under the turkey skin – on the breast side. Insert the remaining 100 grams of butter  into these incisions and rub over the the entire turkey breast area.
8. Place half of the stuffing mixture into the rear cavity – closest to the drumstick end of the bird. Shape the remaining stuffing mixture into a log shape and wrap in aluminum foil. Put the stuffing log aside.
9. Place a whole lemon into the neck cavity – closest to the wing end of the bird.  Truss the turkey legs together with cooking string (or get your butcher to make an incision in the skin which will allow you to tuck the legs together without string – this is what I did).
10. Baste the turkey with approximately 3 Tablespoons of the wine and butter basting liquid and cover tightly with aluminum foil.
11. Place the turkey in the preheated oven and cook for a total of approximately 4 hours (cooking time will vary depending on your oven).  Baste the turkey with approximately 3 Tablespoons of the wine and butter basting liquid every 20 to 30 minutes. After 1.5 hours of baking time, reduce the heat to 160 degrees Celsius. To ensure a deep golden brown colour, remove the aluminum foil from the turkey and cook uncovered for the last 1 hour of cooking time.
12. To check if the turkey is cooked through, pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a fork or skewer. If the turkey is cooked, the fork should go in easily and the juice will run out clear. If the juice has a pink tinge, further cooking is required.
13. Once the turkey is cooked, remove from the oven, cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
14. While the turkey is resting, place the stuffing roll in the oven and cook for 30  minutes on 200 degrees Celsius.
15. Once rested, watch The Brooding Architect carve the turkey and serve with a slice of the stuffing log on the side.

The Brooding Architect carving the bird (note the suitably festive attire).

To feed the ever-growing masses, a Baked Glazed Ham has become a permanent dish on the Christmas menu.  Baked Glazed ham is ridiculously easy to make, looks impressive and feeds a crowd (with plenty of leftovers). My Baked Glazed Ham recipe is based on traditional Christmas flavors of orange, cloves and brown sugar – with kick of fresh ginger. The glaze caramelizes the layer of fat which is left around the ham – to prevent it from drying out during baking – resulting in a deliciously sweet and sticky ham.

Baked Glazed Ham

Baked Glazed Ham

(Serves lots, with leftovers)

Ingredients

• 5-6 kg half leg ham
• 1/2 cup marmalade
• 1/2 cup seeded mustard
• 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Rind and Juice of 1 orange
• 2cm piece of ginger, finely grated
• 1 cinnamon quill
• Small handful of cloves

Preparing the Baked Glazed Ham

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Using a sharp knife, remove the skin from the ham, without cutting into the fat and flesh. If possible try and keep the skin in one piece, so that you can use it later to cover the left-over ham. Score a diamond pattern into the fat, being careful not to cut too deeply into the flesh. Alternatively, if this preparation all seems too hard, just ask your butcher to remove the skin and score the fat for you.
3. Place the prepared ham, fat side up, onto a large baking tray.
4. Combine the marmalade, seeded mustard, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, orange rind and juice, grated ginger and cinnamon quill in a saucepan. Place saucepan over medium-heat and stir until well combined and the brown sugar has dissolved.
5. Insert a clove into the corner of each diamond on the ham. Rub on a generous layer of the glaze – reserving glaze for later applications.
6. Bake ham for a total of one hour, basting with remaining glaze every 15 minutes.  Remove ham from the oven to baste, apply glaze with a spoon or silicone brush.
7. Cover baked ham with foil and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve warm. (If you would prefer to serve the baked ham cool, allow it to cool completely and then refrigerate overnight).

Before we leave Melbourne for the year, we had a few of our friends around yesterday for some festive chilled spiced cider and mince pies.  The fruit mince pies were a real hit – although I have a confession to make – while I did make the fruit mince from scratch,  I completely ran out of time and had to use store bought pie cases. I promise you though, I am making home-made pie cases later in the week (as a gift for The Brooding Architect’s Grandma).

(Cheat's) Fruit Mince Pies

Here is the recipe I used for the Christmas Fruit Mince – it is modified from the recipe in the cook book ‘Margaret Fulton Christmas’.  A word of warning, this recipe makes LOTS and LOTS of fruit mince. Don’t be deterred by the large quantities though. Fruit mince pies are always well received gifts  and any extra fruit mince can be kept for months in the fridge – perfect for Christmas in July – or mixed with vanilla ice-cream and brandy to make Christmas ice-cream.

Christmas Fruit Mince

(Makes about 9 cups, or enough for about 100 plus fruit mince pies) 

Fruit Mince Pies, topped with slivered almonds and raw sugar.

Ingredients

• 3 cups raisins
• 3 cups currants
• 2 cups sultanas
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup citrus peel
• ¾ cup slivered almonds
• 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and grated
• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• 150 grams unsalted butter, melted
• ¾ cup brandy
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• grated rind and juice of 2 oranges

Method

1. Combine all of the dried fruit and the slivered almonds in a large bowl. You want to ensure an even distribution of fruit throughout the mix.
2. Process batches of the dried fruit and almond mix in a food processor. Pulse to coarsely chop.
3. Spoon chopped dried fruit and slivered almond mixture into a large bowl and combine with grated apple, brown sugar, melted butter, brandy, spices and orange rind and juice.
4. Place into a large storage container with a lid – or just cover the mixing bowl with glad wrap, provided that it is not metal as a metal bowl can taint the flavour of your fruit mince – cover and chill, stirring daily, for at least 3 days before use.

When I was trawling through THE online mecca of gifts – Etsy – (or, as The Brooding Architect calls it “ebay for crafty folk”) last night, I spotted the perfect Christmas gift for myself and had to self-gift.

Not a lot of people get excited by tea towels, but given that this one contains my life philosophy I think it is pretty special:

Gin & Tonic Tea Towel

If you like what you see, the Gin & Tonic tea towel can be purchased from the UK based Etsy store, Dear Colleen.  She also makes a pretty cool “dishes I’d rather be doing” tea towel, the perfect gift for Mr Darcy lovers.