Baked Camembert with Spicy Cranberry & Rhubarb Chutney

For many of us, Christmas is all about eating and drinking. The kids love tucking into their chocolate Christmas morning, and when I was their age I loved nothing more than scoffing a box of Hazelnut whirls, which, in my opinion, were the best ones from the Roses jar - remember Roses jars? no plastic boxes in the 80's, it was quality glass jars all the way. In fact I still have one. 

These days I'm more into savoury delights, especially cheese. To enjoy cheese to its fullest there also needs to be chutney. Upon checking my pantry for my stash of home made chutney I was horrified to find that I only have one jar left - it's unlabelled so I'm not quite sure if it's Asian Chilli or Caramelised Onion, but either way I needed to rectify the situation immediately.

I needed to empty some excess from the freezer & found some cranberries and rhubarb in there so decided to put them to good use and make some spicy chutney. You can make chutney out of pretty much any fruit or veg so if you don't have exact ingredients don't worry, just replace them with something else - extra onion, courgettes, carrots, peppers, butternut squash. Anything with a bit of substance to it, otherwise it will end up like a smoothie. 

Once I'd made the chutney I wanted to try it out immediately, so I bought a camembert, and lunch was sorted.

Spicy Cranberry & Rhubarb Chutney - makes approx 3 jars

2 onions

2 apples

375g rhubarb

3 tomatoes

1 red pepper

175g cranberries
2 red chillies

2 cloves of garlic

300ml white wine vinegar

350g granulated sugar

tbsp mixed spice

• roughly chop the onions, apples, rhubarb, tomatoes & pepper, and add them to a large saucepan
• add thinly sliced chilli, crushed garlic, vinegar, sugar & mixed spice
• bring to the boil and simmer for approx 30-45 minutes, until it's thick
• pour into sterilised jars

Baked Camembert

1 whole camembert

home made chutney

olive oil

sprigs of rosemary

• remove any plastic packaging from the camembert
• if it comes in a wooden box place it back into it & onto a baking tray, or into a suitably sized ovenproof dish
• using a sharp knife, cut a crosshatch pattern in the top of the camembert
• drizzle with a little olive oil & spoon some chutney on top
• stick a few sprigs of rosemary into the cheese
• bake in a preheated 200C oven for around 10-15 minutes, until the cheese has melted

Serve with bread or crackers, a few rocket leaves and some balsamic roasted tomatoes

Perfect as an appetiser to share, as a lunch, or just because.

If you're looking for a really impressive way to serve your camembert, then you must see this beaut from Jenny - it's her very aptly named Bad Boy Brioche.

Cranberry, Clementine & Cointreau Trifle

Christmas is a time for eating and drinking and getting together with family, for more eating and drinking and lots of game playing. Last year the fun family must have game was Pie Face, but I never managed to get my hands on one in time, so this year I've already got my hands on the game that every family will be playing this Christmas - Speak Out. If you haven't seen it you really must watch some videos on You Tube, it's hilarious! 

Back to the food and drink. Every Christmas, for as long as I can remember, my mum has made a trifle. It's nothing posh and it's nothing glamorous, but she whips it up in no time and it tastes great, and there's no jelly or sherry (haven't touched that stuff since I was 14, but that's another story) in sight. 

When I was challenged by Bonne Maman to make a festive dessert that makes use of their Madeleines I immediately thought of a trifle. A boozy trifle. A boozy trifle that doesn't contain either sherry or jelly. There are certain ingredients, flavours and smells that we associate with Christmas, and two of those are cranberry and clementine, and I've included both of those in this trifle, as they go really well together.

You can make the cranberry jam in advance, or if you don't want to go to that trouble it can be replaced by one of the many delicious conserves that Bonne Maman make - Berries & Cherries Conserve would make a great alternative. If you're not using the home made cranberry jam then you may need to add some additional liquid to the Madeleines, as they really do hold the liquid well. There are a few steps to this recipe but as I said, the jam can be made in advance, as can the sugared cranberries. It's then a case of layering the trifle up. If you want to prepare it earlier in the day and refrigerate then I would recommend adding the cream on just before serving.

Cranberry, Clementine & Cointreau Trifle - makes a 17cm trifle

for the cranberry jam
150g fresh cranberries
300g granulated sugar
cinnamon stick
zest & juice of 2 clementines (you can replace some or all of this with Cointreau)

• place all the ingredients into a saucepan
• bring to a slow boil, making sure that the sugar dissolves
• turn down the heat to a simmer, and simmer for 10 minutes
• leave to cool fully before removing the cinnamon stick & using in the trifle

for the sugared cranberries
handful of fresh cranberries
equal parts granulated sugar & water (I use 1/2 measuring cup of each)
extra sugar for rolling in

• place the sugar and water in a pan and stir to dissolve the sugar
• bring to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes
• drop the cranberries into the syrup and remove with a slotted spoon onto a cake rack
• leave for approx 30 mins 
• after 30 mins drop the cranberries into the syrup again & remove (dripping excess syrup into the pan) with a slotted spoon into the sugar
• roll in the sugar to coat with crystals
• allow to dry for at least 30 mins before using

for the trifle
4-5 Bonne Maman Madeleines, cut into cubes
3 tbsp Cointreau (or replace with orange juice)
cooled Cranberry jam
500g fresh custard (either home made or store bought would work)
250g mascarpone
grated zest of 1 clementine
250ml double cream
1/2 tsp cinnamon

• place the Madeleine cubes into your trifle dish 
• spoon 2tbsp of Cointreau or orange juice over the sponge 
• spoon your cooled jam into the trifle dish - you may not need all of it
• place in the fridge for an hour before adding the rest of the ingredients
• whisk the custard together with the mascarpone, clementine zest & 1tbsp Cointreau (or orange juice) until smooth
• spoon into the trifle dish and smooth the top over
• whisk the cream with the cinnamon until soft peaks form (you could add some Cointreau here too for an extra boozy trifle)
• pipe or spoon on top of the custard layer
• top with sugared cranberries and clementine zest before serving

Alternative ways to use Bonne Maman Madeleines :

Cute Madeleine Reindeer by Here Come the Girls
Alternative Christmas Pudding by Mummy Mishaps

recipe commissioned for Bonne Maman

Christmas Recipes with Mincemeat

The Christmas hype is setting in here. Already there has been a letter sent to Santa, and we're in countdown mode, so I thought it was about time that I started to think about Christmas recipes. What better way to get me in the spirit of things than to look through some of my old recipes, as well as finding some new ones on Pinterest.

I've got a couple of jars of mincemeat in the cupboard that I made last year, using my mincemeat recipe so I thought I would put together a list of my recipes that use mincemeat, as well as sharing a few others that I've come across on my Pinterest travels.

Mincemeat and Apple Parcels

Mincemeat & Salted Caramel Palmiers & Mincemeat Semifreddo 

Mince Pies

Mincemeat Pancakes & Salted Caramel Sauce 

Mini Mincemeat Loaves

Mincemeat Ice Cream

Mincemeat Slices

Mincemeat, Pecan & Cinnamon Crumble Bars - Sainsbury's

Iced Mince Wreath - Delicious Magazine

Mincemeat Squares with Cranberry Marzipan Streusel Topping - Sainsbury's

If you want to have a go at making Chocolate Mincemeat I also have a recipe for that.

There are many, many more recipes on my 'ways with mincemeat' Pinterest board, so pop the kettle on, put your feet up and prepare to get hungry!