No matter how many times I tell him, it's no point
waiting by the chimney. He's not coming TODAY. At the earliest sign
of tinsel and Santa stockings, he's sniffing and poking around. Bennie
just loves Christmas. He knows it's a time of more food than usual. More baking, more leftovers,
more likely loose items of food fallen to the kitchen floor. Having just
done another round of mince pies, the kitchen floor now has a slight pastry
coated film about it and those loose raisins have a way of hiding in corners
until you have someone come and visit, then they suddenly appear. This
was my first attempt at fruit mince pie baking. Having decided to spend a
little less this year, I decided that baking my own would be this years
challenge.
I've had some monumental yuletide disasters over the years
including Christmas Cakes that would hold up ancient ruins and berry tarts with
pastry so hard you could dry wall your house with it. So this year I set
out with realistic expectations (meaning none). I'm using a triple tested
recipe and one that doesn't require rare ingredients from some unpopulated
island in the Pacific or some alcoholic beverage that is only available by
travelling more than 24 hours on a plane. So my first batch was
undertaken with a somewhat distracted approach, and as a result turned out semi
decent considering I left out only two of the ingredients. It's always
when you later go back to the fridge then you wonder why that particular item
is still there. Oops! I also didn't have the right baking tins and didn't have
the right size star cookie cutter so my first batch fruit mince pies were
renamed 'make-do mince pies'. Not a bad result, certainly edible.
So gave the second batch a serious go with all of the ingredients and even the
right pans and star shape cutter. My only substitute was whisky for
brandy, and only because that's all I had. Other than being a little bit
lethal and not recommended if you are the designated driver, I'm happy with how
they turned out. So is Bennie. Oh, he'll just sleep it off.
