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We asked you what you thought, and lots of people said they didn’t want to be overwhelmed by too many recipes for Christmas Day. So we kept it simple. Our main Christmas Day recipes will keep everyone very happy. And yet...the recipes below have a special place in our hearts.
Pigs in blankets are a moreish favourite. To serve 8 people, lay out 8 rashers of streaky bacon, place a chipolata at the end of one rasher and roll the bacon around it. Place in a roasting tray and repeat until they're all done. Roast them at 180ºC in 1-2 tbsp of oil for around 30 minutes. When it comes to cranberry sauce, we suggest buying a good quality version in the shops to save time.
Watch out for our Christmas Pudding tutorial on Stir Up Sunday (25th November), which we’ll be adding to our blog.
MAKES 300ML
Ingredients
1 large onion
6 cloves
300ml milk
1 bay leaf
10 white peppercorns or a pinch of ground white pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
60–80g coarse fresh white breadcrumbs,
depending on desired thickness
50g butter
Salt and ground white pepper
Method
Serve warm.
Note: You can make the sauce in advance, up the point where you have added the breadcrumbs and thickened the sauce. If cooking from frozen, loosen the sauce with a little milk. Cube the butter and dot it over the surface of the sauce, allowing it to melt and create a buttery film over the sauce. This will help to prevent a skin from forming. When ready to serve, reheat the sauce and stir the butter through. Taste and season.
SERVES 8
Ingredients
160g currants
160g sultanas
160g roughly chopped prunes
160g roughly chopped dried figs
240ml Pedro Ximenez sherry
4 tbsp honey
200g butter
200g soft dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
120g plain flour
160g fresh breadcrumbs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp baking powder
Grated zest of 2 lemons
2 medium cooking apple, peeled and grated
3-4 tbsp brandy, for flaming
You will need a 4 pint pudding basin which needs to be well greased with butter. You will also need 2 sheets of greaseproof paper and a sheet of tin foil to tie onto the pudding basin before steaming in a large enough pan to fit the trivet and basin and be able to put a lid onto it. The trivet can be an upturned plate, metal steamer or even a piece of card. We find that an egg tray works really well. It is best to have a dry run with all the equipment to ensure it will all fit together. Do allow for the pudding to rise during cooking by leaving 1cm gap at the top before putting the lid on.
Whilst steamed puddings are simple to make, steaming them can be slightly daunting, take a look at our handy step by step guide on how to prepare your pudding like a pro!
Method
Ingredients
110g unsalted butter
85 – 110g icing sugar/caster sugar, sifted
Zest of 1/2 orange, optional
2-3 tbsp brandy
Method
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