Mince Pies

Mince pies have been a Yuletide tradition for centuries. Whether you're serving them at a party with a glass of mulled wine or as a festive dessert, just remember to save one for Father Christmas to be placed by the fire with a glass of milk on Christmas Eve.

I have a few ways of making mince pies - a traditional one encased in a sweet pastry, one with a crumble topping (as shown above) and, my favourite, a much lighter one made with filo pastry. Here's my instructions for the filo pastry version using my own mincemeat.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC

A pack of store bought filo pastry will make about 24 mince pies. You will need two 12-bun tins and about 50g of butter, melted in a small saucepan.

Cut the filo pastry into squares slightly larger than your bun tins, melt the butter and brush it on to the inside of your tins using a pastry brush. Put a square of filo pastry into each hole, brush again with melted butter and lay another square at right angles on top. Repeat twice more until you have four layers in each tin in the shape of a star.

Spoon in about a teaspoon of your mincemeat – don’t put too much in as it will bubble up during cooking – and top with a ‘scrunched up’ square of filo pastry.

Bake in a 180ºC oven for 7-8 minutes. When cool, use a small sieve to sprinkle them with icing sugar.

Cranberry upside-down cake

Here I have adapted my gooseberry upside-down cake to make a cranberry version - a perfect fruity pudding for Christmas Eve or Boxing Day especially as the cranberries are so readily available at this time of year. I make it in my mother’s tarte tatin dish, but a 20cm cast-iron (straight sided) frying pan is just as good. Best served warm.

The topping – 50g butter, 150g caster sugar, 175g cranberries

The sponge – 125g butter, 125g self-raising flour, 125g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp cinnamon, pinch of salt, 1-2 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 180ºC

Start with the topping.

Melt the butter in the tarte tatin dish over a medium heat. Stir in the caster sugar and allow it to dissolve before adding the cranberries. Gently coat the cranberries in the sugary mix making sure they are in an even layer.

Turn off the heat.

For the sponge, mix together the flour, cinnamon and salt and set aside. Cream the butter and caster sugar together, then add the eggs one at a time alternating with the flour mixture. Add a little milk to loosen the mix slightly and pour this slowly and carefully over the cranberries.

Place it in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. It is ready when the cake has risen and is beginning to shrink back from the edges. Take it out of the oven and allow to cool slightly.

Put your serving plate upside down on top of the tin and turn over - be careful as it will be hot! Then simply lift off the tarte-tatin dish and it's ready to serve. Best with ice cream or crème fraiche.

Cranberry and Orange Chutney

This is a festive chutney for Christmas which keeps much longer than cranberry sauce and is just as tasty. An obvious accompaniment to the turkey, but it goes just as well with roast chicken throughout the year. It is also very quick to make as there is no chopping or peeling involved.

700g cranberries

600g granulated sugar

2 tsps coriander seeds

400ml red wine vinegar

300ml cider vinegar

12 whole cloves

zest and juice of 1 large or 2 small oranges

Start off by paring the zest from the orange(s) - I use a lemon zester which makes this very easy. You can also use a sharp paring knife or a potato peeler and then cut the peel into fine shreds. Squeeze the juice from the orange and set aside.

Heat a large enamel pan on the top of the stove. When hot, spoon in the coriander seeds to brown and draw out the flavour. When they start to colour, tip them into a mortar and pestle and lightly crush.

Turn the heat down and add the vinegars and the sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the orange zest and juice, cloves, crushed coriander seeds and cranberries. Simmer for about an hour. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for about 30 minutes before spooning into sterilised jars.

This makes about 5 small jars – the perfect Christmas gift.