I'm sure most of us have had the opposite of what we wanted this weekend - stress, stress and more stress! Of course this is most definitely the last thing we want a such a wonderful time of year, but hey-ho!
With the blistering winds and my failed attempt at a 4K jog (I won't venture into that today) I've tried to stay as warm as possible, inside the house. Wrapped up in blankets and drinking countless cups of tea with eyes glued to a screen, I decided that I wanted to find my creativity and do something productive!
Baking is something I've always really enjoyed ever since making animal shaped biscuits and thinking I was Mary Berry - I've definitely developed my skills since then! Last year I learnt how to make short-crust pastry which is something tricky to nail if I'm honest because there are so many cautions. With the pastry making skill learnt it was straight forward to make homemade mince pies.
Yesterday I used Delia's recipe for mince pies as she is brilliant and obviously knows what she's talking about, being an incredible chef:P I was quite surprised with the results actually, I managed to roll the pastry very thin which is key as no one wants to eat sick-thick pastry. The idea is for short-crust pastry to be light and crisp which luckily I managed to achieve.
If you've watched The Great British Bake Off, with Mary Berry herself then you'll know the astounding achievement that I am about to share - there were no soggy bottoms!
You should definitely have a go at making these yummy mince pies if you're having a chill-out Christmas Eve. Click here for Delia's online recipe or, if you have her book 'Delia Smith Complete Cookery Course' (a very large paperback) then the recipe for her short crust pastry is on page 497 and the mince pie recipe itself is on page 502 - is it sad that I knew that off-by-heart? How did that happen?
I hope you all have a smashing Christmas and holiday! Merry Christmas!
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