Fig & Pistachio Baked Bean Tin Christmas Cakes

Christmas cake is a little bit like marmite, you either love it or you hate it.  Personally, I absolutely love it.  There's nothing better than sitting down to a slab of Christmas cake and a hunk of crumbly cheese (don't knock it till you've tried it!), utter bliss.  Unfortunately, in my family I'm a minority.  There's only two of us that partake in the fruity number, often meaning a full cake goes to waste.  

That's where these adorable little buggers come into their own.  Not only do you get a super cute Christmas cake to enjoy, sans waste, but you also get a handful to give away as gifts.  Talk about your win win situation. 

When Waitrose contacted me, asking me to put a fun spin on a traditional Christmas cake recipe I just knew I had to bust out the baked bean tins.  

All you need to make these little cakes are eight mini bean tins, empty of course.  Any Christmas cake recipe will work for this method but I've included my favorite below.  There's just something about the combination of fig and pistachio that just gets me salivating. 

If you'd like to try out any more fun Christmas baking ideas why not check out Waitrose, Christmas puddings with a twist.

Fig & Pistachio Baked Bean Tin Christmas Cakes

(Makes 8)

Ingredients:

For the fruit base:

75g dried apricots, chopped

75g medjool dates, chopped

250g mixed dried fruit & peel

125g dried figs, chopped

100g glace cherries, halved

Zest and juice of an orange

50ml spiced rum

For the cake:

150g unsalted butter, softened

150g dark brown sugar

3tbsp honey

2 large eggs

100g pistachio nuts

225g plain flour

1tsp cinnamon

1/2tsp mixed spice

Method:

The night before you bake your cake prepare the fruit.  Place all of the dried fruits and cherries into a large bowl along with the orange zest, juice and rum.  Give it a quick stir before covering with cling film and setting aside overnight.  By the next day all the liquid should have been absorbed and the fruit nicely plump with booze.

Preheat the oven to 150C and line your mini bean tins with baking parchment, make sure the paper comes a few inches above the rim of the tins.  

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition then pour in the honey.  Mix in the flour and spices followed by the soaked fruit and pistachio nuts until evenly distributed.  Fill each tin to just below the rims and bake for 1hr 30mins until dark brown and firm to the touch.  Allow to cool in the tins.

Once cool tip the little cakes out of their tins, drizzle a teaspoon of spiced rum over each cake before wrapping them in a layer of baking paper followed by a layer of tin foil.  Keep in a dark place, feeding with half a teaspoon of rum per cake until ready to decorate.

To decorate your cakes simply level with a bread knife and top with a thin layer of marzipan and fondant icing.  Jazz them up with some cute Christmas decorations, wrap with cellophane and ribbons and spread the joy.

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Mars Bar Stuffed Cookies

If there's one thing that owning a bakery has taught me it's that there isn't anything quite as satisfying as stuffing sweet treats inside bigger sweet treats.  It's a madness really, is there anything that won't go inside a cookie? I'm dying to find out.

If you haven't tried a hot Mars Bar you seriously haven't lived.  When I was young I'd often be found melting the chocolate bars in the microwave and slobbering over a spoon of molten caramel and nougat.  I've never forgotten how utterly amazing it tasted and since I no longer own a microwave I figured stuffing them into cookies and eating hot from the oven is the next best thing.

Now I've gone and rammed a chocolate bar into a cookie, my brain is working overtime on new combinations.  Snickers in a peanut butter cookie, a brownie in a chocolate cookie.  The possibilities for me getting fatter are endless. 

Mars Bar Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 12

Ingredients:
275g unsalted butter, softened
225g light brown sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
250g plain flour
200g chocolate chips
3 Mars Bars chopped into quarters

Method:
Preheat oven to 175C and line two baking sheets with parchment.

In the bowl of an electric mixer whip the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well between each addition.  Add the flour and mix until combined, stir through the chocolate chips.

Roll the cookie dough into 24 equal balls, around the size of a walnut.  Press a piece of Mars Bar into one of the balls, top with another ball and encase the Mars Bar in dough.  Flatten sightly and place on the prepared baking sheet, do the same with the remaining dough ensuring to leave enough room between the cookies to allow for spreading.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes until starting to turn brown around the edges.  Allow to cool for five minute before pouring yourself a glass of milk and digging in.

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Dairy Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Regular readers of this blog will already know of my love for all things cookie related (here, here & here are some favorites).  I almost always have a stash of frozen dough in my freezer for whenever I fancy a warm and gooey treat, imagine my horror when I went hunting for such a thing and found my freezer drawers cookie-less!

After an initial strop and stamp I thought I'd rectify the situation and restock.  As if to add insult to injury, upon opening the fridge I was found to be missing a couple of key ingredients ... eggs and butter.   I was convinced the day couldn't possibly get any worse, that was until I came across a stash of coconut oil and a tin of pumpkin puree hidden in a cupboard.  I've read about coconut oil being a good substitute for butter in baked goods and I'm sure we've all eaten eggless cookie dough in the past, why can't the two work hand in hand.  You know what, it bloody did!

These cookies are fabulous, and I'm pretty convinced they're much healthier than the variety I'm used to going to town on.  Don't quote me on that though .....

Dairy Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 12

Ingredients:

150g solid coconut oil

200g light brown sugar

50g caster sugar

4tbsp pumpkin puree from a can (why not use the rest in this)

1/2tsp cinnamon

1/4tsp ginger

1/4tsp mixed spice

200g plain flour

150g dairy free chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C and line two cookie sheets with baking paper.

Mix the butter and sugars together in a stand mixer until light and creamy, add the pumpkin and mix till combined.  Add the flour and spices and mix slowly until the dough comes together, stir through the chocolate chips.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared sheet allowing space to spread between each cookie.  Bake for 13 - 15 minutes until lightly coloured and puffy.  Allow to cool slightly before enjoying with a nice cold glass of (almond) milk!

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Apple & Blackberry Crumble

Tis the season for a crumble, fa lalalala la la lala.  Honestly, comfort food season is my absolute favorite.  The second I feel a chill in the air, boom I'm in the kitchen grating a mountain of cheese and stewing fruit.  For someone who lives to eat, there really is no better time of year. 

A few weeks ago I decided to take advantage of the tumbling blackberry bushes which align my walk to work and stock up on free berries.  I filled a bag, washed my little beauties of bugs and dirt before freezing them for future use.  They probably lasted around two days in the freezer before the urge to crumble them up took over.  I grabbed a few apples from the fruit bowl and away I went.

You can't really go wrong with a crumble, so simple yet so delicious. Especially when served with a creamy vanilla custard.  So, don your slippers, prepare a blanket covered space on the couch and get your crumble on.  Autumn won't know what hit it.

Apple & Blackberry Crumble

serves 4

Ingredients:

50g unsalted butter

50g light brown sugar

3 large eating apples, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces

200g blackberries

1/2tsp cinnamon

For the crumble:

150g rolled oats

100g plain flour

1tsp cinnamon

100g butter, chilled and cut into small cubes

75g light brown sugar

Method:

Heat the oven to 170C and prepare a large ovenproof dish.

In a medium saucepan melt the butter and sugar together. Add the apples and cook for 10 minutes until the apples become tender.  Add the blackberries and cinnamon and cook for another 5 minutes.  Transfer to the ovenproof dish, ensuring the mixture covers the bottom.

While the apples are cooking, make your crumble.  Put the flour, cinnamon and oats in a large mixing bowl and mix together.  Add the cubed butter and lightly rub together, add the sugar and rub together again until combined.  Sprinkle over the apple and blackberry mixture and bake for 20 minutes until the crumble is golden and the filling is bubbling.  Serve with vanilla custard.

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Candy Corn Giant Cookie

What's better than a cookie? A giant cookie of course!  Throw some candy corn into the mix and we've hit a whole new level of deliciousness.  There's just something about a slice of cookie that feels so much naughtier than just a cookie, let's make a meal of this.

I have to admit that I could not find an ounce of candy corn in Newcastle, believe me I tried! Not even the American sweet shops that were popping up everywhere carried the most obvious of Halloween candy. In the end I just ordered a bag online, Newcastle you've let me down.

If, like me, you can't find candy corn for love nor money, you can just substitute the little sweeties for more chocolate chips or M&Ms.  Just let your imagination run wild.  I'm absolutely going to give this a go with chopped Reeses peanut butter cups.  Ooof!

 Candy Corn Giant Cookie

Ingredients:
150g unsalted butter, softened
150g light brown sugar
1 large, free range egg
1tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tbsp cornflour
100g chocolate chips
150g candy corn, plus extra to decorate

50g unsalted butter, softened
300g icing sugar
2tbsp cocoa powder
2tbsp milk

Method:
Preheat your oven to 170C and line a 9" spring form cake tin with baking paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy, add the egg and vanilla and mix.  Pour in the flour, baking powder and cornflour and mix on a low speed until everything is combined.  Stir through the chocolate chips and candy corn.

Press the dough evenly into the prepared tin and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden.  Allow to cool completely in the tin before removal.

For the frosting whip the butter, icing sugar and coco powder together.  Slowly add the milk until you get a good piping consistency.  You may not need to use all of the milk or you may need a splash more.

Transfer frosting into a piping bag fitted with a closed star tip and pipe swirls around the edge of your cooled cookie.  Decorate with the remaining candy corn.

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