Mary Berry’s Christmassy Mincemeat Buns! [How to Make]

 

Date: 24/11/12

Background: Ever since Stacey bought me Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook, I have had a hankering to make something from within it’s glistening shimmering colourful pages. So with the Christmas Spirit ebbing towards us like a cheerful festive fog, I decided to make Mincemeat Buns, a recipe encompassing that Crimbo-In-A-Jar wonder, mincemeat, if you hadn’t already guessed.

What: Mincemeat Buns

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Ingredients:

• 375g (12oz) Mincemeat
• 250g (8oz) Currants (I used mixed fruit)
• 2 eggs
• 150g (5oz) Caster Sugar
• 150g (5oz) Soft Butter or Margarine
• 250g (8oz) Self Raising Flour
• 32 cake cases (Or in my video, 12 silicone cake cases and a sandwich tin!)

Method:

1. Measure out all the ingredients into one bowl
2. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat well for about 2 minutes
3. Divide the cake mixture evenly among the cake cases. putting them in bun tins if preferred
4. Bake in the pre heated oven for 20-30mins or until golden and springy to the touch
5. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack and leave to cool

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Video: Once again courtesy of the wonderful StaceyRaver’s Youtube

What was Good: OMG the smell! It filled the house with a spicy, mince pie like, winter-y aroma! It literally filled the very bricks of my home with Festive cheer! The cakes themselves are sweet and dense. Dense does not sound very attractive, but trust me, when you expect to devour a light fluffy fairy cake, and the weighty fruit and flavour filled nommable fills your hand, it is a happy moment. The cake itself is packed with so much fruit that it adds a real moist chew with every bite. For those that don’t like mincemeat, Stacey being a prime example, TRUST ME, it is nothing like eating a mince pie! The flavour is aromatic and intense, but the actual flavour of mincemeat is very subtle. Even Stacey is a convert now!

What was Bad: We both felt it lacked a variety of texture or flavour… So we were considering making an icing sugary cinnamony dust for the top? Or even a liquid fondant icing. What do you think? But all in all… Loved these buns of steel!

Would I Make It Again: YES!

Waffle-O-Meter:

 

Reference:

Berry, M (2012) Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook. 3rd ed. London: Covent Garden Books. P465

I Vote Germany!–Guest Blog by Stacey Downton

 

My lovely Stacey went to Germany in August (I have been bad and not got her to do a guest blog until now ) and she had this beautiful pudding. So for my “where in the WORLD can you get the best pudding!?” theme she has kindly offered to guest-blogify for me! So here it is!

Date: 30/8/12

Background:

As a Samsung Mob!ler (kind of like a brand ambassador) I’m really lucky in the fact that I get to travel to lots of weird and wonderful places with my friends and colleagues at Samsung. This time round we were all in Berlin for IFA 2012 which is a very large consumer technology fair in which Samsung had a HUUUUGE exhibition!

There were 100 mobilers from all around the world and as a treat for us (because we all work REAAAAALLLY hard…) Samsung kindly hired out the Restaurant Nolle for us, so that we could say goodbye to our new found friends from all over .

The Restaurant Nolle was an exquisite venue for our party. It is full of 1920’s elegance and lives under a railway bridge….every so often there would be a rumble as the train went over. Also it served a wide range of alcoholic drinks and plenty of German beer!

What: Warm chocolate and walnut cake with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

How Much?: Who knows? Ask Samsung

What was Good: The texture of the cake was very fudge-like. It was chewy and gooey like a chocolate brownie. I loved it. Plus there was nuggets of walnutty goodness which added a crunch that was simply delightful! The fact that the cake was served warm and the contrasting coldness of the ice cream made me even more excited. I love this combo.

Also the presentation was fantastic. It looked very pretty!

What was Bad: Call me picky but I think they could have left the whipped cream out and it would still have been an amazing pudding (Amy: Finally somebody who agrees with me!). Also it came with a little plant thingy…I call them syphilis…but that’s not their real name (Amy: I hope she means Physilis ), either way I’m just not a fan…please decorate my pudding with extra walnuts or chocolatey bits!

Waffle-O-Meter:

Link to Stacey-pops and her amazeballs Samsung techno-blog {I am a link- Click Me}