So, in my household we have Christmas traditions. I'm pretty sure that every household has Christmas traditions, but in mine, we particularly like baked goods around Christmas. My mum and I will agree on a day to bake, and she will make the Mince Pies, and I will make my Christmas Bread. Then I will take it round to her house later in the evening, and we'll have wine/other alcohol, watch a Christmas film, chat, and eat our bakes.
I don't actually know my mums mince pie recipe (shameful, I know), but I can provide you with my Christmas Bread recipe. Christmas Bread, from what I know, is something I've made up. I don't know if someone else made it before me, I've never in my life googled a recipe for it, and I'm not going to. I literally made it up in my kitchen with leftover ingredients that I had in the cupboard and fridge, and it worked, and I've never looked back. Now each year we have Christmas Bread.
This is so, so, so, good. It takes all of half an hour to prepare and bake, so there's no time needed to wait around for the bread to rise or anything like that. It's a really easy recipe that you can literally bung all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, mix it up, grease a pan, and bake. Best of all, the flavour combinations are chocolate, orange, and spice, and it fragrances my whole flat with the smell of Christmas baking. I like to make it just before I have people coming over, and then when they ask,'What's that smell?' (Because they do), I can whip out my Christmas Bread, and share it with them over a coffee. It's best served warm, and is such a cosy, delicious treat.
Recipe
Ingredients:
400g self raising flour
100g butter
1 teaspoon of salt
100g caster sugar and spice mix
1 cup milk
For the glaze:
50g Chocolate sauce
50g Marmalade
Optional:
Cocoa powder
Fresh Orange slices
Method:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Add ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer until a dough forms. Knead the dough to ensure its all got a good doughy consistency and separate into 4/5/6 pieces, depending on how many people you are feeding. I'd do 1 roll per person. Roll each piece into a little ball shape and place on a greased baking tray. If you want it to have a more uniform shape, like mine, place into a greased bread tin and push the balls together slightly. Cook for around 20 minutes or until golden brown.
In a small bowl, whisk together the chocolate sauce, and marmalade together, using a fork. Brush on to the bread and put back in the oven for a further five minutes for it to develop a sticky delicious glaze. Then take out of the oven and leave to cool. Right before serving, I like to sprinkle cocoa powder over the top, and then add a few fresh orange slices for that pop of colour.
So that is my Christmas Bread recipe! I hope you guys try to make it at home, and more importantly, I hope that you love it as much as I do!
Happy baking!
Sam x
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