Jingle bells, Christmas smells....

Ooh I LOVE Christmas. The smells, that gleeful feeling of anticipation, buying (and receiving) presents, the food, the promise of a white Christmas, the carols,  the general sense that all is well with the world.  How can anyone not love Christmas?!

Ok, maybe it’s because I was a Christmas baby, being born on the 22nd December (won’t mention the year!) What a nightmare that must have been for my poor mum, who already had two children - feverish with pre Santa excitement no doubt -  to look after.

And ok,  I admit, I don’t actually make the Christmas dinner so perhaps that’s why it’s more relaxing than for those slaving over a hot kitchen stove but that doesn’t mean I don’t do my fair share of work in the festive season!

The last three weeks and weekends, I have been busy baking up a Xmas storm for markets and christmas fetes as well as private orders but I have loved every minute

Every grate of orange rind, every pinch of cinnamon and every pureeing of cranberry leading me further into the wonders of the festive season.

For my seasonal selection this year, I have been making fresh orange, vanilla and cranberry cupcakes with home made cranberry puree inside; sticky toffee apple, filled to bursting with grated apple, scented with cinnamon and then filled with toffee sauce, topped with a cream cheese and cinnamon frosting and crowned with a home made marzipan apple. Carrot with a touch of warming ginger and – new to the Jen’s Cupcakery repertoire - maple syrup and walnut cupcakes topped with a maple frosting added a sweet finishing touch.

My next post will include my recipe for my orange and cranberry cupcakes as well as the simplest shove in a pan and stir Xmas cake… though this really should have been made by now according to Xmas cake schedules….whoops!

 

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