It is a truism that Christmas time is a very busy time, we all rush around like mad things to get everything ready in time for the BIG DAY ....using lists galore, dashing about doing all those little jobs which of course brings on a little more stress! I am feeling a little more stressed than usual as I have been working pretty much full time in the last five weeks, oh how it reminds me of my corporate days... the good bits and the not so good bits, consequently I have had very little spare time to enjoy some of my favourite pastimes like this blog and my time in the kitchen cooking and mulling over recipes. I miss it and while I have loved my little 'job contract' I really know now why I do not want a full time job anymore.
Last week I made a batch of my famous Pecan Pies for a Christmas Soiree. Famous because for many years in my corporate life I used to make them as Christmas thank you gifts for my clients - I would bake about 5-6 dozen at a time ( I would look a bit like a Mum gone mad in Merivale as I would bake well into the night) to deliver to my lovely customers the next day. Not everyone loves Christmas Mince Pies but I found most people loved the Pecan ones.
The recipe I use comes from Food magazine (Published in 1994 by Deb Crosby) and is as follows.
PECAN PIES
Awake really early one morning I also had a moment to make these lovely muffins for the builders. I do love making these cute little cakes as they are so quick and easy and the flavours you can make are just endless. I call these my Christmas muffins because the mixture includes Mincemeat and you can go to town on the icing and decorations to make them look even more Christmassy which is the real fun part. The recipe came from my Just Muffins book that I have mentioned before on this blog. While at the time I didn't have any paper cases on hand it is nice to use some of the many lovely Christmas muffin cases available now - it is a makes them look even more grand!
Last week I made a batch of my famous Pecan Pies for a Christmas Soiree. Famous because for many years in my corporate life I used to make them as Christmas thank you gifts for my clients - I would bake about 5-6 dozen at a time ( I would look a bit like a Mum gone mad in Merivale as I would bake well into the night) to deliver to my lovely customers the next day. Not everyone loves Christmas Mince Pies but I found most people loved the Pecan ones.
The recipe I use comes from Food magazine (Published in 1994 by Deb Crosby) and is as follows.
PECAN PIES
400 gram packet of Sweet Short Pastry
75 grams butter
1 cup of lightly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 lightly beaten egg
1 cup pecan nuts
Method:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add sugar & vanilla essence, add the egg.
Roll out sweet short crust pastry ( I use the ‘ready to use’ flat sheets) and cut small shapes to fit into
mini muffin tins. It is a bit of trial and error to find the right sized pastry
cutter!
Break up about 2-3 pecan halves into each pie, add about 1tsp of the
sugar mix into each.
Bake at 180 degrees C (170 degrees C for fan oven) for about 15-20 minutes.
I use a fan oven so they cook in about 13-15 minutes
You need to watch them as they can overcook easily!
Cool for about 5 minutes before you attempt to put them on a cake rack.
Awake really early one morning I also had a moment to make these lovely muffins for the builders. I do love making these cute little cakes as they are so quick and easy and the flavours you can make are just endless. I call these my Christmas muffins because the mixture includes Mincemeat and you can go to town on the icing and decorations to make them look even more Christmassy which is the real fun part. The recipe came from my Just Muffins book that I have mentioned before on this blog. While at the time I didn't have any paper cases on hand it is nice to use some of the many lovely Christmas muffin cases available now - it is a makes them look even more grand!
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| The sun was just coming up! |
Mincemeat Muffins – Just Muffins Pub.
1989
1 cup wholemeal flour
¾ cup flour
3 ½ tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
¾ cup milk
¾ cup drained mincemeat
¼ tsp salt
1 egg
¼ cup oil (not olive)
Method:
Method:
Stir dry ingredients together.
Combine liquid ingredients and mincemeat and add all at once to dry mixture.
Stir gently until just blended.
Bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes. Makes about 12. To decorate I iced with butter icing and added a little cut out of white royal icing topped off with a little silver cachous.
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| They are yummy! |
1 comment:
They look delish!
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