Handmade Christmas Treats from Betty's Cookery School

In early November, I attended a one-day class at Betty's Cookery School where I learned how to make all sorts of traditional, British Christmas treats. If you haven't read that post yet, you can read it by clicking HERE. It finally came time to start eat said treats! 

When Beverly and Allen were visiting we made sure to have one night set aside as "Christmas" where we exchanged gifts, ate heartily, and popped open some Christmas crackers.

Christmas cracker fun

That night, we also re-steamed my traditional Christmas pudding. It's a concoction made up of dried fruits, nuts, citrus juice and peel, etc. and steamed for 5-1/2 hours at Betty's, matured at home for six weeks (the minimum maturing time) and must re-steam for two hours before it's eaten. Once the re-steam is complete, you un-mold the pudding, and then set it alight with brandy. I was scared, and therefore, made Bill preform the final pudding task while I photographed the event. We used whisky, as we don't have any brandy on hand. Bill heated the whisky over the gas hob in a metal ladle, and once it got hot enough - boom - we had flame! Sorry the photo's a bit blurry, but it all took place in about 3 seconds, so I had to click as quickly as I could. The pudding was spicy, dark, and very delicious! I will definitely be making it again next year. 

Flaming Christmas Pudding

The other item I completed from my Betty's Cookery Class is the Christmas Cake. After the cake has matured at least six weeks and been fed (sherry brushed on top) at least three times, you can decorate it. The cake is a fruitcake, heavy with dried fruit, spices, and citrus rind. And when I say heavy, I mean it - this sucker weighed in at 3 pounds! If you want to see a picture of the cake just out of the oven, click the link HERE.

Christmas cake with first (marzipan) layer of "frosting"

The first step is to roll out enough marzipan to cover the cake top and sides. Once the cake is topped with marzipan, it must be left alone for 24 hours for the marzipan to dry. When the marzipan is dry, you roll out enough fondant to cover the cake top and sides. And then all you have to do is decorate the darned thing! I have seen many websites with elaborately decorated Christmas Cakes, but I opted for a more simple solution. I purchased edible gold and silver sprinkles and just dusted them on top of the cake. 

Christmas cake with second (fondant) layer of "frosting" and edible sprinkles

And then all you have to do is eat the cake! Before cutting into the sucker, I made sure to get a few photos for posterity sake. 

Christmas cake, crackers, and tree

Christmas cake and crackers

As always, the first slice came out a bit mangled, but I don't think I did too badly. The cake is quite tasty, and like with the pudding and mincemeat, a rather complex, mature flavor; no wonder so many kids don't like it! I have had "fruitcake" purchased in the states before, but this cake is nothing like something store-bought in cardboard! I may just have to make one of these every year from here on out :-) 

First slices of Christmas cake

Here's an up close look at the fruitcake insides.

Christmas cake guts

I still have three jars of mincemeat maturing in my cupboard. I will wait until we've eaten all of our Christmas Cake before whipping up a mincemeat strudel - I hope it turns out as tasty as all the other dishes I've brought home from Betty's Cookery School!