This is a recipe I’ve used every Christmas for the past 5 years or more, it’s by Nigel Slater and I absolutely love it.  It packs a substantial punch of ginger which you want in a ginger loaf and the plump juicy sultanas give a gorgeous hit of sweet and chewy throughout the bread.  It’s not too sickly sweet either and works great just sliced up with a layer of creamy butter or served warm with simple vanilla icecream or my favourite, a big dollop of fresh custard.  I make this loaf for my Dad every year, I tell him to let it sit for a few days as the flavours intensify but he cant resist a wee slice on Christmas day!

Ingredients

250g self raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

125g dark muscavado sugar

200g golden syrup

4 tbsp ginger syrup from the jar

125g butter

2 eggs

250mls milk

3 lumps of stem ginger, chopped

4 tbsp sultanas

8 x 8 inch deep square baking dish or 2 x 2lb loaf tins

Method

Grease and line your baking tin(s).  Preheat oven to 180.  Sift the flour, bicarb of soda, salt and spices into a large baking bowl.  Meanwhile place the butter and syrups in a pot over a medium heat.  Once melted, add the sugar, sultanas and chopped stem ginger to the mixture.  Let it bubble for a few minutes, stirring frequently and then take off the heat and set aside.  Break the eggs into a jug, add the milk and give it a little whisk to break up the eggs.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients in the baking bowl.  Pour in the syrup mixture and fold together with a large metal spoon.  Add the egg and milk mixture and stir to combine leaving no traces of flour.  Pour into cake tin or loaf tins (fill each tin about half way) and bake for 25 – 35 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted comes out clean.  Once removed from the oven and the bread is still warm, I like to pour a little more ginger syrup over the top to get that stickiness and glossiness.  Scatter a few chopped ginger pieces over there too just to finish it off 🙂

I know eggnog isn’t something we are overly familiar with here in Norn Iron but I’m sure you have heard of it at some point in your life.  Traditionally it’s made up of eggs, milk, cream, sugar and rum with the addition of a few spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.  It’s a calorific catastrophe if you’re counting them!  More of a USA tradition, they enjoy the tipple from Thanksgiving through to New Year, probably much in the same way we neck the Baileys this festive season.  I stumbled upon this healthier version on my interweb travels lately, it was labelled an Eggnog Smoothie but has neither eggs nor nog involved!  I tweaked the recipe a little and added coconut whipped cream as a twist and actually it was rather delicious!  I slurped my ‘Eggnog’ safe in the knowledge my hips wouldn’t explode out of my jeans anytime soon.  I’ll save that for Christmas day!

Eggnog Smoothie with Coconut Whipped Cream and Pomegranate jewels

Ingredients

Serves 2

750mls Almond or Coconut milk

1 banana

2 pitted dates

1 tbsp almond extract

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping

1 can of full fat coconut milk (chilled upright in fridge)

1 tbsp sweetener or icing sugar

2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

pinch of dessicated coconut

Method

Throw all the ingredients (except the topping ingredients) into a blender and blend for about two minutes or until everything is combined nicely.  Pour into glasses.  Take the can of coconut milk and try not to to shake or tip it.  You want the all the thick cream to have separated from the liquid so you can scoop it out of the can.  Scoop it out into a bowl and whisk with a handheld beater for about 2 – 5 minutes until it has started to thicken (it won’t go as thick a s double cream but if you add icing sugar it helps to stabalise it).  Add icing sugar or sweetener to taste and pour over eggnog.  Finish with pomegranate seeds and dessicated coconut.  Try it with a frozen banana for a different texture or throw in some ice cubes for a slushy!