Peppernut biscuits

Ingredients:

For the spice mix;

• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

• 2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1/2 teaspoon ground green cardamom

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon ground star anise

• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the gingerbread;

• 180g butter

• 80g brown sugar

• 100g golden syrup

• 300g Plain flour

• 25g ground almonds

• 3 tablespoons of spice mix - see above

• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 2 eggs

• 500g icing sugar

Method:

Mix all the spices together well.

Heat the butter, brown sugar and syrup in a large pan, on a medium heat, until fully dissolved and mixed together. Leave to cool for 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile mix the plain flour​, ground almonds, spice mix, bicarbonate of soda and white pepper in a bowl.

Add to the saucepan of melted sugar and fat and mix well. Stir in the eggs.

Tip the mixture out onto a piece of cling film and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for several hours, or ideally overnight.

Split the mix into 2 halves and roll both out into 3/4" sausages and cut each sausage into pieces 3/4" thick. Roll each piece into a ball and place onto a lined baking tray, leaving a gap between each one. You should end up with around 24 balls.

Cook in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celcius for around 10-15 minutes, until golden in colour.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Once cooled, mix up the icing sugar as per the packet instructions. Dip each biscuit into the icing sugar, and place onto a cooling rack. Leave until the icing has set.

Mince pies

For the mincemeat;

Ingredients:

• 500g pears (cored and cut into small cubes)

• 500g dried mixed fruit

• 100g stem ginger

• 100g crab apple jelly

• 250g muscovado sugar

• Zest and juice of 3 oranges

• Zest and juice of 2 lemons

• 100g flaked almonds

• 50ml ginger wine

• 2 tsp Ground ginger

• 2 tsp Cinnamon

• 1 tsp Nutmeg

• 50ml sloe gin

Method:

Mix all the ingredients well, except the gin, and put them into a large oven proof dish.

Bake in a preheated oven for around 2.5 hours at 120 degrees.

Stir in the gin and spoon into warm, sterile jars. Leave to mature for at least 2 months before using. Will keep for a couple of years.

For the pies;

Ingredients:

• 300g plain flour (sifted)

• 150g unsalted butter (cut into cubes)

• Water

• Mince meat

• Milk

Method:

Add the butter to the flour and rub it between your fingers and into the flour. Keep rubbing until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.

Add a small drop of water and mix together. Keep adding a little water at a time, until the mixture comes together to form a stiff dough amd leaves the bowl mostly clean.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out as thin as possible - 1 or 2 mm is best. Cut rounds for the bases using a pastry cutter and place into cupcake cases.

Fill the base with mince meat and top with either smaller cut rounds or stars. Where the pastry top and base meets, use a little milk to seal the edges.

Brush with a little milk and cook in the centre of a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes, until golden in colour.

Christmas tree whisk (tvare)

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ available now on Amazon

Traditional Scandinavian tvare whisks date back to at least the 9th century. The old Norse word for them was þvara. The word tvare, means 'mixing' though they would have been used for mashing, as well as stirring porridge and stew.

As these were custom made the size of the handle varied for its user, as well as its purpose.

The handle can be anything up to half a metre long for large pots of porridge.

1. The first step is to find a suitable tree, the top part of a 5 foot tree will probably make no more than two whisks, any lower down the handle and branches will be too thick to work with.

2. Cut the trunk to the desired length for your handle. Cut below the second large spread of branches. Remove the top branches and any others along the stem.

3. Cut the remaining branches to around 5/6cm long.

4. Remove as much bark as possible from the handle and branches. Don't worry too much as this will be easier after the next step.

5. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and boil the wood for 10-15 minutes. This will soften the remaining bark, making it easier to remove.

6. The final step is to sand everything smooth and treat with a food safe oil. Traditionally this would be Linseed.