Series: 12 Days of Recipes

On the second day of recipes, we suggest you get yourself a box of Panettone & Whole Nutmeg to make some...

Panettone Egg Nog Bread Pudding Muffins

This makes a lovely addition to your brunch buffet but it is also sweet enough for a festive dessert. Don’t forget the whipped cream (and don't forget to enter our contest before December 4th at 11AM).

Ingredients:

• 5 cups of diced Panettone *
• 3 whole eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• ¾ cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups your favourite egg nog
• ¼ cup rum
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract *
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg *
• Cooking spray
• *Available from Well Seasoned

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
2. Place water on to boil for a water bath. With a serrated knife, cut your favourite Panettone into ¾ inch dice and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
3. For the eggnog custard, in another bowl thoroughly whisk together the eggs, yolks, sugar, egg nog, rum, vanilla extract, and a healthy grating of fresh nutmeg. Pour this over the bread cubes.
4. Spray a 12 compartment muffin tin with vegetable cooking spray. Ladle the bread/eggnog mixture gently and evenly into the muffin tins. Place the filled muffin tin in a tall sided cookie sheet or roasting pan. Transfer to the preheated oven and carefully pour the hot water from kettle onto sheet pan, creating a water bath for the muffin tin to sit in.
5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until the tops are nicely browned, and a toothpick comes clean from the center. Serve warm with vanilla scented whipped cream.

On the first day of recipes, we suggest you get yourself a box of Taylors of Harrogate Spiced Christmas Tea and some dark chocolate to make some...

Christmas Tea Chocolate Truffles

The infusion of the Christmas tea with the dark chocolate is sublime. These make a lovely hostess gift when they are nicely wrapped in a small cello bag or box.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb best quality dark chocolate *
• 500 ml whipping cream
• 100 g Dutch process cocoa powder *
• 4 Taylors Christmas Tea bags, broken open – bag discarded *
• *Available from Well Seasoned

Instructions:

1. Bring cream to a boil in a small heavy saucepan and stir in tea. Remove from heat and let steep 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, finely grind chocolate in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Pour cream through a fine-mesh sieve onto chocolate, pressing on and discarding tea leaves, then whisk until smooth. Chill the chocolate ganache, covered, until firm, about 2 hours.
3. Spoon level teaspoons of ganache onto a baking sheet. Put cocoa in a bowl, then dust your palms lightly with it. Roll each piece of ganache into a ball (wash your hands and redust as they become sticky). Drop several balls at a time into bowl of cocoa and turn to coat. Transfer as coated to an airtight container, separating layers with wax paper.

Baking themed gifts are super fun. If you find yourself scratching your head as to what to get someone on your list, you can never go wrong encouraging someone to bake more often (with the high chance of getting in on the results!) Spatulas can break down over time and you can never have enough of them. Grab one in their favourite colour and build out from there!

If you're really looking to raise the bar, why not pick them up a Crème Brulée torch (and some new ramekins) to encourage their inner culinary adventurer. Everyone loves playing...sorry, COOKING with fire.

Belgian Chocolate Pots de Crème with Cardamom Whipped Cream & Fresh Mango

Ingredients

• 4 oz semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1½ cups whipping cream
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• A few slices of fresh mango

Day 5: Vanilla Cardamom Shortbread