BETTY'S DARK RUM RICH CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

This will make a splendid centre decoration for your Christmas Table:- You will need
225g Plain Chocolate
100ml Double Cream, 1 tablespoon Dark Rum and a selection of coatings to include - Cocoa, Chopped Mixed Nuts, Chocolate Vermicelli, Honeycomb pieces.

Bring the cream to the boil on the boiling plate, then add the plain chocolate and stir until melted.  Add the rum and stir, leave to cool.  When cool beat with an electric whisk until the mixture becomes creamy and lighter in colour http://www.twyford-cookers.com/Cookware/Products.aspx?cid=21&pid=515
Refrigerate for an hour to firm up.

Once the truffle mixture is firm, take bite sized handfuls and roll into balls in your hands.  Toss in one of the coatings till covered all over and place on a tray with a sheet of bak'o'glide. Continue until all the mixture is used up.http://www.twyford-cookers.com/Cookware/Products.aspx?cid=13&pid=305  

For the Truffle Topiary Tree

Materials
1 clean flower pot, stick or old wooden spoon, Petite Four Cases, 1 Quantity of Betty's Rich Rum Truffles with a mixture of coating, Decorative ribbon, silk flowers or plastic berries.  Block of self setting Clay, Dried Flower Oasis Ball, cocktail sticks.

Set the stick or old wooden spoon in the Flower Pot using the self setting clay and fill the oasis ball with the truffles set into petite four cases.  Construct as shown in the picture.  Tie with decorative ribbon and hide the tree until Christmas day or the truffles will disappear!

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

Do you really want to make 3 Christmas puddings?  If you are the paragon of virtue that your mother in law always wanted, here are the quantities for 3.  Of course, if mother in law is the enemy, just do 1/3 of the quantities and eat it yourself!

225g Plain flour, 225g fresh white breadcrumbs, 100g ground almonds, 1 tsp ground mixed spice, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 175g grated carrots, 250g sultanas, 50g chopped peel, juice and zest from 1 lemon and 1 orange, 150ml dark rum, 4 tablespoons black treacle, 1tsp baking powder, 225g shredded suet, 500 g dark  brown Muscavado sugar, 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg, 175g stoned prunes, chopped, 250g currants, 250g raisins, 2 apples peeled and chopped, 5 eggs beaten, 300ml stout, 4 tablespoons golden syrup.  Yes, this really is Grandmother Twyford's recipe!!

Sift the flour with the baking powder, add the rest of the ingredients and combine and ask every member of the family to have a stir and a wish (a Twyford's tradition).  If the mixture looks a little dry, just add some more booz!

Divide between 3 x 900g greased pudding basins.  Cover with a circle of greaseproof and then cover with muslin like granny used to. 
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Steam on a trivet in a large saucepan with boiling water to come 1/2 way up.  Bring to the boil and transfer to the simmering oven for 2-3 hours.  The pudding will be delicious!!

STUFFING WREATH!!

You might like to ring the changes with this eye catching stuffing wreath (I'm sure you'll have plenty of time...)

For the Wreath
1lb Sausagemeat, Zest of one lemon, 1 Beaten Egg, 1 Onion finely chopped, 454 g Freeze dried Chestnuts roughly copped, Handful each of Sage, Parsley & Thyme finely chopped.

GARNISH
24 Cocktail sausages, 12 slices of streaky bacon stretched with the back of a knife and cut in half, cocktail sticks and Bay leaves plus Betty Twyford stuffing balls - 24 of them!

For the wreath, place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine and season with salt and pepper.  Place on a baking tray lined with a sheet of Bake'O'Glide.  Shape into a circle with a whole in the middle. O.
Wrap some of the sausages in bacon and roll the remaining bacon into mini rolls.  You will have a selection of sausages, bacon roll and stuffing balls in which to decorate your wreath, attaching them with cocktail sticks.  Bake in the roasting oven on a grid shelf on the base of the roasting oven for approx 45 mins (check it at times ).  If it starts to brown or dry out , cover loosely with baking or greaseproof paper.

Once cooked, let it rest, then transfer to a plate and garnish with bay leaves.  IT WILL BE WORTH IT!!

If you look to the left of the picture, the stuffing wreath is there, but then we ate it!!

A little more than 12 days to Christmas...but

This might help... we can start with the slow roasted turkey!
Remove the wishbone for ease of carving. Loosen the skin over the breast and stuff with your choice of stuffing, fill the cavity with onions,  lemons cut in half, and a good handful of herbs.  Cover breast with a lattice of streaky bacon.  Rub butter over the skin.  Place in a roasting tin on a rack or a me poi (roughly chopped onion, celery, leek and carrot).  Cover loosely with foil and place in the simmering oven over night.
Note:  If your simmering oven is slow, you could start it off in the Roasting Oven for about 15mins to give a head start!

8-10lb - 8-10 hours
11-16lb - 9-12 hours
17 - 22ob 10-14 hours but it all depends on your simmering oven.

Here is a good stuffing recipe
125g Breadcrumbs
1 Onion chopped
2 Handful's Herbs (sage, parsley, thyme) chopped finely100g Tub of Cream Cheese
Chopped smoky bacon
1 beaten egg, seasoning.  Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and combine thoroughly then STUFF!

Feeling Christmassy?

We are about to purchase 'the tree' until then, Christmas is coming!  To get us all into the mood, we held a charity extravanganza for St Michaels Hospice and raised £602 - a great achievement and lots of hard work rewarded.  We played Christmas Carols while Jacqui demonstrated the best way to decorate your perfectly iced Christmas cake (wish we could all do it like that!).  After a few glasses of mulled wine, it all seemed possible.  Here she is, concentrating!

Toast and Jam

Tis the season of mellow fruitfulness and I am enjoying all those long evenings curled up in front of the fire with a nice slice of toast and jam.

So much so I have bought in a whole load of lovely jams from the Ludlow Jam Pan so I am spoiled for choice.

Choices include:

Greengage Jam

Classic Raspberry

Dumpsie Dearie

Marrow and Ginger 

Rose Petal Jelly

Victoria Plum Jam   

   http://bettytwyford.com/preserves.html                                                                                                                     

Lovely festive stocking fillers for little ones

Keeping children entertained over Christmas can be tricky but encouraging them to get inspired with baking is always a good option!

The Fairy Cupcake Book and Teddy’s Dinosaur Book are perfect for keeping the little people in your house happy between Christmas and the New Year. These books allow children to keep a note of their cookery experiences and encourage them to experiment with new recipes. A perfect introduction to the world of simple baking.

Betty's pre-Christmas clean-up

  

Perhaps it is a little previous to be cleaning up ready for Christmas but 'being prepared' is my motto!

Get scrubbing and be kind to the environment with my  super clean all spray which has an ozone safe bag and valve spray system. Use all around the house on hard surfaces, UPVC frames, plastic, cooker hoods and filters, natural stone, synthetic and tiled floors, spectacle lenses and frames.   Everything will be bright and sparkling in no time. 

              http://www.bettytwyford.com/cleaning.html                                                                                                                              

Betty's fabulous squeaky clean soap giveaway!

Looking for fabulous stocking fillers this Christmas? Buy Betty’s beauty bar and George’s grooming bar for that extra little bit of luxury this Christmas. Both soaps are made from the finest pure and natural ingredients. Soaps are now just £2.99 each.

Beautiful stylish kettles - perfect for teatime

There is nothing like that familiar whistle to tell you that a nice cup of tea is on its way – and now there are even more colour choices when you buy an AGA Cookshop stainless steel whistling kettle.

These stylish traditional kettles will fit into any kitchen colour scheme offering you a top of the range functional product that looks great in any kitchen.

And with the new Claret added to the original three colours; Gloss Black, Cream Enamel and Polished you really will be spoilt for choice!

The kettles cost just £67.49 from Betty Twyford

For details visit http://www.bettytwyford.com/new-products.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=206&category_id=31

SPECIAL OFFER – keep your young guests cosy and comfortable this winter with Betty Twyford super sleepover beds.

Anyone who has had five excited ten-year-olds round for a sleepover will understand that the expression ‘sleepover’ in grown up terms actually can be translated as ‘sleeplessness’ for everyone over 30!

But my new super comfortable roll up beds, are bound to send everyone off to dreamland double quick.

These beds come in single and double size and it means no more scrabbling around trying to make up beds from cushions and quilts and your children’s young guests will spend longer snoozing which means less time for making mischief!

A double bed costs £108 while a single is £81 – 10 per cent off the listed price!

Visit http://www.bettytwyford.com/twyford-children.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=627&category_id=55 for details.