Time for some festive baking …..

I know, I hear you all cry, Christmas is almost upon us & you are only baking now?

I love doing festive baking with my friend Ellie - we have a long tradition of baking together at Christmas - usually catching up on each others busy lives & just enjoying the evening together.

This year it has been rather hectic in both our homes but we have got our baking done.

I am Godmother to her two lovely lads & they love to bake Christmas biscuits with me - as they get older, the biscuits are becoming cuter, with icing & piping bags being used too.

Last year, my girls were about to help with the Christmas biscuit baking, this year, the lads pressed on very confidently on their own, even when the dough was more sticky than usual.

The IKEA woodland cookie cutters were used again this year - they are so lovely

Ooops - we took our eye off the oven to flick the topiary lights in the front …

Iced & ready in IKEA baking packages (aren't they the cutest cardboard boxes).

Ellie & I even managed to make a quiche for supper in between all the festive baking - with Godson & I rolling out the pastry & baking it blind while she made the filling.

Then on to the production line of mince pies for both our homes over Christmas. Mince pie baking time with a gingerbread pastry recipe that we used last year. The tins are greased ready for the production line with all 4 of us having something to do ….

Last year, we decided to add a little square of marzipan to the bottom of each pie before filling & we loved the taste so that was done again. We also did some marzipan stars on some last year to cut down on the pastry (truth be told we ran out of pastry but are ever resourceful.)

We liked the lighter marzipan star tops so much that this year, that is all we did.

We even had a marzipan production line going with it being rolled out, cut out, arranged & passed on to be put on the tops of the boiling hot pies as they came out of the oven - great teamwork!
Marzipan star time as they come out of the oven ….

The lads took a welcome break to construct with Geomag magnetic toys that we still have at home …

After 7 hours of baking, the tins are full, the oven is finally turned off & it is time to hang up the Christmas apron & put away the festive cutters for another year. Phew ….

Our efforts will soon go over the festive season but hopefully the memories will remain long after the last pie & biscuit is eaten. The recipe we used was shared in last years post in case anyone needs it.

I hope your festive plans are all as relaxed & enjoyable as our baking night was. Thanks for stopping by,  I love reading your comments.
Dee ~♥~