Pies and pastries – Jeremy Lee’s 12 puddings of Christmas part 1

The yuletide cook has quite a lot of kitchen choreography to perform, over many days, to feed the descending hordes of family and friends. So having a great store of delicious things at the ready is a good idea. The wise cook needs all manner of ideas for treats up their sleeve – not just for mealtimes but also for snacks before midnight mass, at afternoon tea, for after-dinner movies …

Something I learned from my parents growing up is that conjuring as much theatrical jollity as can be is essential – the biggest show being, of course, a table laid with a lot of love.

One vivid memory is of a great table of polished oak in our dining room, piled high with oranges and clementines, Mum being notorious for panic-buying citrus fruits. Another is the huge array of my mother’s extraordinary baking for the Christmas hols, surrounded by Christmas lights and candles and all manner of festive thingummyjigs. Especially cakes – and lots of them. One year I counted seven, and pointed out to Mum that we were only a family of six. Mum pointed to a cupboard where tins with more biscuits and cakes were piled high, and then, laughing merrily, pointed to the freezer, where she’d stashed even more “emergency rations for just in case”.

These bakes were all so good. When thinking of 12 puddings for Christmas, I tried to think of all the great classics that many people might enjoy. At the outset of the festive season, Mum would plunder the bookshelves for all her favourite recipes, and the pile of books by Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson, Claudia Roden and many more remained, throughout December, by the stool Mum always sat upon at the counter in the kitchen. The list of books I consult now are pretty similar, and I’ve called on them all to compile this list.

An old favourite of Mum’s was a recipe by 80s TV chef Michael Smith. It was a great mincemeat meringue tart that began life as a “Royal Pye”. Mincemeat is sat upon frangipane topped with caramelised pears, then heaped with meringue and baked crisp – it makes as good a show as it does a pudding.

We follow with little chocolate turnovers and a creme caramel – a soothing, cooling custardy respite from all the cakes and pies. Look out for more yuletide recipes over the weekend.

1 Mincemeat meringue tart (main photo)

Should the spirit be willing, making mincemeat is a lovely job done early on in December – you could even make a large batch, and keep any leftovers for next year. Make the pastry the night before you need the tart, or, alternatively, up to a week before and freeze it. A visit to the supermarket for golden sugared almonds and candied mint leaves is always worthwhile to jolly along a Christmas pie. You will need a 23cm-round tart tin.

Serves 12
For the mincemeat
6 apples, braeburn, cox’s or similar
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Juice and zest of 1 orange
A 370g mix of currants, raisins, sultanas, dried figs and apricots, chopped into small pieces
75g marcona almonds, chopped finely
225g dark brown muscovado sugar
225g shredded suet
1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground mace
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
A jigger of madeira

For the pastry
130g cold unsalted butter
250g plain flour, sifted
15g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp ice-cold water

For the frangipane
50g unsalted butter, softened
25g caster sugar
1 egg
50g ground almonds

For the pears
4 medium-size pears
Juice of 1 lemon
50g caster sugar

For the meringue
4 large egg whites
250g caster sugar

To decorate (optional)
Golden sugared almonds
Candied mint leaves

1 To make the mincemeat, peel and core the apples, cut them into small randomly shaped pieces and toss in the lemon and orange juice to avoid browning. Combine with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Decant into a sealed container and keep until needed.

2 To make the pastry, cut the butter into small pieces and tip into a large bowl with the flour and sugar. Mix together to a fine crumb. Add the egg yolk and a little water. Gently work into a dough. Tip out on to a floured surface and knead gently until smooth. Form into a rough disc, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

3 To make the frangipane, put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat for a minute. Add the egg, beat again for a minute then stir in the ground almonds.

4 When ready to bake, roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Lift it up and swiftly drape the pastry on the tart tin, pressing gently until fitted snugly within. Refrigerate.

5 To prepare the pears, peel and core them, then chop into small randomly shaped pieces and toss in the lemon juice to avoid browning. Put a pan on a medium heat and add the sugar. Let the sugar begin to colour and start swirling the pan until the sugar has caramelised. Tip in the chopped pear dressed in the lemon juice. Take care as the sugar will sputter. Toss the chopped pear in the caramel and cook until it softens. Set aside to cool.

6 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. To assemble the tart, roughly spread the frangipane on the bottom of the pastry case. Strew with the pears then heap on enough mincemeat to just fill the tart. Put this in the fridge to settle.

7 Put the tart in the preheated oven and cook for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 160C/325F/gas mark 3 for a further 50 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and let it cool slightly on a rack. Lower the oven temperature to 120C/250F/ gas low.

8 To make the meringue, in a clean bowl, whip the egg whites into stiff peaks. Beat in half of the sugar until stiff peaks appear once more. Repeat with the rest of the sugar. With bold strokes, heap the meringue on the tart, creating a riot of swirls.

9 Pop it back in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and crusted, with a fissure here and there.

10 Decorate with golden sugared almonds and candied mint leaves, if using, and serve.

2 Little chocolate turnovers

These pastries are best served still warm from the oven, so make them on the day.

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Makes 16
2 sheets frozen puff pastry
Flour for rolling
125g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), broken into 16 pieces, roughly triangular in shape
200ml double cream
Cream and caster sugar, to serve

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and line a baking tray with parchment. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut the pastry into 16 6cm-wide squares.

2 Lay a triangle of chocolate just inside one of the corners of the pastry square. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little cream. Fold the pastry in half diagonally over the chocolate, making a triangular turnover. Repeat with the remaining squares and arrange the turnovers on the prepared baking tray at least 3cm apart.

3 Brush them with cream and put the tray in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour before baking.

4 Bake for about 5 minutes, then check the colour – if already golden, reduce to 180C or even 160C if the oven is of an enthusiastic nature, and bake for a further 5-7 minutes. They should be puffed and golden. Cool slightly. Serve with cream and caster sugar.

3 Creme caramel

Best made the day before you need it to give the dessert time to set sufficiently.

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Serves 12
1 litre of milk
175g plus 2 tbsp caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
A strip of orange zest
3 whole eggs, plus 7 egg yolks

1 Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Have ready a ceramic or metal mould, roughly 28cm wide, 5cm deep.

2 Heat the milk in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the 2 tbsp sugar, the vanilla seeds and the strip of orange zest. Heat this gently until merely a wisp of steam rises from the surface.

3 In a large bowl, beat together the whole eggs, then add the egg yolks. Slowly pour the milk on to the eggs, stirring gently with a wooden spoon, keeping any froth to a minimum. Let it stand for while, then pour the warm custard through a fine sieve. Spoon away any foam sitting on the surface.

4 Put the 175g caster sugar into a stainless steel saucepan over a moderate heat and gently tilt the pan to keep the sugar on the move as it liquefies and turns to caramel. You want a rich mahogany hue; any darker and a bitter note will be introduced. Swiftly pour the caramel into the mould. Holding the mould with a cloth in each hand, and exercising great care, cautiously swirl the caramel around the bottom of the mould until it is evenly covered. Let this set, which will happen swiftly.

5 Put the mould in a deep oven tray. Pour the custard into the mould then put the tray in the middle of the oven. Pour enough hot water into the tray to bring the level up to a few centimetres short of the surface of the custard.

6 Bake at 150C/300F/gas mark 2 for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 120C/250F/gas low for 50-60 minutes, turning occasionally for even cooking. Check every 10 minutes or so to ensure there is no colouring or simmering water to cause bubbles in the custard. Test that it’s done by inserting a sharp knife into the middle – it should come out clean. A little wobble is good. With the utmost caution, remove the tray from the oven and let the custard sit for 10 minutes. Remove the mould from the tray, let it cool, then refrigerate – overnight is best.

7 To serve, gently press down around the edge of the custard, then run a sharp knife around it. Put a deep plate on top of the mould, and in one fluid motion, swiftly flip the creme caramel. Wait for the plop, shaking a little if necessary before lifting the mould.

• Jeremy Lee is the chef-proprietor of Quo Vadis restaurant in London; @jeremyleeqv