Delicious UK December 2015

The five-minute festive tipple: almond milk eggnog  SERVES 2 Mix 200ml unsweetened almond milk with 100ml single cream, ½ split vanilla pod and its scraped seeds, 1 small cinnamon stick and a few gratings of nutmeg in a small saucepan, then warm on a low heat until steaming. Whisk 1 medium free-range egg yolk with 50g caster sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy, then pour in the warm almond milk mixture gradually, whisking all the time. Return the mixture to the small saucepan with 60ml good brandy and 60ml dark rum and warm on a gentle heat, stirring constantly, for 3-5 minutes until thickened. Strain through a sieve, then leave to cool. Chill for at least 30 minutes, or overnight. Serve warm or chilled with extra gratings of…

The big event is almost here, and it brings with it mixed emotions: if you love the festivities that dominate the month, there’s anticipation and excitement. But, whether or not you revel in those celebrations, there’s a huge amount to get done and stress levels can run high. As well as putting ridiculous pressure on ourselves to create – and live – the festive dream, the reality is we still have to get a wholesome dinner on the table at the end of the working day to feed hungry mouths – even if only our own – in the run-up to the 25th. So you’ll find a raft of down-to-earth recipes alongside a 94-page cookbook of special festive ideas to guide you through December with wisdom and verve.…

SEE THE LIGHT The French-chateaustyle majesty of Buckinghamshire’s Waddesdon Manor is hard to top when it’s lit up for Christmas, the trees twinkling with myriad pinpricks of white light. This year there’s a special reason to visit as the artist Bruce Munro’s three-year residency is coming to an end. His light and sound exhibition, SOS, which threads its way through the grounds, was inspired by the work of the charity ShelterBox. It runs until 3 January, plus there’s a Christmas Fair until 6 December. Garden-only entry £8; visit nationaltrust.org.uk  for opening times GIVE US A SWIRL We love a bundt. Last December we featured a cake on our cover made in a dramatic swirly bundt tin. Many of you asked for more recipes to use the tins you…

It’s a home cook’s dream: a beautiful, powerful stand mixer to make baking a doddle. Put the ingredients in the large stainless steel bowl of the Smeg SMF01 and let it do all the hard work in minutes. It comes with a whisk, flat beater, dough hook and bowl cover, too. To show off the classic Fifties styling, the winner can choose from seven retro colours: see smeguk.com/stand-mixers. For a chance to win: make one – or all! – of our cover recipe cakes (p108), take a pic and share it with us; see right.…

SUBJECT: A heartfelt reminder FROM: Hazel Eccleston I don’t think I’ve ever written a letter to a magazine before but I felt I had to respond to Ravinder Bhogal’s piece [‘A day to cherish, for all of us’, p154, November]. I ended up in tears because it expressed many of the feelings I’m going through. I lost my dad to leukaemia in June and this will be our first Christmas without him. My dad loved life and loved to try new food, and he’s left a hole in our lives that can never be filled. But Ravinder reminded me that there’s still happiness in my life and my dad would have wanted me to smile, not cry, at Christmas. Thank you for having the courage to print such an inspiring…

THE MEAL OF THE YEAR My mother took Christmas dinner very seriously, but every year there would be tears. I vowed that when I grew up, I’d enjoy the day without overstretching myself. It still has to be turkey; the brussels sprouts must be buttery and full of chestnuts, and the bread sauce must be chunky. I learned that as long as the gravy and roast potatoes are piping hot, it doesn’t matter if everything else isn’t. THE BEST CONVERSATIONS I didn’t like eating at all as a child – if you didn’t eat everything on the plate, it was given to you cold at the next meal. But I did love helping in the kitchen. I learned early on that all the best conversations happen around a kitchen table.…