It’s December, and we all know what that means. It means that Christmas is right around the corner. Which is completely nuts, as I swear that the last I looked it was June. I’ve got a host of lovely festive recipes coming up over the weeks ahead, or you can see recipes which I’ve done for Christmas in the past for some inspiration, but before then I want to talk about what this means for December’s Cake Care Packages.
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We’re well into British Summer Time and every now and then, between the heavy rainstorms, the sun has been showing itself. This means I want fresher, less rich bakes. With more fruity and floral flavours. Last year I made an Earl Grey and Poppy Seed loaf for the people across at Realm & Empire, and I wanted to do something similar this year. Raspberry & Earl Grey aren’t necessarily the first things you’d match together, but they complement each other perfectly and with a little lemon rind mixed through you get that fresh but floral taste I’d been craving.
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Last year I properly had a go at doing pastry and while I am certainly no master in it, I felt it went pretty well. You can take a look at a few of my pies etc here, here and here. This year I’ve decided to do similar with bread. I’ve made bread a bunch of times but never on a consistent enough basis to actually get the hang of it. I’ve even booked in a day course at the E5 Bakehouse (my parents said they’d get me a course for a Christmas present, so thanks Mum & Dad!) because I want to really get the hang of it this year. That’s not until July though, so I’ve got plenty of time to get baking myself before then. Olive Bread felt like a good one to get the year going.
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