A very Dutch Celebration Christmas Wreath

Prettige Kertdagen

My Dutch friend, Cobi, who has lived in Yorkshire for over 30 years, is busy making her delicious Celebration Christmas Wreath to her Grandma’s (Oma’s) special recipe.  

It’s similar to the Celebration Stick she makes at Easter.

The Christmas season is in full swing in Holland as on 5th December St Nicholas (Sinterklass) arrives in Amsterdam with Black Peter (Zwarte Piet) in a boat from Spain, bringing presents and sweets for the children. The adults wrap their presents up for family and friends, rather like Secret Santa presents. They write a poem (Cobi says it can be humorous but not unkind) to highlight the receiver’s personality. Sometimes there’s a treasure hunt around the house with messages to lead you to your gift. Christmas Day is usually a quieter time with a church service and family m

Celebration Dutch Christmas Wreath

Filling

125g   ground almonds

125g sugar 

1 egg (Meryl’s Tip : Since this recipe is cooked in the oven, I’m happy to use a raw egg in the filling. Otherwise use Grandma Abson’s Almond Paste recipe and bind the mixture with water and lemon juice)

Finely grated rind of a lemon

Juice of a lemon (If a stronger flavour is preferred, then use more lemon rind).

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until it forms a paste. Cover and leave to stand for an hour.

Puff pastry

To decorate

Apricot jam

Glazed cherries (mixed colours)  and strips of orange peel

Roll out the pastry thinly, about ½ cm thick, into an oblong shape of about 35-40 cm long and 12-15 cm wide.  Roll the almond mixture (marzipan) into a long sausage shape and place it on the pastry. Wrap the pastry around the mixture and shape it into a circle. Slightly wet the sides and ends and push one end into the other to stick it together.  Place the wreath on a baking tray. Brush with beaten egg. To finish off the decoration, cut out some holly shapes, stars or bells and lay them on the top of the wreath. Place in a hot oven, about 220C, 425F, Mark 7 for about 30-40 minutes.  Allow to cool. 

When completely cold, warm 4-5 tbsps of apricot jam in a pan until it’s runny.  Spread the jam over the baked wreath.  For a final decoration, you can use glazed cherries and orange peel strips as you wish.

 We love anything with Almond Paste. 

What’s your favourite recipe for this time of year? 

More festive and New Year baking

Tarte Noël

Festive baking continues with Tarte Noël. This is a recipe of my

Grandma's son, Albert, who lived in North Wales for the last 20 or so years of his life. I always make it during the Christmas and New Year holidays. It's a good one to use the last of the (homemade) mincemeat and is a favourite for New Year's Eve.

For the pastry:

4 oz/110g plain flour

pinch salt

2 oz /50g softened butter 

2 egg yolks

2 oz/50g caster sugar 

For the filling:

6 tbsps mincemeat

For the topping:

4 oz/110g ground almonds

2 oz/50g flaked almonds

2 eggs whites

almond extract

For the glaze:

2 tbsp apricot jam

2 tbsp boiling water

Method:

Sift the flour and salt in a bowl. Rub the fat into the flour. Once the mixture is crumbly, make a well in the centre and add the egg yolks and the caster sugar. Place in the fridge to chill for one hour. Roll out the pastry and line a 7 inch (roughly 18cm) flan dish. Spread the mincemeat over the pastry base. Blend the ground almonds, egg whites and almond extract and spread over the mincemeat. Cover the top with flaked almonds and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 F / Gas mark 4 / 180 C. For the glaze, mix the apricot jam with boiling water, and brush this over the top of the tart as soon as it is out of the oven.

I hope you enjoy it! I want to share lots of traditional recipes so send me your favourites to keep the legacy of our Grandmas' baking alive. Have you got a treasured family cake, pudding, pie or biscuit that they used to make?