#FestiveFruitFriday - Mulled Wine Recipe

Christmas is just around the corner and nothing gets the merriment flowing than the festive smell and taste of mulled wine. It's so easy to make that you can get it done on your lunch break and if you add our (recommended) trickle of gin to the mix, your Friday evening wine can be that little bit more exciting.

What You'll Need:

• 1 bottle of red wine
• 50g demerara sugar
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 grated nutmeg
• 1 orange halved
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 star anise
• 1/2 lemon peel
• 1/2 lime peel

What To Do: (Serves 6)

1. Put the wine in the saucepan and add the all the ingredients apart from the gin.
2. Boil and stir the wine until the sugar has dissolved. Taste to check the sweetness, add more sugar if desired.
3. Take off the heat and stir more.
4. Strain into heatproof glasses and serve immediately.

Christmas is just round the corner now and we'd like to hear your perfect Christmas recipes - the fruitier the better! Let us know in the comments below or even tweet us @office_fruit and we'll try and feature them before the new year!

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#FestiveFruitFriday - Banana Chocolate Microwave Mug Cake

Winter is the season of comfort food and there's nothing better than a warm pudding or slice of cake. But on those cold, snowy evenings when you can't even bear to leave the warm security of your house (and your Snood) for a sweet treat, here's our fruity - but naughty - cake recipe that you can make with just a microwave and the contents of your cupboard.

• 1 tbsp butter, melted or 1 tbsp sunflower/vegetable oil
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 ripe banana (mashed)
• 4 tbsp self-raising flour
• 3 tbsp brown sugar

Mix all together in a big mug and cook for 30 seconds at a time, for about two minutes or when firm on top - cooking time will depend on your microwave power. Top with chocolate sauce, sprinkles, cream - whatever you like and dig in!


Let us know in the comments your favourite easy-peasy winter recipes and tweet us @office_fruit with your favourite fruity cake flavours and we'll try and make a microwave cake recipe just for you!



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#FestiveFruitFriday - Easy, Fruity Mince Pies

Nothing says Christmas like a good mince pie and how much better does it get than making your own? Well, I'm sure it gets better if the recipe you use is by Great British Bake Off's Paul Hollywood! This is one of his from BBC Food but we just had to share it with you all, due to his absolutely inspired use of more and more fruit - we just can't resist fruity treats! (Also, it might have something to do with our GBBO withdrawals...) Just make sure there's no soggy bottoms!

Pastry:

• 375g plain flour
• 250g softened butter
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 medium egg
• Sprinkle of icing sugar to finish

Filling:

• 800g mincemeat
• 2 tangerines, flesh chopped and zest grated
• 1 apple, finely diced

Specialist Equipment:

• 12 holed muffin tray
• round pastry cutter (6x9cm/3 1/2 inch)
• fluted pastry cutter (6x8cm/3 1/4 inch)
• You can have a variation on pastry cutter sizes, as long as the fluted cutter (which will be the top) is slightly smaller than the round one.

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6
2. Rub together the flour, butter, sugar and egg with a bit of cold water until it becomes a dough. Don't over rub it, and once it comes together wrap it in cling film and let it chill in the fridge.
3. For the filling, mix together the mincemeat and zest in a bowl. Then, add in the tangerine flesh and apple pieces and mix until the pieces are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
4. Roll out the pastry to an approx. 3mm thickness and cut out 12 discs with your round pastry cutter.
5. Press the discs into the muffin tray holes and evenly distribute the filling - each pastry cup should be 3/4 full
6. Now use the fluted pastry cutter to cut out 12 discs and place these as lids on the top of each pie and gently press down on the edges to join.
7. Sprinkle with any leftover caster sugar (optional) then put into the oven on the middle shelf to bake for 20 minutes.
8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool then sprinkle with icing sugar.
9. Serve warm from the oven with cream or keep in an airtight container ready to take to a Christmas party!

Let us know in the comments how you got on with this recipe and tweet us @office_fruit with any suggestions for other fruity variations of Christmas food!

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#FestiveFruitFriday - Perfect Christmas Pudding Recipe

It may only be the day after Halloween but it's never to early to start drowning out the office with 'Now That's What I Call Christmas', gorging on mince pies and spraying fake snow on everything. It's also never to early to start making your Christmas Pudding! Christmas puddings taste the best the longer they've been left to mature, so you might even want to use the recipe to make two and have an incredible pud next year too! (Or if you recognise this recipe from last year, you may already have one ready to slosh brandy on on the 25th!)

You'll Need:

• 110g shredded suet
• 110g sultanas
• 110g raisins
• 250g currants
• 25g finely chopped mixed candied peel
• 1 small cooking apple, peeled/cored/finely chopped
• zest of 1/2 large orange
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 55g self-raising flour
• 4 tbsp good quality brandy (and some extra for topping up)
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 110g soft, dark brown sugar
• 110g white breadcrumbs
• 25g chopped almonds
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 1/2 pint greased pudding basin

What to Do: (Serves 8-10)

1. Place the sultanas, raisins, currants, candied peel, apple, orange and lemon into a large mixing bowl. Add the brandy and stir. Cover the bowl and leave to marinate for anytime between overnight up to a few days (Leave it over the weekend in the office if you like!)
2. In another large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, mixed spice, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the suet, lemon and orange zests, brown sugar, breadcrumbs and almonds and stir together until all ingredients are combined. Add the marinated fruits and stir again.
3. Beat the eggs into a seperate bowl then add to the mixture and stir in until all ingredients are combined.
4. If you so please, now's the time to add your loose change to the bowl!
5. Spoon the mixture into the greased pudding basin, pressing down on the mixture with a spoon. Cover with a layer of greaseproof paper, then a layer of tin foil then, finally, tie up with string. 
6. Place the pudding in a steamer over a pan of simmering water and steam for 7-8 hours, taking care to frequently check the water level so that it is not boiling dry. The pudding will be a deep brown colour once cooked.
7. Remove the pudding from the steamer and leave to completely cool down. Remove the wrapping, make a hole with a skewer and add more brandy. Cover with a new sheet of greaseproof paper, tie up again and store until Christmas Day.
8. Feel free to top up the pudding with extra brandy every week or so for more of a boozy dessert!
9. Be sure to not eat immediately, leave for a few weeks and only reheat to serve on Christmas Day. 

It may seem a lot easier if you just bought your own pudding but there's nothing like the satisfaction of keeping to tradition. You can even leave the fruit to marinate from Friday until you come back on Monday then make the rest of the pudding in the comfort of your own home! Let us know nearer Christmas how your puddings came out in the comments below!

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