Tag Archives: Recipe

Tule Author Kate Hewitt Shares Her Thoughts on Traditional Christmas Pudding!

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

When I moved to the UK twelve years ago, I was a bit taken aback by a lot of things, but nothing quite left me as flummoxed as Christmas pudding, that unique and ubiquitous festive dessert! Brits have an unusual thing about celebratory desserts—traditionally any celebration requires a fruit cake, made with raisins, sultanas, currants, and candied peel. Add a very thick, hard layer of marzipan icing, and you’ve got what people bring out for birthdays, baptisms, anniversaries, you name it! I think, as Great Britain becomes inevitably more Americanized, the tradition of this kind of cake is fading a bit, and the classic vanilla or chocolate sponge is coming more into vogue—but Christmas pudding is still brought out on December 25th!

If you don’t like dried fruit, it’s probably not your thing, but there is something truly magnificent and Dickensian about the Christmas pudding, brought out perfectly molded on a platter and then doused in brandy or rum and set alight—yes, really! My husband has a special silver spoon he heats over a candle until the brandy bursts into blue flame, which he thens pours over the pudding. It’s quite a sight to see. As for eating… well, anything tastes delicious with lashings of brandy butter or cream.

Below I am sharing Mary Berry, the undisputed Queen of British Baking’s recipe for Christmas pudding. I make mine at the end of November, and feed it a tablespoon of rum per week until Christmas. On the day, you boil it for a couple of hours, upend it on a dish, and then, yes, set it on fire! Truly an experience for the senses. 

Ingredients

For the pudding

For the brandy butter

To serve

Recipe tips  |  How-to-videos

Method

  1. Measure the sultanas, raisins, apricots and apple into a bowl with the orange juice. Add the measured brandy (rum or sherry), stir and leave to marinate for about one hour.
  2. Put the measured butter, sugar and grated orange rind into a large bowl and cream together with a wooden spoon or a hand-held whisk until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little of the measured flour if the mixture starts to curdle.
  3. Sift together the flour and mixed spice, then fold into the creamed mixture with the breadcrumbs and the nuts. Add the soaked dried fruits with their soaking liquid and stir well.
  4. Generously butter a 1.4 litre/2½ pint pudding basin. Cut a small disc of foil or baking parchment and press into the base of the basin.
  5. Spoon into the prepared pudding basin and press the mixture down with the back of a spoon. Cover the pudding with a layer of baking parchment paper and foil, both pleated across the middle to allow for expansion. Tie securely with string and trim off excess paper and foil with scissors.
  6. To steam, put the pudding in the top of a steamer filled with simmering water, cover with a lid and steam for eight hours, topping up the water as necessary.
  7. To boil the pudding, put a metal jam jar lid, or metal pan lid, into the base of a large pan to act as a trivet. Place a long, doubled strip of foil in the pan, between the trivet and the pudding basin, ensuring the ends of the strip reach up and hang over the edges of the pan. This will help you to lift the heavy pudding basin out of the pan of hot water when it has finished cooking.
  8. Lower the pudding onto the trivet and pour in enough boiling water to come half way up the side of the bowl. Cover with a lid, bring the water back to the boil, then simmer for about seven hours, until the pudding is a glorious deep brown colour, topping up the water as necessary.
  9. For the brandy butter, place the butter into a mixing bowl and cream with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy – or for speed use an electric hand-held mixer. Beat in the sieved icing sugar until smooth, then add brandy, rum or cognac, to taste. Spoon into a serving dish, cover and set aside in the fridge.
  10. When cooked through, remove the pudding from the pan and cool completely. Discard the paper and foil and replace with fresh. Store in a cool, dry place.
  11. To serve, on Christmas Day, steam or boil the pudding for about two hours to reheat. Turn the pudding onto a serving plate. To flame, warm the brandy or rum in a small pan, pour it over the hot pudding and set light to it. Serve with brandy butter.

Enjoy! And Happy Holidays!
Kate Hewitt

About the Author.

Kate Hewitt wrote her first story at the age of five, simply because her older brother had written one and she thought she could do it too. That story was one sentence long—fortunately, they have become a bit more detailed as she’s grown older.

She studied drama in college and shortly after graduation moved to New York City to pursue a career in theatre. This was derailed by something far better—meeting the man of her dreams who happened also to be her older brother’s childhood friend.

Ten days after their wedding they moved to England, where Kate worked a variety of different jobs—drama teacher, editorial assistant, church youth worker, secretary, and finally mother.

When her oldest daughter was one year old, she sold her first short story to a British magazine, The People’s Friend. Since then she has written many stories and serials as well as novels. In 2007 she received ‘The Call’ from Mills & Boon for her first Harlequin Presents novel, The Italian’s Chosen Wife. Since then she has written over 25 books for Harlequin, and also writes women’s fiction for Carina UK and Lion Hudson Press. She loves writing stories that both tackle tough issues and celebrate the redeeming power of love.

Besides writing, she enjoys reading, traveling, and learning to knit—it’s an ongoing process and she’s made a lot of scarves.

Kate lives in a tiny village on the northwest coast of England with her husband, five young children, and an overly affectionate Golden Retriever.

 

Delicious Southern Shrimp or Crawfish Pasta from Southern Born Author, Susan Sands!

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

This recipe is always a crowd pleaser in our family and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! It’s the perfect addition to your holiday festivities.

Enjoy!!
– Susan Sands

Shrimp or Crawfish Pasta

What you need:

  • 1 bag egg noodles
  • 6 – 8 oz. Velveeta 
  • 2 Tbs. of pickled jalapenos
  • ¾ cup milk
  • 2 – 3 Tbs. flour
  • 1 bunch green onions chopped small 
  • 1 small yellow onion chopped
  • Garlic (minced or chopped) or garlic powder
  • Tony Chachere’s to taste
  • 1 green bell pepper chopped
  • ½ stick butter
  • 1 tsp. celery flakes or 1 stalk chopped celery
  • Shredded cheddar to top

What to do:

1. Prepare noodles according to package directions, drain, and set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add chopped onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery, Tony’s, onion powder and sauté until soft. Add peeled and deveined shrimp. Cook until shrimp are pink or crawfish are hot.

3. Cube Velveeta and add to pan, and melt into mixture on low heat.

4. In a bowl, whisk together flour in cold milk until smooth. At low fire, add milk/flour mixture. Use whisk to combine until blended. You can add a little at a time until desired thickness is reached. If mixture becomes too thick, add a bit more milk. 

5. In a 13 X 9 pan, combine egg noodles and shrimp/crawfish sauce mixture. Top with shredded cheddar. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. 

Sweet Gingery Molasses Cookies from Kris Bock’s “Accidental Billionaire Cowboys” Series!

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

This is one of my favorite cookies, perfect for the cooler winter weather in the northern hemisphere. This has the usual warming spices, plus crystallized ginger for an extra kick. The characters make these cookies in The Billionaire Cowboy’s Christmas, book 1 in the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys sweet romance series. Who wouldn’t want to be a billionaire? Turns out winning the lottery causes as many problems as it solves.

Enjoy!
– Kris Bock

 

 

 

 

Gingery Molasses Cookies 

These molasses cookies get an extra kick with two kinds of ginger! Note that this recipe needs to be chilled before baking. Liquid molasses makes the cookie batter very soft. Chilling creates a firm dough. 

Ingredients:

¾ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

¼ cup molasses

1 egg

2 cups flour 

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon cloves

½ cup chopped crystallized ginger

Tip: Dark molasses gives the cookies a stronger molasses flavor. Light or mild molasses provides less flavor. 

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar, molasses, and egg.
  2. Stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, and all spices. Pour this into the butter mixture and blend well. Stir in the crystallized ginger.
  3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. 
  4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray the cups of a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Scoop spoonfuls of dough and roll them into 2-inch balls in your hands. Place each ball in the cup of a muffin tin.
  5. For soft, gooey cookies, bake about 10 minutes, until the edges look firm but the middle is still very soft. For crisper cookies, bake 12-14 minutes, until they look firm in the middle. 
  6. Rest the cookies in the muffin tin for five minutes. Then remove the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.

 

Tip: You can also make these cookies on a regular baking sheet. They spread a lot though, so using the muffin pan results in thicker cookies.

 

In the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series, a Texas ranching family wins a billion-dollar lottery. They’re advised to go into hiding, but they have animals needing care. They’ll have to stay and fend off envious friends, scammers, and fortune hunters. Can they build new dreams and find love amidst the chaos?

Readers say:

“I was hooked from the start. This book series just keeps getting better.” 

“Kris has created a beautiful family with special significant others. I highly recommend this book and series.” – BookBub Reviews

Kris Bock writes romance, mystery, and suspense. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. Sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter and get a free Furrever Friends novella, a printable copy of “22 recipes from the cat café” and an Accidental Detective short story, plus fun content about cats, announcements of new books, sales, and more.

Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Felony Melanie series follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for the romantic comedy newsletter to get a short story preview or find the books at all E-book retailers.

Find Kris: Website  |  Blog  |  Twitter/X  |  Instagram  |  TikTok  |  Facebook  |  GoodReads Author Page  |  BookBub  |  Amazon US page or Amazon UK page

Hot Aussie Heroes Recipe & Giveaway!

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

***Congratulations, girlfromwva! You are our winner. Please privately message us via the contact form on this site or through facebook.com/holidaybooks to claim your prize! Happy reading! -The Tule Team***

The Hot Aussie Heroes have arrived! Try this delicious recipe over your weekend and be sure to enter the contest below! Are you ready for a Hot Aussie? 

The Cowboy by Margareta Osborn
The Hero by Amy Andrews
The Playboy by Madeline Ash
The Millionaire by Victoria Purman

Recipe

Recipe Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giveaway
1-23-15

To enter to win a four-story anthology by some of your favorite Holiday Books authors, this gorgeous cashmere scarf, and lots of Tule reader swag, tell us in the comments which Aussie Hero you’re most excited to read and why! A random winner will be announced Tuesday, January 27th, so be sure to check back and see if you’ve won!

Patty Blount’s Italian Rainbow Cookies Recipe

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

Goodness and LightPatty adores baking and in her Christmas in New York novella, Goodness and Light, main character Elena bakes a family favorite, Italian Rainbow Cookies.

Like colored Italian glass, these tiny cookies boast layers of green, yellow and red. A mistake in this recipe improved it, according to all members of Patty’s family. She bakes several batches of these cookies each year and her mother, who gave her the recipe, kept complaining that Patty’s tasted better than hers. That’s when Patty discovered her error: she substituted Almond Filling!

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes; makes about 6 dozen.

Kitchen Equipment

  • Hand or stand mixer
  • 3 bowls
  • Egg separator
  • Waxed paper
  • 3 13 x 9 x 2 pans

Ingredients

  • 4 large or medium eggs, separated
  • 1 can of Solo Almond Filling (Note: Other recipes call for Almond Paste, but the secret to success is using almond FILLING.)
  • 1 1⁄2 cups (3 sticks) of butter, softened in microwave
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
  • Green and red food coloring
  • 1 jar of apricot or raspberry preserves
  • 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate (either squares or chips) for glaze, or use preserves
  • 1 ounce of cream or Crisco to soften the chocolate

Instructions

  1. Grease three 13 x 9 x 2 inch pans; line each pan with wax paper and then grease the paper.
    • Hint: Let wax paper over-hang short edges of pan to use as ‘handles’ when removing baked layers. Set out three sheets of wax paper on heat-proof surface to receive baked layers when removed from pans.
  2. Beat egg whites with electric mixer in small bowl until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  3. Break up almond filling with a fork. Add butter, sugar, egg yolks. Beat with electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Beat in flour a little at a time and salt until blended.
  4. Fold beaten egg whites into mixture with wire whip.
  5. It helps to tint one batch at a time. Remove about a cup and a half of batter; spread evenly into one of prepared pans. This will be your yellow layer. Use a spoon to force batter to coat bottom of pan and reach the edges. If you find there just isn’t enough, remove a scant spoonful at a time from the bowl and add to the pan until the pan is covered. Use another bowl to divide the remaining batter in half; tint one half green and LEAVE THE REMAINING HALF YELLOW UNTIL NEXT STEP. Spread the green batter in the second prepared pan. You may add a spoonful of untinted batter, mixing carefully in the pan, until the pan is completely covered. Finally, tint the remaining batter red; spread into last prepared pan.
  6. Bake in moderate oven (350o) about 15 minutes until edges are lightly brown. Center should not be sticky or shiny. Note: layers will be very thin; less than a quarter inch.
  7. Immediately upon removing pans from oven, invert each layer onto the waxed paper you laid out in Step 1. Peel off the baking liner paper carefully, trying not to tear layers. Cool completely.
  8. Heat preserves; strain. Use the waxed paper to carefully lift the green layer onto a jelly roll pan or other flat pan that will fit into a refrigerator. Spread a thin layer of preserves onto green layer; spread to all edges. You may remove any remaining lumps, if desired.
  9. Use the waxed paper to carefully lift, align and flip yellow layer on top of preserves-topped green layer. If you do not align edges properly, CAREFULLY try to slide layer into place without tearing. Spread another layer of preserves on top of the yellow layer; spread to all edges.
  10. Use the waxed paper to carefully lift, align and flip the red layer on top of the yellow layer.
  11. Cover tightly with plastic wrap; weight with large book (phone book or textbook) and refrigerate over night to encourage the layers to adhere.
  12. Next day: Melt chocolate in microwave until smooth. Add cream or Crisco to keep the chocolate from re-hardening. Spread chocolate over top of assembled cake. Smooth to all edges. Let set in refrigerator, about 30 minutes. Optional: Top with ice cream sprinkles or nuts.
  13. Trim the rough edges from cake and discard. Cut trimmed cake into 1 x 1 inch squares with a very sharp, non-serrated knife. (Serrated knives ‘saw’ the cake, grinding the fragile layers.) It helps to cut a length off the cake and flip it on its side to slice into squares so the chocolate layer is not ruined.
  14. Enjoy!