Chef Kar Delight

Christmas Delights 2025 12/25/2025

Christmas Delights 2025

Originally, Christmas is a Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus; however, it became a festive season worldwide. December 25 has become widely accepted as the date of the celebration of Jesus' birth. I prepared Gingerbread Cookies and Chestnut Christmas Cake to celebrate this festive season to share with you.

1. Gingerbread Cookies:

Gingerbread dates from the 15th century and figurative biscuit-making was practised in the 16th century. The first documented instance of figure-shaped gingerbread biscuits was at the court of Elizabeth I of England. She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests, who brought the human shape of the gingerbread cookies.

Gingerbread man

Ingredients
· ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
· ⅔ cup packed dark brown sugar for dark gingerbread man or white sugar for others
· ⅓ cup unsulphured blackstrap molasses
· 1 large egg yolk
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
· 2 teaspoons cinnamon
· 4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger or ground ginger
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
· ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
· 1 tablespoon milk or almond milk

Garnish:

Cocoa or Chocolate for eyes and mouth

Instructions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the molasses, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix again.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, and cloves. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing after each addition. Mix in the milk.
3. Form the dough into a ball, divide the ball in half, and flatten each half into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until about ¼-inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes, then transfer the cut-outs to the prepared baking sheets, re-rolling the dough scraps as necessary.
6. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 7 to 9 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just set but the middles are still soft. The cookies might seem underdone, but taking them out at this point will ensure that they stay soft once they cool. The exact timing will depend on your oven, the size of your cookie cutters, and how soft or crunchy you like your gingerbread cookies.
7. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.

2. Chestnut Christmas Cake

Christmas cake is an English tradition that began as plum porridge. A traditional English Christmas cake is made with moist Zante currants, sultanas (golden raisins) and raisins which have been soaked in brandy, rum, whisky or sherry. The cake may be covered in layers of marzipan, then icing and is usually decorated, often with plaid ribbon bands and Christmas models such as snowmen, fir trees or Father Christmas.

Ingredients

. 100g cooked chestnuts coarsely chopped

. 1kg mixed dried fruit
(use a mix of raisins, sultanas, currants, cherries, cranberries, prunes or figs)
. zest and juice 1 orange
. zest and juice 1 lemon
. 150ml brandy Sherry, whisky or rum, plus extra for feeding
. 250g pack butter softened
. 200g light soft brown sugar
. 175g plain flour
. 100g cooked chestnuts finely chopped

. ½ tsp baking powder
. 2 tsp mixed spice
. 1 tsp ground cinnamon
. ¼ tsp ground cloves
. 4 large eggs
. 1 tsp vanilla extract

Garnish:

Chestnuts, Cranberries, Dill, Grapes, Chocolate, Icing sugar

Method

1. Remove the skin of chestnuts. Bake or steamed them until soft but not mashy. Chop them into small pieces.
2. Put 1kg mixed dried fruit, the zest and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon, 150ml brandy or other alcohol, 250g softened butter and 200g light, soft brown sugar in a large pan set over a medium heat.
3. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 mins. Tip the fruit mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool for 30 mins.
4. Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Line a deep 20cm cake tin with a double layer of baking parchment, then wrap a double layer of newspaper around the outside – tie with string to secure.
5. Add 175g plain flour, 100g finely chopped chestnuts, ½ tsp baking powder, 2 tsp mixed spice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground cloves, 100g coarsely chopped chestnuts, 4 large eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract to the fruit mixture and stir well, making sure there are no pockets of flour.
6. Tip into your prepared tin, level the top with a spatula and bake in the centre of the oven for around 2 hrs. After 2 hours insert a skewer into the centre of the cake to test if it’s done. If any wet cake mixture clings to the skewer, return the cake to the oven for another 10 mins then check again and keep cooking, checking every 10 mins until the skewer comes out dry.
7. Remove the cake from the oven, poke holes in it with a skewer and spoon over 2 tbsp of your chosen alcohol. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.
8. To store, peel off the baking parchment, and store in a cake tin. Feed the cake with 1-2 tbsp alcohol every fortnight, until you ice it.
9. Do not feed the cake for the final week to give the surface a chance to dry before icing.