Notes about Recipes in this book

• A hot apple drink for a cold night

  • joneshayley on May 26, 2019

    Warming, soothing and with a bite of brandy, the perfect winter drink after a long cold walk.

  • lilham on November 13, 2021

    A lovely drink for a cold night.

• Three dried fruit drinks for winter - apricot, orange and star anise

  • mcparson on December 03, 2019

    These apricots are divine! Delicious in a dessert, used to make a mixed drink (with more cognac, of course!) or nibbled straight out of the jar.

  • danibattle on October 24, 2020

    I have made a batch of this for Xmas gifts (for foodie friends). I'll report back on the flavor etc when we open them up, bottled in late September 2020...

• Turkey, lardo and fennel seed stuffing, cranberry orange sauce

  • Hansyhobs on January 07, 2022

    I always enjoy making these every December. I use pancetta or bacon lardons as lardo isn't as easy to find as Nigel suggests (and I live in London)

• Leeks, beans and Italian sausage

  • FJT on December 02, 2020

    Perfect for a cold winter evening. Easy to make and tasty,

  • joanne761994 on January 15, 2026

    A nice simple meal to make that tastes great. I added lemon juice to the leeks to give more flavour and helped cut through the fattiness of the sausages.

• Aubergine with lentils and basil

  • Hansyhobs on November 16, 2021

    Cooked this without the mushrooms (used celery instead; it needed using up) and it was great. I hardly ever cook aubergine at some because I never enjoy it and I'm still not convinced, but the lentils were delicious (I used pre-cooked).

• Dried fig and Marsala tart

  • danibattle on September 10, 2023

    Make for Xmas for Jodie?

• A classic brandy mincemeat

  • lilham on October 16, 2021

    My first homemade mincemeat. It is much easier than I had imagined. I blitzed the almonds in a mini chopper instead of by hand because I had never had any shopped bought mincemeat with crunchy nuts in them. (Is it normal to have nuts in homemade ones)? I also made the mistake of adding the brandy before the simmer, instead of waiting until the mincemeat has cooled down. It tasted very nice. I will add more comments once this is made into mince pies.

• Orange poppy seed cake

  • lilham on November 28, 2021

    This is a slightly sweet version of a traditional lemon poppy seed cake. I used a loaf time and the cooking time needed is 15-20min longer than specified in the recipe. Also either the recipe made too much syrup or the orange I used is larger and juicer than the ones tested for the recipe. It is a nice cake, lovely and moist.

  • nbehrens on February 02, 2026

    I made this in a regular loaf pan. Used all the syrup. It was delicious. It did take an additional 10 minutes to fully bake. I needed to cover the top with foil to prevent burning the top. This is even better the next day as the cake stays moist due to the syrup.

• Braised brisket with porcini and onion gravy

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on November 02, 2019

    After 3.5 hours in the oven, the meat was super soft. I used small cubes of dried porcini, that didn’t look so nice. But the taste was fabulous.

  • Elbea on January 09, 2022

    This was superb considering the very small ingredient list and simple instructions. The leftovers were used to make an equally tasty pie filling.

• Lamb belly boulangère

  • juleswilkes on March 21, 2026

    This was a lovely tasty recipe. Easy to prep but beware of the long cooking time! I had to cut the belly into 3 pieces so it fitted better in the pan. I used a mandolin for the potatoes for speed, so a little thinner on the maximum setting than the suggested 5mm.

• My Christmas pudding

  • danibattle on October 14, 2021

    My now favorite Xmas pudding recipe. The figs make this.

• A dark, sweet and delectable ’plum‘ pudding

  • danibattle on November 22, 2019

    Nice pud! More toffee and texture than the Delia classic I usually make. This is a keeper and will make again this year (2020)

  • danibattle on December 07, 2019

    Great Xmas pudding! My DH who is not a huge fan of Xmas pud thoroughly enjoyed this version. I liked the addition of figs, which are not part of the Delia Smith I usually make.

• My Christmas cake

  • ChelseaP on July 08, 2022

    One of the nicest Christmas cakes. My family has been making Nigel's recipe for years. Packed full of fruit and nuts, it's utter decadance.

  • Duncanarmour on December 31, 2025

    Very good Christmas cake - important to feed often enough to get the texture right.

• Banana cardamom cake

  • Lepa on December 06, 2022

    I loved this simple loaf cake! If you like cardamon, try this one out. We did not eat it with the fruit salad.

• Mincemeat and mascarpone tarts

  • lilham on November 21, 2020

    This is a very simple tart recipe. Shop bought puff pastry, a spoon of mincemeat and a spoon of mascarpone. (I made my own puff pastry using the recipe from Nigella Lawson’s domestic goddess book). It is very very good. I plan to make this again before Christmas. I can see this become a new family tradition.

• Fig and orange shortbreads

  • Glinys on December 13, 2020

    Lovely crumbly texture They were quite large and so when I made a second batch I used a teaspoon rather than a tablespoon to scoop the mixtures- in fact I weighed the fig mix 10g and the other 20g ( I was making them as a gift so wanted them to look even ) They are a great alternative to mince pies

• Dark chocolate spice cake

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on February 06, 2021

    Nice and rich and spicy chocolate cake. Perfect for freezing temperatures outside.

• Roast duck with pearl barley and red cabbage

  • joneshayley on February 14, 2019

    Beautiful recipe- the duck is tender and delicious, but the pearl barley stuffing is the unexpected star of the recipe. Blown away by how delicious this simple recipe is.

• Roast lamb with coriander seeds and rosemary

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on December 20, 2017

    Delicious! Used a 1 kg piece of lamb shoulder. When core temperature was over 53 degrees Celsius, 30 minutes earlier than in the recipe, the meat was tender and very tasteful.

• Creamed butter beans and spinach

  • etcjm on December 17, 2019

    Tasty. Served with steamed salmon. I used defrosted frozen spinach and just squeezed out excess water. Needed a good amount of salt. Leftovers next day were OK, but best eaten the same day.

• Oxtail with butter beans and sherry

  • joneshayley on December 07, 2019

    This is my first time using oxtail and whilst this was nice, it was nothing special and I won’t make it again.

• Pickled quinces

  • MarietNL on December 23, 2020

    Lovely and tasty dish, easy to prepare in advance. Although I really love sour, I’ll replace 1/3 of vinegar by water next time.

• Baked apple mascarpone fool

  • Astrid5555 on January 02, 2018

    I liked that this dessert requires very little effort, just a few ingredients and can be made ahead. However, my baked apples were a little on the hard side, so I think this would have been much better with the optional caramelized apples on top. Used Amaretto instead of Marsala wine for the cream, since this is what I had on hand.

• Pickled figs with fennel seeds and allspice

  • JFM on November 28, 2017

    Made it with not quite ripe figs from my own tree. It turned out to be perfect.

• Roast cauliflower, carrot hummus

  • roleigh on November 02, 2021

    I added ground cumin and coriander before roasting the carrot and onions. Also added golden beetroot as I had it in the fridge. When blending I added water to loosen the mixture up a bit. A great recipe!

• White icing for the Christmas cake

  • Freyalyn on February 10, 2026

    Plain royal icing

• Rhubarb (or apple) trifle

  • lilham on November 07, 2020

    I found this on EYB looking for a non alcoholic trifle. I have not made one before. This recipe is quite simple. Make a sponge. Make rhubarb syrup. (I used frozen). Tear sponge, pour on syrup. Make custard and pour on top. I don’t have a trifle bowl so I used a large Pyrex mixing bowl instead. Put in fridge and put whipped cream on top when serving. The trifle is very nice but very rich. The recipe feeds 10-12.

• Salmon and sprouts

  • ivyhopegirl on January 02, 2023

    Very tasty. This recipe is for keeps. I used steam in a bag Brussels that I half-roasted, and I added lemon juice. Skipped the onions. Meant to add scallions, then forgot. Still excellent.

  • cadfael on January 28, 2023

    I think this is a delicious, easy supper. Made exactly as written but tossed in roasted small potato halves at end

• Pink grapefruit marmalade

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on December 29, 2017

    Halfway through the recipe late at night I discovered the sugar was finished, so I left it in the pan infusing another night. Turned out delicious and a very beautiful pink orange hue. Half the recipe was enough to fill three jam pots.

• Stonesoup

  If you’re after some inspiration for some new food-centered Christmas traditions for your family, this is the book for you!

  Full review

• Eat Your Books by Jenny Hartin

  Wrap yourself in the warmth of the winter months with Nigel Slater's The Christmas Chronicles.

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