Dreaming of a white Christmas

It’s what we all hope for, yet so seldom get. Snow or not, though, it’s still a magical celebration. Here, we’ve given a new twist to some key festive recipes and photographed them to evoke that longed-for snow and frost. With an updated take on the ham, a food gift people will actually want to receive, plus a few classics along the way, our recipes are designed to capture the magic of the season

RECIPES THE FOOD TEAM PHOTOGRAPHS GARETH MORGANS

FOOD STYLING REBECCA WOOLLARD AND ELLA TARN STYLING DAVINA PERKINS

Mulled pear cider

SERVES 10-12. HANDS-ON TIME 15 MIN, SIMMERING TIME 1 HOUR

MAKE AHEAD

This will sit over a gentle heat on the hob for a few hours. After 2 hours, remove the muslin bag with the spices as they can turn bitter.

Alternatively, cool the mulled cider, without the spices, and chill for up to 48 hours before reheating.

FOOD TEAM’S TIPS

This would also work with a dryish apple cider. If you want to make sure no one accidentally swallows a clove, gather up the spices in a square of muslin and tie with string.

• 2 litres pear cider (also known as perry – see tips)

• 6 clementines

• 500ml pomegranate juice

• 400ml dark rum, plus an extra splash

• 120g caster sugar

• 3 star anise

• 1 tbsp whole cloves

• 1 large cinnamon stick

1 Pour the pear cider into a very large heavy-based pan with a lid. Squeeze the juice from the clementines, then add to the pan along with the squeezed peel. Add the rest of the ingredients (see tips), then bring up to a gentle steam.

2 Cook on a very low heat for 40 minutes, then add a splash of rum. Cover with a lid, leaving a gap to let the steam out, and keep on the heat on the lowest setting while serving.

PER SERVING (FOR 12) 211kcals, 0.1g fat (no saturated), 0.2g protein, 23.1g carbs (23.1g sugars), no salt, no fibre

THE FESTIVE BREAD

A single ribbon is all that’s needed to adorn this beautiful bread, woven into a festive wreath for your table. What better way to start Christmas morning than with the sweetly warming flavours of raspberry and cinnamon? You can’t go wrong with a torn-off hunk of sticky spiced bread.

Looking through my bedroom window, out into the moonlight and the unending smoke-coloured snow, I could see the lights in the windows of all the other houses on our hill and hear the music rising from them up the long, steadily falling night.

DYLAN THOMAS, A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES

THE WARM GREETING FOR CAROLLERS

Wafts of citrus and spice drift through the house as you simmer this mulled cider, filling the air with the spirit of Christmas and the promise of a warm welcome to all who enter. Chilly hands gradually thaw around hot punch glasses, and the tired voices of carol singers will be revitalised after one sip of this warming brew.

Raspberry jam wreath

SERVES 8-10. HANDS-ON TIME 50 MIN, OVEN TIME 45 MIN, PLUS RISING & PROVING

MAKE AHEAD

To prepare the dough up to 24 hours in advance, leave to rise overnight in the fridge, then bring back to room temperature before knocking back and rolling out (step 4). The wreath is best eaten on the day it’s made.

FOOD TEAM’S TIPS

Use a firm-set jam so it stays inside when you roll up the dough. We used Tiptree (Bonne Maman was runny).

If you’d like to add a bit more jam after cooking (depending on how practised you are at rolling you might lose a bit before the wreath goes in the oven), brush it into the grooves after cooking and return it to the oven for a couple more minutes to set.

• 450g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

• 1½ tsp salt

• 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast

• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon

• 3 tbsp light soft brown sugar

• 290ml milk (whole or semiskimmed)

• 1 large free-range egg, lightly beaten, plus 1 extra for glazing

• Sunflower oil for greasing

• 2 tbsp demerara sugar

FOR THE FILLING

• 200g raspberry jam (see tips)

1 Sift the flour and salt together into a large mixing bowl, then stir in the yeast, cinnamon and light brown sugar. In a small saucepan, gently heat the milk until steaming (don’t let it come to the boil), then turn off the heat and leave the milk to cool for 5 minutes or so.

TEAM FAVOURITE Karen Barnes, editor

“Don’t be put off by the fact that the scotch eggs have a bit of Spanish black pudding in them. Mixed with potato, it creates a far lighter casing than traditional sausagemeat and elevates these beauties to a higher plane.”