Kitchen Projects for Christmas

And that funny in between bit before the New Year

The days are short, cold and bright and suddenly, somehow, Christmas has (almost) arrived. It already feels like the city has cleared out - the queue is no longer out the door at the cheesemonger, the park is empty other than a few Santa-hat wearing football games, and the post office is finally quiet. I love this yearly wind-down as we turn our attentions squarely toward home in all its forms: big Christmasses, small Christmasses, no Christmasses, and everything in between. I hope whatever you have planned over the next few brings you joy.

In any case, I know that I derive a lot of my joy from food and cooking. So, here I am, with the last newsletter of the year, with ideas and projects that will see you through the next few weeks, the big day, those odd days in before New Year, and beyond.

Before I get onto the bakes, I just want to say this: A big, HUGE Thank you. Thank you for reading this newsletter each week, for opening your heart to bakes big and small, for cooking, and for tasting. I don’t take it for granted that this newsletter, which has now grown to over 100,000 subscribers, is a little corner of the internet where we can share in our love of baking. I’m so grateful for all the support you’ve shown this newsletter, as well as SIFT. Thank you.

I’ll see you next year. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Have a good one!

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The Gift of Kitchen Projects / KP+

Looking for a last-minute gift? Wellll, look no further! If you have a baker in your life, or you know someone who loves this newsletter, you can gift them a subscription. And, because having an IRL token can be a nice way to give a digital gift, you can save and send the gift certificate above. I’ve also made one for a month, which you can download here.

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What to bake this Christmas and New Year

Chocolate Sauce

Over on KP+ today, I’m rounding out the year with a super simple staple for your fridge: Chocolate sauce! Everything is better with homemade chocolate sauce poured on it. It’s also an excellent last-minute gift. Click here for the recipe

I’ve also included a guide to making my ice cream-stuffed panettone, a riff off a recipe I developed for Waitrose. Such a cute recipe that can be scaled up or wayyy down depending on who you are cooking for:

TAKE YOUR PICK From The 12 Days of Christmas 2025!

From Peppermint Teacakes to Prune and Cherry Chutney, Panettone Chiffon to Smoked sea salt and honey butter caramels, Chocolate-topped individual fruitcakes to Fancy Reindeer Chow, Battenberg Cookies to Stollen Muffins, Spiced Honeycomb to Maple Pecans or epic Marmalade Truffles, you really can’t go wrong. Thanks to my incredible guests for this unreal selection!

A trio of recipes for NYT: Giant Mont Blanc, Tiramisu Pie & Pastis Gascon

This year, I developed three recipes for a special New York Times dessert spread - Giant Mont Blanc, Tiramisu Pie and Pastis Gascon. These will all be gorgeous additions to a dessert spread, and I hope you have as much fun making them as I had developing them!

Yule Log

My softest, squishiest, tenderest rolliest cake ever with a secret: It uses a tangzhong! The moussey cream is such a dream, too. Click here to make it.

Beef & Ale Pie

This recipe is collab with my favourite person in the world Milli Taylor and you can get the recipe on her substack now! You could probably make a filling with any leftovers from Christmas, too! Click here for the recipe.

Tiramisu

The dessert that makes everyone happy. I’m so pleased with my classic recipe, but you’ll find versions like the tiramoussey, or the matcha rum tiramisu there, too. Click here to make it.

Also see: Banana Pudding Tiramisu

This is just so much fun to make and eat. It’s a non stressful, non traditional tiramisu and fusion dish of my dreams. Banana pudding and tiramisu were already sisters in my mind, so it’s only right that they join together officially in matrimony. Click here for the recipe.

Bread and Butter Pudding with Caramel Mandarins

The recipe is in SIFT - the secret to the best bread and butter pudding is to actually chill it and fry it in butter, but you do you! Click here to get a copy.

Pistachio Wreath

A total showstopper. I also actually have an obsession with working out how to make pistachio paste or cream go further. A small jar costs a fortune, so working it into mousselines, custards etc. is the way to go. I really do think choux is one of the most special things you can make for an occasion. Click here for the recipe.

Christmas Morning Buns

christmas morning buns

I think it’s so special to bake something fresh in the morning on Christmas. Here are a few options for you! The all-purpose-dry-mix gives you the flexibility to make pancakes, scones or muffins, depending on your mood, the anise-brioche buns have a gorgeous snow-capped look and the pistachio orange blossoms are a treat to wake up to.

Saffron Brioche

Chocolate Chip Saffron Brioche! Which you can also make into a stunning tipsy cake. This makes the BEST french toast. Click here for the recipe.

Puff Pastry

Puff Pastry in SIFT photography by Sam A Harris

This is such a fun project for down time. It doesn’t actually take that long, but feels great. It’s the best way to practice lamination too. There’s details about it in my book SIFT but you can also read it about it here. PLUS, if you wanna hit the ground running with galette des rois come January, having puff pastry in stock is so handy. Click here to learn more.

Mince Pie thins

If, like me, if you are rather childish about Fruit mince and Christmas flavours then join me in this mostly pastry, small amount of mince meat crisp biscuit. Click here to make them.

Alternative Cheeseboard: Rosemary Quince Galette with Brie Ice Cream

I made this rosemary scented quince galette for my thanksgiving meal last year and this was perfect at the end of the meal. With its salty/savoury borderline cheeseboard energy, it was a real crowd pleaser. To lean into that, I’ve asked the wonderful Marie Frank to develop a recipe for Brie Ice Cream.

Yup. And it’s SO GOOD. Oh, and because I threw it together at the last minute (which meant trying to make it as quickly as possible) I’m also sharing the food processor technique for the pie dough in this newsletter.

Mulled Wine jellies

Two-tone jellies are a lot of fun to have around this season. You need to buy powdered pectin, but I find that it is available in most supermarkets now. I use the tate and lyle brand. Click here for the recipe.

Truffles

Thanks to Octavia Lamb, learning how to make your own truffles is fun anytime of the year, but especially useful at Christmas. Could also be a fun festive group activity - invite your friends over, glove up, and go to town! Click here for the recipe.

Festive Kugelhopf

A gorgeous yeasted bread with raisins, white chocolate and zest. There’s also a chocolate cherry version, which is divine! Click here for the recipe.