Delicious festive season recipes from cookbook author Jan Kohler.
“For me, celebrations are synonymous with food,” says Jan Kohler, who shares two of her favourite festive season recipes.
gingery gammon with maple glaze
Preparing a gammon for a festive season meal is relatively easy these days. So many products are available, partially pre-cooked, so often all you have to do is glaze the top and warm up before serving. These hams are a great idea because you’ll have more time to focus on the other cooking. However, if you do want to spend some time on your gammon, this is an easy and most rewarding recipe.
Here’s what goes in:
- a gammon/ham of your choice
- 2L ginger ale
- 1 cup white wine
- a cinnamon stick
- ½ an orange, sliced
- 4 cloves
- 2 star anise
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- Water, if needed
- Maple syrup for glazing
- Maldon salt
How to do it:
- Place your gammon in a pot with all the ingredients. Make sure it is fully immersed in the liquid. The amount you need will depend on the size of both your gammon and the pot you are cooking it in. Add water if you need to.
- Cook this following the instructions on the packaging of your selected meat. If you are cooking a raw ham from scratch, you’re probably looking at three hours. It will be less for a pre-cooked gammon.
- Once done, set the gammon aside to cool. Remove the rind with a sharp knife, generously brush it with maple syrup and sprinkle it with coarse salt. Grill this in the oven to make a delicious, crispy crackling.
- If you’re going to make a gravy, add a few tablespoons of the “gammon water” for robust flavour.
festive Black Forest roulade
This is really just a chocolate Swiss roll with all the bells and whistles, making it look fabulously festive! The sponge can be made ahead and kept covered (once rolled) until you’re ready to assemble the cake.
Here’s what goes in:
- 3 eggs, separated
- ¾ cup castor sugar, and extra for dusting
- 50ml water
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- A pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- Cherry or strawberry jam for spreading
- Chocolate-nut spread, such as Nutella or Lindt Hazelnut spread
- 2 cups whipped cream
- Cherries to garnish
- Chocolate shavings to garnish
How to do it:
- Preheat your oven to 180°C and grease and line a flat baking tray or Swiss roll tin (the dimensions should be around 20 x 30cm).
- Separate the eggs into two large mixing bowls. Beat the egg yolks with the castor sugar, until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Fold in the flour, salt and cocoa powder, followed by the water and continue to blend.
- Using clean beaters, whisk the egg whites until they are thick and stiff. Then fold into the chocolate mixture, keeping the batter light and airy. Spoon it out onto the lined baking tray and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer, when inserted into the sponge, comes out clean.
- After 5 minutes or so, turn the cake out onto a clean piece of baking/parchment paper that you have sprinkled with castor sugar. Peel away the parchment paper that you baked it on (now on top of the cake), and trim any hard, dry edges off the cake if necessary.
- Carefully roll the cake up with the new sheet of parchment in place, starting from the short side. You can leave it like this, covered, until you’re ready to assemble the cake and serve.
- Gently unroll the cake, discarding the paper. Spread a generous amount of Nutella onto the cake, a drizzle of slightly melted jam (to make spreading easier) and a thin layer of whipped cream. Roll it up again and dust with icing sugar. Garnish with the rest of the whipped cream, chocolate shavings and cherries.
NOTE: Rolling the Swiss Roll almost immediately after baking prevents it from drying out and forming cracks.
about Jan Kohler and her books
Jan Kohler loves entertaining. Her friends, who were lucky enough over the years to feast at her table, encouraged her to put down all her favourite recipes into a book, and Pink Gin and Fairy Cakes was the result. It was so successful that it led to her second book, Celebrations, the title of which is self-explanatory. It covers everything from family Sundays and summer parties to Easter and Christmas and all the festivities in between.
