Childhood Christmases

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

Christian Stubø, quoting David:
>> Christmas proper would start at 3pm with the festival of nine
>> lessons and carols on the radio from Kings College. Accompanied by
>> tea and posh biscuits (eg Bahlsen Choco Leibnitz).
>[snip]
>
>Last year I acquired a recording of the Festival of Nine Lessons and
>Carols - it is a very beautiful service, and if I manage it, I will
>try to catch it on BBC this year - I believe BBC transmits it at
>midnight on Christmas Eve?     

As David indicated, it's broadcast live from King's at 3pm GMT on Christmas 
Eve. It should be available as a live broadcast on the Radio 4 website:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/index.shtml

In Delia Smith's Christmas recipe book, she says that part of her Christmas 
routine is the making of mince pies whilst listening to the service.

At midnight, or rather somewhat before, there is usually a broadcast of 
Midnight Mass.

You asked about Christmas cake. I don't know what David's was (whether Danish 
or British) but a traditional British Christmas cake is a very rich, dark 
fruit cake, well matured and preferably well libated over intervals with alcohol 
(whisky or brandy), covered with marzipan (almond paste) and icing.

Tradiationally this is "royal icing", which is a very hard and brittle, with 
either piped decorations, or roughed up into a "snow scene" (the standard 
refuge for those who can't ice!). These days, softer, fondant icings (which you 
can buy ready made) are more common, I think. 

When I was a child, my mother would either pipe a lattice star onto the cake, 
decorating it with little silver balls, or else create a scene with a model 
Father Christmas, reindeer, etc. I think it partly depended how much time and 
patience she had for decorating that year!

I don't do fancy things with icing, but I have a dead easy and effective way 
of decorating a Christmas cake. I simply mix an assortment of (carefully 
selected) nuts and glace fruits together into some seived, heated apricot jam (this 
acts as a glaze) and arrange them in a circle that I've marked out on the top 
of the cake. It takes moments and looks wonderful. I'm afraid I can't take 
credit for the idea, although I can't remember where I got it from.

BTW, is there anyone else here who enjoys their Christmas cake with a bit of 
strong cheese (Canadian cheddar is my cheese of choice)? I think eating fruit 
cake with cheese is a northern habit that I picked up from my Lancastrian 
mother. Or perhaps it's just a family oddity (now mine alone).

But one of my favourite Christmas goodies isn't British at all. I *love* 
panforte (although I don't think this was originally a Christmas delicacy). I just 
wish it wasn't double-concentrated calories!

~Eloise


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