Three Fabulously Festive Baking Recipes

This puff pastry Christmas tree is easy to make at a moment's notice, and despite its extravagant appearance can be prepared in around 10-15 minutes, because you can use ready-rolled puff pastry! It's the perfect way to impress in such a busy season. If you want to give it something extra you can add chopped nuts, marshmallow or a biscuit crumb over the chocolate hazelnut spread. Once baked, you'll need a large platter or cutting board to serve.

A yule log is the pinnacle of festive indulgence. Sponge cake, creamy filling and rich chocolate frosting make this a feast for the eyes as well as the senses. It's also a brilliant recipe for anyone not too confident in their own baking abilities and the beauty of this is that the chocolate frosting hides any mishaps that happen in the process!

Making your own shortcrust pastry is actually very easy and can be done quickly, but I often use ready-made pastry for a few reasons. Firstly, many of these are vegan, which works well for our family, plus it means I have more time to make my own delicious mincemeat filling and test new ingredients whenever I like! I make mincemeat in big batches, but you can halve this recipe if you want a smaller amounts.