I love the aroma of Christmas. The smell of a real Christmas tree, mulled wine and the spices used in Christmas baking - ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Especially cinnamon.
I go a bit mad with scented candles and room sprays to make my house smell especially lovely at this time of year and after seeing a bottle of mulled wine scented loo cleaner at my son's home recently my bathroom will even smell Christmassy as soon as I can buy a bottle too.
But nothing beats the smell of fresh Christmassy baking and this morning my house smells amazing- I've been making some Christmassy cinnamon catherine wheels using a recipe I found online as a guide.
I thought I'd have a practice run before the 25th - I think these more-ish treats would make a perfect Christmas morning breakfast. Indulgent but not too filling. After all, you have to leave room for that enormous lunch!
It's a very simple recipe - you simply mix soft brown sugar with sultanas and that all important cinnamon, add that mix to puff pastry (see recipe for details) then roll it up, chop into catherine wheel shapes and bake.
I cheated a little and used shop-bought pre-rolled puff pastry so cut the sugar down to 75g, skipped steps 2 and 3 in the recipe and simply unrolled my pastry sheet, brushed it with melted butter, spread the cinnamon, sugar and dried fruit over and rolled it up starting at the long edge. Then I sliced at around 10-12mm intervals and put them on baking trays with room to spread.
You could do all of this on Christmas eve then wrap the pastry roll in clingfilm and refrigerate ready to be sliced and baked on Christmas morning - they only take 8-10 minutes to cook so you could be making a nice cuppa while they are in the oven.
Imagine how amazing your house will smell while they are baking!
I guarantee they won't last long. The smell has even lured my teenage daughter from her pit bed and my artistically arranged plate of cinnamon catherine wheels has already been decimated.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post
I go a bit mad with scented candles and room sprays to make my house smell especially lovely at this time of year and after seeing a bottle of mulled wine scented loo cleaner at my son's home recently my bathroom will even smell Christmassy as soon as I can buy a bottle too.
But nothing beats the smell of fresh Christmassy baking and this morning my house smells amazing- I've been making some Christmassy cinnamon catherine wheels using a recipe I found online as a guide.
I thought I'd have a practice run before the 25th - I think these more-ish treats would make a perfect Christmas morning breakfast. Indulgent but not too filling. After all, you have to leave room for that enormous lunch!
It's a very simple recipe - you simply mix soft brown sugar with sultanas and that all important cinnamon, add that mix to puff pastry (see recipe for details) then roll it up, chop into catherine wheel shapes and bake.
I cheated a little and used shop-bought pre-rolled puff pastry so cut the sugar down to 75g, skipped steps 2 and 3 in the recipe and simply unrolled my pastry sheet, brushed it with melted butter, spread the cinnamon, sugar and dried fruit over and rolled it up starting at the long edge. Then I sliced at around 10-12mm intervals and put them on baking trays with room to spread.
Imagine how amazing your house will smell while they are baking!
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post