Well, final for me anyway as I am lucky to have all the cooking done for me now after years of having to do it all myself. I have made two cakes this year, one for me and one for the family and also a Christmas pudding but that is all I have had to do.
Yesterday I made the recipe which was on the Great Christmas Bake Off on TV this week, the mincemeat streusal. Click on link below for recipe. Dead easy, much less fiddling about with cutting out pastry circles etc and tasted wonderful.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mincemeatstreusel_73426
Mary gives a recipe for her mincement and though I have made it myself in the past I don't bother much nowadays and for this I bought a pot of bog standard mince from the supermarket and then added some cherries to it, a few chopped walnuts, some crystallised fruits I have left over from my cake (pineapple and apricot), sloshed in a bit of Amaretto and then stirred it up and left it for an hour.
Cuts into squares or slices. This recipe calls for a Swiss Roll tin but found that I must have chucked my old battered one out and so used a long thin tin I have instead and found it was just right.
Then today, I decided to ice my cake. Decided not to bother with marzipan this year, nor did I make my own Royal Icing which I did last Christmas, but used the ready to roll. I prefer making Royal icing but always find I have masses left over no matter what I do and as I have made a small cake for 2013, the ready made icing was OK. It also means I can cut out shapes and decided to keep the decoration simple and not too much faffing about. Won't win me Star Baker but it will do. Had a nice cream coloured ribbon about me to just shoved that round it and put in two little decorations which were part of those used at my daughter's winter wedding in 2007.
So that is it. I am making two tiny individual sponge puddings for Florence and Beatrice on Christmas day otherwise I am all done.
Now to wrapping up all my presents.....