Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes with Candy Cane Sprinkles and White Chocolate Gingerbread Men

There are some peculiar people who do not like the great treats that come hand in hand with Christmas, namely mince pies, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake (my brother is one of these people). A chocolate Yule log is the usual alternative dessert served up over the festive period, but let's face it, Yule log can get pretty boring for those who don't enjoy the above mentioned Christmas goodies. So much choice for the boozed fruit eaters, so little choice for the chocolate lovers. So that is why I am stepping in with these Christmas chocolate cupcakes complete with candy cane sprinkles and white chocolate gingerbread people!

I can't believe it's Christmas in TWO DAYS GUYS TWO DAYS serious wtf-ing going on over here. The lack of snow has left me feeling somewhat cheated out of the exciting Christmas build up (or maybe the lack of excitement has more to do with being 20 and not 9 and less to do with the lack of snow.. who knows, ima go ahead and blame the snow anyway).

Spiced Clementine Star Topped Mince Pies

I have spent the whole of this week baking and eating mince pies (it has obviously been a good week) in order to create the perfect Christmas recipe. For me the only good best thing about Christmas is the colossal amount of food I am free to gorge myself on from the moment I wake until the second I fall asleep Terry's Chocolate Orange in hand, so a zesty, boozy, spiced, little pie rich in fruit and butter that I will could definitely probably pop into my mouth whole is a really, really, really great thing.

Pistachio Baklava Birthday Cake

 

Baklava is one of Hannah's favourite sweet treats and so what would be more fitting than to turn it into a cake for her nineteenth birthday? (Eeeesh it's been all go on the birthday front recently and soon it will be Christmas gaaaah so many occasions so little time so little dollar) This cake/baklava extravaganza is made up of two layers of spiced cake laced with honey syrup and coated in a mix of chopped pistachios, almonds and pumpkin seeds (OK so technically it's a mixed nut + seed baklava birthday cake, feel free to omit the latter pistachios are expensive but I wanted green!!) and two layers of sweet sweet spiced, honey-syrup-drowned, pistachio covered baklava.