Make | Tin Can Panettone

Panettone baked in tin cans makes them just the right size for a gift – if there are any left!

Makes 8

325g mixed dried fruit
1 orange, zested and juiced
500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
½ tsp salt
100g caster sugar
14g easy bake yeast
200ml milk, plus 2 tbsp for brushing
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lemon, zested
200g very soft butter, plus 1 tsp, melted, and extra, melted, to grease 8 x empty 400g cans, washed and dried, paper labels removed

1 Place the dried mixed fruit and the orange zest in a bowl, then stir in 1 tablespoon of the juice. Leave to steep while you make the dough.

2 Sift the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Warm the milk gently in a small pan, then pour into a jug and beat in the eggs, vanilla extract and lemon zest with a fork.

3 Gradually mix the milky mixture into the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon or the dough hook attachment of your mixer and beat gently, or on a low speed, for 10 mins to form a smooth and silky dough.

4 Next, beat in the butter, a small knob at a time, making sure it has been absorbed into the dough before adding the next piece. Tip in the orange-soaked fruit and work it into the dough. Cover and leave somewhere warm for about 1 hr, or until it has doubled in size.

5 Meanwhile, prepare the tin cans by brushing the inside with a little melted butter and lining the sides and base with baking paper, being sure to leave some paper sticking out the tin.

6 When your dough is ready, knock the excess air out of it with your wooden spoon or the dough hook attachment for about 1 min.

7 Tip out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and cut into eight 8 evenly-sized pieces. It will be very soft so don’t bother trying to knead it. Drop a piece of dough into each of the cans, cover with a clean tea towel and leave somewhere warm for another hour or so, so that the dough can rise some more. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190C/Fan 170C/ Gas 5.

8 When ready, put the cans onto a baking sheet and bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 mins, or until golden brown. Remove, leave to cool for a few minutes, then carefully slide them out of the cans. Remove the baking paper and brush the top of each panettone with a little melted butter, then leave to cool on a wire rack. Wrap them in cellophane or brown paper and label.

Cook’s note: These will last 3-4 days if stored somewhere cool.

These Tin Can Panettones are one of the ideas for a Christmas Hamper from our December issue. There are also instructions to make Orange Curd, Winter Berry Granola, DIY Mulled Wine, Furoshimi Wrapping and Chocolate, Orange and Walnut Bark. The recipes are by Louise Gorrod and the photograpny by Emma Croman.

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Make | Festive Things on Strings

The best decorations are the ones you make sitting round the table over mince pies and hot chocolates with carols on in the background. Here are a few things you can fling on strings and then hang about the house looking pleasingly cheerful yet rustic…

1. Popcorn. It’s our go-to garland string item. Fun to make, delicious to eat as you decorate, and it looks so pretty wrapped around the tree, too. (For most effective results, hang the popcorn garlands in a spiral going from the top to the bottom of the tree, widening with each circuit as you go). You can find out exactly how to make popcorn garlands on page 11 of the December issue of The Simple Things. 

2. Cranberries. Plump, deep pink and so Christmassy, cranberries look stunning threaded onto cotton. For more natural garland inspiration, turn to our home tour in the December issue and read about Christmas Crafting Queen Holly Grundy’s Norfolk home. 

3. Dried orange slices. Dried in a dehydrator or a very low oven, slices of orange look like tiny stained glass window when threaded onto cotton and hung in the light. They smell absolutely delicious, too. 

4. Dried apple slices. If you core the apple before slicing you’ll have rings which look charming with lengths of ribbon threaded through the holes. Try tying a cinnamon stick in for every few apple slices you thread for a more textured and even more fragrant look. 

5. Bay leaves. For a simple, evergreen look, strings of bay leaves look wonderful. You probably need a bay tree to pull this off or you’ll need to invest in an awful lot of Schwartz jars. 

6. Chillis. Festive and fiesta-ish, fiery chillies look fun strung up in the kitchen. 

7. Pretzels and monkey nuts. This is a fun one as an edible decoration for a pre-Christmas drinks gathering. Be prepared to clear up lots of crumbs. 

8. Wine bottle corks. Start saving them up and simply thread onto cotton with a needle. Whether you’ll look like a lush or just like you know how to throw a great party, we wouldn’t like to comment.

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Photography by Rebecca Lewis

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