Back in the day, before kids woke up on Christmas morning to Wii games and ipods, the contents of one’s stocking tended to be a little humbler. Clementines, walnuts and – if we were very lucky – chocolate.
Oh who am I kidding? So I didn’t have a Wii (and still don’t) but I was no stranger to the eighties equivalent: Sega Master System. Computer games aside, though, there’s something about Christmas that still evokes that smell of orange oil, cloves, cinnamon…
So last night I had a few people over to watch the Strictly Come Dancing final, with promise of festive food and drink. They – and indeed I – didn’t quite realise that the BBC were going to drag the dancing out over four hours. But fortunately we were well stocked with plenty of mulled wine, smoked salmon, bread and cheese, olives, tapenade, a pumpkin, mozzarella and prosciutto salad… and the reason for this post: Clementine Torte, courtesy of the Joy of Baking.