Karen Wright – the Wright Side of Life – Frangipane topping adds extra flavour to Christmas favourites

The morning after the final I was chatting on air with BBC Radio Leeds about the result and what my predictions had been. I love it when I am asked to contribute on local radio and the best bit is I can do the interview sat in my dressing gown.

Over the weekend I hosted another Zoom baking class with Bake with a Legend. There were 20 in the class, two people from England, two people from Germany and all the rest from the USA. The bake this time was mince pies. The American bakers had never made them and were excited to try something typically British.

I started the class with a bit of history. Mince pies hark back to the 13th Century when the Crusaders brought back new and exotic ingredients from the Middle East.

Mince pies were originally shaped as a manger for baby Jesus and usually did contain meat. Over the year we have lost the meat products and now are generally vegetarian.

My mince pies were baked in a deep cupcake tin and had the usual pastry bottom, homemade mincemeat and a topping of Frangipane instead of pastry. The recipe I use for mincemeat can be found on my website. The Frangipane is a great twist and it is easy to make with the following ingredients.

100g soft butter

100g caster sugar

2 beaten eggs

100g ground almonds

1 Tbs plain flour

1 Tsp almond essence

Flaked almonds

Beat the sugar and butter together until fluffy then beat in the eggs. Fold in the remaining ingredients and place a spoonful on top of the mincemeat, smooth it with a knife and scatter a few flaked almonds on the top and bake! Mince pies can be frozen so you can get ahead with you Christmas baking.