Festive Confined Cookalong: cook ALL THE THINGS

This was a brilliant afternoon. Thank you all so much for joining in on a potentially rather random Confined Cookalong, with no start time and a generically festive theme. It felt like it worked really well, rather than being bitty - people doing what suited them, when, but having an excuse to cook and a reason to share the results. Which were fab. 

I have nicked all these photos from twitter under #ConfinedCookalong on the grounds they were published as part of a group thing. If you'd like yours taken down, let me know of course. But I think collectively they are much more lovely than any one bake. If I have your name wrong or I missed you, please shout. All who wish shall join in the Cookalong! And anyone who wants to blog their recipe, more than welcome

Some intrepid folk began before lunch:

@Tenisonpurple with the ingredients shot: 

 

lebkuechen ahoy!

 

@StefArchivist starting an epic variety of festive bakes

@HistoryHelen123 on a first mix, first prove

Some had kit:

@cartivist with star cutters

@StefArchivist has a super fancy rolling pin

 

@MariaSienk has a hot tip from a reader that teacups work for Sussex pond pudding

 

Then the making and mixing:

@Artefactual_KW with dry ingredients

 

 

Me with wet ingredients (does golden syrup mixed with sugar, peel and crystallised ginger seem a bit sweet? TOO LATE NOW!)

Sarah A may have covered significant parts of the kitchen in sugar and chocolate

Liz showed us what double-proved, baked and glazed should absolutely look like

@greensideknits, looking glorious here

And one by one, creations came out of ovens, off cooling racks, and onto plates, into mouths, beside cups of tea, and other brilliant ideas. Look at what you all did!

Maria's triumphant pond pudding

Andrew's freeform star joy

Helen's cracking stollen effort and sterling approach to post-cookalong rewards

Katie B's piernik - and accidental cookalong but a luscious one

Katy's spicy lush rock cakes

Patricia (and the Curator)'s candied nuts

Sarah's chocolate orangey brownie-y bites

Those Tenison Purple lebkuechen (apparently singed underneath but looking smart as)

Liz's epic cinnamon bun. The tweet of the day merely said "Nom"

My chocolate spiced cake square monsters. I still have 14 of these. Blimey.

Ruth's first mince pies - mighty fine

and finally Stef, who simply, simply wins Most Cookalong Ever, for this staggeringly productive day - twotealong more than anyone, and full of ambitious experimentation. We salute you, our leader in festive baking

Now, I believe we have a communal oversupply of open packets of marzipan, and I definitely have ground mace to last me forevermore. So perhaps some exciting recipe ideas will come from this. 

In fact, I have one for guinea fowl stuffed with marzipan, and if you're not all very good, I might cook it for new year. We shall see.

Important for next week: As I slunk off to consume the second piece (of sixteen) of my spicy gooey festive cake, the Strictly continuity announcer pointed out the final next weekend starts at 6pm. So it is officially a pre-Christmas Confined Cocktails free for all. I shall be there early (5.30?), and I shall try to keep going so long as anyone wants to say a glamorous cocktaily hello. For it is our last Confined Cocktails before Christmas, and I can't quite believe we've kept it up so long. You're all marvellous, folks. Tired, sugary, covered in chocolate perhaps, but marvellous.