Little Eccles mince pies

From freezer to oven, these cheeky Eccles mince pies are perfect mid-afternoon with an equally cheeky glass of mulled wine. It is Christmas after all!

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas cake

Decorate your cake with classic white icing and marzipan and then top with a playful seasonal motif

Marzipan Eccles tarts

This fun spin on the traditional Lancashire fruit cakes uses leftover marzipan to make irresistible individual pies

Sugar-dusted snowflake cake

Give your Christmas cake a stylish and professional finish this year with this sparkling decoration idea

Stollen wreath

BBC Good Food’s show-stealing December 08 cover recipe – perfect if you fancy a change from the usual Christmas cake

Mini Christmas cake

Make our wreath cake (see ‘goes well with’) and use the spare middle section to create a small gift decorated with classic marzipan and fondant icing

Leftover veg & orange cake

A novel way to use up root vegetables is to bake up a sweet, moist sponge with citrus flavours

Snowman friends cake decoration

Icing and decorating a Christmas cake may take time but this sweet snowy scene will be a hit with kids

Chocolate fruitcake

If anyone in your family isn’t keen on traditional fruitcake, this might be the compromise you’ve been looking for

Sandham family mincemeat

A real treat. Associate food editor, Barney Desmazery, has had this recipe in his family for 100 years