Chocolate tart and zabaglione: Angela Hartnett’s easy make-ahead Christmas desserts – recipes

When you’re the cook of the house, you spend quite enough time in the kitchen on Christmas Day as it is. And, after those time-consuming nibbles, the smoked salmon starter and the turkey-with-all-the-trimmings main event, the last thing you want is a pudding that demands even more hands-on time at the culinary coalface. For me, the main requirement of any Christmas dessert is that it can be made well in advance, not least because, by the time the pudding stage comes around, I’ll be completely knackered and more than ready to put up my feet and finally relax (or, more likely, fall asleep on the sofa).Prep 15 minRest 3 hr+Cook 40 minServes 6-8For the sweet pastry500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 150g caster sugar 250g cold butter, diced2-3 eggs, lightly beatenFor the filling640g 70%-cocoa dark chocolate, broken into small pieces800ml double cream 64g glucose syrup 64g cold butter, cubed 100g roasted hazelnuts, lightly choppedPut the flour and sugar in a large bowl, stir to combine, then add the diced butter and work it in with your fingertips until the mix takes on the consistency of rough breadcrumbs. Add two of the beaten eggs, then mix until the dough comes together into a ball; if need be, add the third beaten egg, but take great care not to overwork the dough

I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began

Vegetables, in my experience, rarely cause controversy. Yet last month I found myself in the middle of a legal storm over who gets to own the word sabzi – the Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Dari and Pashto word for cooked veg or fresh greens. It was a story as absurd as it was stressful, a chain of delis threatened me with legal action over the title of a book I had spent years creating. But what began as a personal legal headache soon morphed into something bigger, a story about how power and privilege still dominate conversations about cultural ownership in the UK.When the email first landed in my inbox, I assumed it must be a wind-up

Goodbye avocado, hello ssamjang: here is the new posh nosh

Name: Posh nosh.Age: We’re talking new food trends here, so – new.Avocado? Hummus? Old news, keep up!Who with? The Joneses? Only if you make that “with whom”, and if the Joneses shop at Waitrose. Every year the famously upmarket supermarket publishes a report that gives some indication of middle-class eating trends.And? No one’s talking about avocados or hummus any more

Choice taste test: the best Australian supermarket Christmas ham is also ‘one of the cheapest’

Consumer advocacy group Choice has found when it comes to supermarket Christmas hams, pork price is not necessarily an indicator of quality.In a blind taste test of 12 Christmas hams from Aldi, Coles, IGA and Woolworths, the best and worst-ranked pork products retail at almost identical prices.The best-scoring product was the Coles Christmas Beechwood Smoked Half Leg Ham, with a price per unit of $8/kg. Judges awarded it a score of 80% and described it as a “good overall ham” for its “mild but pleasant” aroma with “a nice balance between sweet and smoky flavours”.The worst-performing product, the Aldi Festive Selection Australian Half Leg Ham On-The-Bone, is similarly priced at $7

How to turn excess nuts and seeds into a barnstoming festive pudding – recipe | Waste not

Last Christmas we visited my in-laws in Cape Town, where, at over 30C, a traditional Christmas pudding just didn’t feel quite right. But my mother-in-law and her friend created the most delicious feast: a South African braai (barbecue) followed by an incredible ice-cream Christmas pudding made by mashing vanilla ice-cream with a mix of tutti frutti, candied peel, raisins and cherries. This semifreddo is a take on that dessert: a light frozen custard that still carries all the festive flavours.Tutti frutti semifreddo Christmas puddingWe stopped using clingfilm in our kitchen 15 years ago now, because it’s not easily recycled and because of health concerns about the possible transfer of microplastics into our food. Most semifreddo recipes tell you to line the freezer container with clingfilm, but I suggest using no liner at all, or silicone-free, unbleached baking paper instead

The great Christmas taste test: I tried seven fast food offerings. Which will make me feel festive?

From a cranberry katsu curry to a dozen thickly glazed doughnuts, the biggest chains are getting Christmassy. I found out which seasonal meals will leave you carolling and carousing – and which will leave you coldBy now, most major fast food outlets will have launched their festive special. There is no established framework for what “festive” means, and no recognised metrics of Christmassyness. It could be indicated by a lurid green/angry red colour in a place you’re not expecting it (McDonald’s Grumble Pie, I’m looking at you); or an existing thing, made into a more seasonal shape, or the introduction of a quintessential Christmas ingredient, such as a brussels sprout (though seriously, food giants, get over yourself if you think it’s cinnamon – this is an autumn spice).I am not here to critique the essentials of fast food (I love it)