Hi Couturiers,

Well Christmas is upon us once again and our sales have gone through the roof. We can only put it down to lots of our past customers buying Chrissie presents for their foodie friends and co workers. Three cheers for Santa!  We hope there are lots of happy people on Christmas morning. Have you made your Xmas Pud yet? If not here's a great recipe which has been in our family for ummm..........around two weeks. A bit like the Campbell's (or was it Heinz) soup ad where the grandmother hands it down to the mother who hands it down to her daughter - who then takes it to the checkout.

Christmas Pudding 

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 750g mixed dried fruit
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, coarsely grated
• 1/2 cup (125ml) brandy
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• 2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
• 125g butter, softened
• 1/3 cup (70g, firmly packed) brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups (140g) fresh (made from day-old bread) breadcrumbs
• 1?3 cup (50g) plain flour
• Plain flour, extra, to dust
• Double cream, to serve

• Brandy butter

• 125g butter, softened
• 1/2 cup (100g, firmly packed) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (60ml) brandy or sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

1. Place a large square piece of calico in a bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside overnight to soak.
2. Combine dried fruit, apple, brandy, mixed spice and orange rind in a bowl. Cover. Set aside overnight.
3. Drain the calico and transfer to a large saucepan of boiling water. Boil for 20 minutes.
4. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add to the fruit mixture and combine. Stir in breadcrumbs and flour.
5. Remove calico from the water and wring out excess water. Place flat. Sprinkle generously with extra flour, leaving a 5cm boarder. Shape mixture into a ball and place in centre of calico. Gather the calico together and tie to seal. Leave 2 loops at top.
6. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Place a saucer in the bottom. Lower pudding into the water and secure loops to the saucepan to make sure the pudding doesn’t touch the pan. Cover with boiling water. Cook, covered, over medium heat, adding more water when necessary, for 6 hours.
7. To make the brandy butter, use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Beat in the brandy or sherry and cinnamon.
8. Remove the pudding from the water and serve with brandy butter and double cream.

WHEN IN PARIS.........................

A LITTLE SOMETHING TO INSPIRE.

A LITTLE BIT OF PARIS FROM US TO YOU.

BAKERY BUY UP!!!!!

As the title states - we've had a stampede on our bakery/pastry range of tees and polos and are currently out of stock of a couple of designs. The lovely Ally from Timstock Trading House has bought up a large amount of our tees. For those of you interstate - Timstock is a wholesale ingredient supplier dedicated to the Baking Industry in Victoria. We've previously dealt with Timstock in our other lives and are very proud to be associated with them.

As we always like to keep things moving at Kitchen Couture, we'll be replacing some of our existing bakery inspired designs with new designs in 2012. We'll be sticking with vintage ideas and are madly sketching away as we speak.

Sorry - the items below are currently sold out. New bakery designs coming in the New Year. We'll keep you posted! We love to keep the old vintage bakery prints alive to represent the timeless skills and traditions  of Bakers & Pastrycooks, past and present.

SOLD OUT

SOLD OUT

SOLD OUT

WELCOME CAIRNS COUTURIERS

Hi Couturiers,

It's hot - it's cold - it's hot - it's cold. Just any old day in Melbourne really. As they say if you don't like the weather in Melbourne - just wait a few minutes - it will change! One place where it's always hot of course is Cairns and we'd like to send a big thank you to Tammi & Max in Cairns who have just outfitted their front and back of house staff in Kitchen Couture. One of the few places where short sleaved Tees are applicable 12 months of the year. Cool gear in a hot climate makes for happy staff!



We've had alot of requests from people who've bought the limited edition Macaron Tee wanting to buy more for Xmas presents for foodie friends. Sorry, guys they're all gone but we MAY do another run of them around Xmas if demand keeps growing. We'll keep you posted.

Our representative in France, Jake McDonald has promised to send us photos for our blog but we can't seem to drag him away from the pleasures of Paris long enough to follow through. Watch this space.

Hi Couturiers,

Well the Fine Food Fare, this year held in Sydney at Darling Harbour, has come and gone for another year and it was fantastic to catch up with a few of our customers in the flesh. It's great to put faces to the names of those who support us and now we can visualise you in our gear! It's also great to learn which areas of hospitality you all come from. The show was bigger than ever this year and people travelled from all points of the compass to attend. We're looking forward to next years show in Melbourne.

As we speak, we're bundling up our first sale to New Zealand. Twenty assorted Bakery designs are on their way to the South Island. Thanks very much Bro!

Macaron T Shirt Update - We still have a few t shirts left and I do mean just a few. So, if you would like to grab one of the very last, email us for size availability.

Our Seafood/Chippery T Shirt is currently out of stock but we're doing a new print run this week. So they won't be far away. Thanks for your patience Dayle from Redcliffe and your order is at the top of our list.