Christmas at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry
*Doors open at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry again for Christmas!* Cosy up with the new novel in the Pudding Pantry series, full of love, laughter, kisses under the mistletoe, and plenty of delicious pudding! The first snow is falling over Primrose Farm, the mince pies are warming, and Rachel can’t wait to share a kiss under the mistletoe with her gorgeous new flame, Tom. If only it was all comfort and joy... The arrival of Tom’s ex brings an unwelcome chill to the farm. And despite Master Baker Mum Jill’s valiant efforts, the new pudding pantry business is feeling the pinch. With a spoonful of festive spirit, a cupful of goodwill with friends, and her messy, wonderful family by her side, can Rachel make this a Christmas to remember? Why readers love cosying up with Caroline Roberts’ gorgeous novels: ‘Family, friendships, farming and fabulous food. The Pudding Pantry is perfect!’ Sunday Times bestseller Heidi Swain ‘Cosy and uplifting – a real treat!’ Debbie Johnson ‘A delightful, life affirming story’ Ali McNamara ‘Such a wonderful book, heart-wrenching and uplifting and joyful! Cressida McLaughlin 'A top-rated romance which I devoured quicker than a slice of Victoria Sponge. Beautifully written, warm, funny, cosy, romantic and sweeter than a tray full of cookie dough' Bookaholic Confessions 'A warm and cosy read for a cold winter's day... will have you longing to be served in the tearoom' Rachel's Random Reads
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CHRISTMAS AT RACHEL’S PUDDING PANTRY
Caroline Roberts
OneMoreChapter an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by One More Chapter 2019
Copyright © Caroline Roberts 2019
Cover design by Holly MacDonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019
Cover illustrations © Hannah George/Meiklejohn
Caroline Roberts asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008327675
Ebook Edition © October 2019 ISBN: 9780008327682
Version: 2019-10-16
For Mum and Dad
Winter is the time for comfort,
For good food and warmth,
For the touch of a friendly hand
And for a talk beside the fire:
It is the time for home.
Edith Sitwell
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Acknowledgements
Keep Reading …
About the Author
Also by Caroline Roberts
About the Publisher
The First Bake of Christmas
Memories and Mince Pies – Dad’s All-Time Festive Favourite
As a child, Rachel could walk into the farmhouse kitchen at almost any point during November and December, and if Dad was there on a break from his farm work, he was sure to have a mug of strong tea and a mince pie to hand.
Rachel smiled as she read Granny Ruth’s neat handwriting on the page that had long ago been slipped into the ‘Baking Bible’ book …
Buttery Mince Pies:
8oz/225g Butter
12oz/350g Plain flour
3.5oz/100g Golden caster sugar
Pinch of salt
10oz/280g Good quality mincemeat
Splash of sherry
1 small egg
Icing sugar to dust
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas/fan 180°C.
To make the pastry, rub 8oz cold, diced butter into 12oz plain flour, then mix in 3½ oz golden caster sugar and a pinch of salt.
Combine the pastry into two balls, warming and moulding with your hands – don’t add any liquid – and knead them briefly. The dough will be fairly firm, like shortbread dough.
Roll out and cut 12 rounds with an 8.5cm (3½ inch) cutter and 12 rounds with a 6.5cm (2½ inch) cutter. Using a 16-hole non-stick tartlet tin, use the larger rounds to line each hole.
Spoon a heaped teaspoon of the mincemeat, mixed with a splash of sherry, into the pies.
Top the pies with their lids, pressing the edges gently together to seal.
Beat 1 small egg and brush over the tops of the pies. Bake for 20 mins until golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then remove to a wire rack.
Dust with icing sugar before serving.
These will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.
‘These little pies herald the start of Christmas in our household,’ Granny had written below the recipe. ‘Robert loves to lift up the pastry lid and add a blob of thick cream on top of the warm mincemeat. It melts in so you have to eat it quickly. Delicious! I’ve even seen him eat five in one go. It’s a good job he’s a growing lad!’
Oh yes, Granny’s mince pies were the best; that crumbly buttery first bite and then the lingering taste of festive-spiced mincemeat. It made you feel like Christmas was on its way …
Rachel was teetering up a ladder with a strand of fairy lights in her hand.
‘Just a touch more to the left, love, that’ll even up the loops.’ Jill, her mother, was poised at the base of the ladder, keeping it steady and giving directions.
‘Okay …’
‘Careful, now.’
‘I’m all right.’ Rachel leaned from her perch to give them a tweak. She was used to doing far riskier things out on the farm, not that she would have enlightened her mum about that.
Rachel was fixing the twinkly white lights to the guttering of the old barn, ready to give the Pudding Pantry – their new business venture – a festive facelift and a touch of winter magic. From her vantage point, Rachel could see down across the yard and into the farmhouse kitchen window, glimpsing the large pine table and chairs that had been there for as long as she could remember. Memories of Christmases past suddenly came flooding back.
