A traditional gluten-free Christmas was enjoyed

Yesterday went really well. We were eating for hours ... took our time and really enjoyed each dish. We started with coffee and my answer to mince pies - warm Christmas crumbles (see Cakes) when our guests arrived mid-morning. Later, the bacon-wrapped prunes and salt & pepper cashews went down well with the Prosecco. 

The gravad lax was awesome (see Starters) ... what a simple but tasty way to do salmon. However, the flavours were quite strong and not much of the mustard dressing was needed.

In the end, I made a chocolate tart with clementine cream for pudding. We had it with a glass of Bailey's (well, it is Christmas!). Here's the recipe. 

You will need:

For the sweet pastry case:

• 110g butter - chilled and diced + for greasing
• 150g Doves Farm gluten-free plain white flour + for dusting
• 75g caster sugar 
• 75g ground almonds
• 1 egg

For the filling:

• 300g 70% dark chocolate (I used Green & Black's)
• 100ml double cream
• 100g butter (slightly salted or unsalted)
• 4 eggs
• 100g caster sugar
• (optional) 2 tbsp brandy

1. Make the pastry in a food processor/mixer. Just blitz all the dry ingredients together until they start to form big clumps.
2. Empty it into a large bowl and add a beaten egg a little at a time until you can form it into a dough. 
3. Leave it to rest for 20 minutes and then roll it out as thinly as possible and use it to line a well-buttered quiche dish.
4. Bake it "blind" in an oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes or until it's just starting to brown. 
5. Turn the oven down to 150 degrees.
6. For the filling, melt the chocolate, cream and butter in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water
7. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and sugar until fluffy (add the brandy a little at a time)
8. When the chocolate has completely melted, remove from the heat and pour in the egg mixture, blending well.
9. Pour this into the pastry case and return it to the oven for 10-15 minutes.
10. Remove and cool. 

Serve with whipped cream with some clementine zest and juice added.