​ Christmas for me began as a summertime celebration in New Zealand, with long days and warm evenings. Twenty-plus years on, the wintry cosiness of a UK Christmas has taken hold. Now, my essentials include perfectly crisp roast potatoes with plenty of gravy, and sprouts (non-negotiable). Even my young niece and nephew love them, which is a small victory I’m quietly proud of. Blue cheese and honey gougères Warm gougerès fresh from the oven are a pretty tricky thing to beat. However, adding blue cheese and honey steps them up another level. The best thing about these gougeres, though, is…

​ I’m treading dangerous ground critiquing classics such as Jacob’s cream crackers and Carr’s table water biscuits, some of Britain’s most nostalgic family foods. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of comfort eating, especially at Christmas, but both are also symbols of our industrial food culture: bland, beige and unadventurous. That said, maybe they’re just the ticket as a neutral vehicle for transporting cheese to the mouth. The bottom-of-the-range crackers tested here were strikingly homogeneous: they’re essentially generic cardboard cut-outs made with commodity flour, palm oil and a plethora of raising agents. Food safe, yes, but firmly in ultra-processed food…

​ I was born in west Africa, and brought up between there, France and the UK in a French-Lebanese-British family. Unsurprisingly, then, our Christmas lunch was more than a bit diverse: my father always insisted on some British and Lebanese elements, while my mother contributed French dishes and technique; west African produce was also a must, because the house would be full of all nationalities, including our African family. Not only that, but our Christmas would invariably start with a guest list of about 20, and another 20 or so waifs and strays would always then turn up in need…

​ This is a home-friendly version of one of the drinks on our new cocktail menu. It’s a batch premix that’s packed with the flavours of Christmas, making it ideal for a festive party. Save the excess cordial for breakfast drinks or for puddings, or for another round of bikinis. Bikini Serves 10 For the clementine cordial (makes 750ml)300ml fresh clementine juice 200ml fresh lemon juice 500g caster sugar For the drink (makes 850ml, to serve 10)400ml good vodka – we use Ketel One100ml London dry gin – we use Tanqueray 150ml peach liqueur – we use RinQuinQuin 200ml clementine…

​ Christmas is a time of overwhelming choice, especially when it comes to food. So, to help you navigate the festive feasting, we asked 16 top chefs and cooks to tell us what they buy or make to give to the people brave enough to invite them over. Reassuringly, it turns out that even the most decorated chefs love a Ferrero Rocher, a nice glass of sherry, a good mince pie and a decent cheeseboard at this time of year. And everyone is attached to their own traditions, whether that’s the apple tart Matthew Ryle’s family loves in place of…

​ Christmas lunch in my family is about as traditional as it comes, and is pretty much the same every year no matter whose house we’re at (including at least three monumental rows about things that happened years ago). Everyone chips in, too, even the kids – well, they’ve got to earn their dinner somehow. Rather than shooing them off to watch cartoons while the adults do all the work, we make sure they’re hands-on in the kitchen alongside us, especially with the annual yule log. Not only is this a valuable life lesson, it also helps develop and strengthen…

​ It may well be that you already have a drink that you traditionally like to sip on after dinner (or lunch), and who am I to tell you that needs to change? Even so, I have a few ideas for drinks you might like to try instead. Let’s start with the classics. There are many different sorts of port, including white and rosé, but you’re more likely to come across ruby and tawny ports at Christmas time. I like an LBV, a port that’s aged for up to six years in barrel, especially with cheese or anything chocolatey. Another…

​ For a festival with childbirth at its religious heart, it is perverse how much of our traditional Christmas spread isn’t recommended for pregnant women. Pre-pregnancy, this was not something I’d clocked. I was the soft cheese supremo, canape queen – at my happiest with a smoked trout blini in one hand and a champagne flute in the other. Then one day in October, two blue lines appeared on a test result and everything started to change: my body, my future and most pressingly my Christmas. Don’t get me wrong: no present under the tree can match the gift I’ve…

​ A recipe box was rifled through, but, alas, much like shopping for a present last minute, nothing leapt to the fore. Out of the corner of an eye I spied an old folder of pudding menus, all stained and tattered. A wonder at how this might have escaped notice was soon dispelled – unsurprising, really, given the usual state of my desk and shelves – and the page on which it fell open revealed the scribbles for a midwinter pudding menu. And, just like that, as if the scent rose from the page itself, came a memory of an…

​ Even though our to-do lists are longer and our homes busier than ever, there’s something about Christmas that gives us the extra chutzpah to bake. And not just any baking, but baking for a crowd. So, with this in mind, here are two crowdpleasing recipes – a rich hazelnut “Nutcracker” creme brulee and a resplendent chocolate fondant bundt cake – with a few make-ahead and shortcut secrets to give you a head start. Chocolate fondant bundt cake (pictured top) Serve this rich, decadent dessert warm from the oven in the centre of the table, piled with ice-cream (and perhaps…