KIM-JOY

PEACE, LOVE AND KIM-JOY AT CHRISTMAS

‘Tis the season to be jolly… AND to talk life in Leeds, Ilkley inspiration and choux snowmen with former Great British Bake Off finalist Kim-Joy…

My early childhood in Belgium is a bit of a distant memory, but I do remember sometimes eating biscuits for breakfast which I really don’t

think I should have done. When it comes to baking, it was something that neither of my parents did, but it was something I wanted to do. As a child I hated mincemeat but I did make mince pies, it was a tradition which Dad encouraged me to get involved with. I enjoyed the process of making the pastry and putting the mincemeat in. When I was still quite young (5 years old) my family moved to London and there was a pandan cake that Mum got from China Town and I loved it and was determined to bake my own. So I spent hours with my Malaysian recipe book and made pandan cake over and over again.

I first came to Leeds to study for a masters in psychology and met my husband Nabil, who has lived

in Yorkshire all his life. Not like me who’s moved around, from Belgium to London, then to Bristol University. I immediately loved Yorkshire and settled in straight away. It’s such a contrast to London, which stressed me out with its busyness. One of my favourite places is Bettys Café Tearooms and that’s where Nabil and I went on out first date … Bettys in Harrogate. It was my birthday and was one of those just friends sort of dates. That’s where it all started and Bettys holds such lovely memories.

Leeds is a special city and has a fantastic food scene. It’s ALL about

the food for me. Nadil and I enjoy going out to eat … when not restricted by the pandemic. Tharavadu is a fabulous restaurant serving the most amazing South Indian food, Sukhothai is another favourite and its authentic Thai dishes are delicious, plus Leeds Kirkgate Market is huge, there’s a wonderful variety of food for sale and it’s somewhere we often go for lunch. My life revolves around food. Can you tell how important food is to me? (laughs)

Being part of the Great British Bake Off (2018) completely changed my life and was an incredible experience.

You go on as a contestant, but you have no idea how you’re going to perform and don’t know how far you’ll get. So I was very, very happy to get to the final and it’s meant that I’ve since been able to write two cookery books, Baking with Kim-Joy and now Christmas with Kim-Joy, and start my own YouTube channel, which is incredible. Before the show, baking was just a hobby and now I can do it and make a career from it which is wonderful. It’s increased my confidence and I know a lot of people probably say that but it’s true.

There are so many great things about living in Yorkshire. Leeds is an ideal base from which to explore and enjoy

the whole county. Favourite places to visit are Bettys (of course), walking and making the most of having nice places and trails to explore right on the doorstep, Mother Shipton’s Cave in Knaresborough - I love how bonkers it is (in a nice way), Bolton Abbey is stunning and is surrounded by great walks too, plus I love that place where Harry Potter was filmed … Malham Cove in the Dales. Gorgeous! Our current home in Leeds has fantastic countryside views out the back, as we live next door to a farm with cows, chickens and horses, so we get to see them without having to look after them. I appreciate my home comforts and feel content just being at home. It helps that house prices in Yorkshire are much cheaper than in London too.

Nabil and I are planning to move to Ilkley in the coming weeks, as we are currently in the process of buying a

property. For the same price down south we’d have had to settle for a much tinier place, but in Yorkshire there’s so much more on offer for the money. One of the good things to come out of lockdown has been the reduction in stamp duty. We’ve viewed some great houses in lovely locations, across different parts of Yorkshire and have found what we’re

CHRISTMAS WITH KIM-JOY (Quadrille, £15) Photography: Ellis Parrinder

after in idyllic Ilkley. I like the fact that there’s a great train service into Leeds too, for when we fancy a city fix. The house is a 1960s property that we have plans to renovate, knocking down walls and installing a new kitchen. We purposely wanted a home that we could adapt on the inside to make it ‘our own’. I now spend my time thinking of interior design and constantly looking at pictures of kitchens. Fingers crossed everything will go to plan. Ilkley really is a fabulous spot, especially for getting out on the moors … AND it has a Bettys.

We are living in such unprecedented and tricky times at the moment, with the coronavirus crisis, but luckily my daily life has not seen such

massive changes. I’ve pretty much worked from home since Bake Off and continue to do so. Initially when lockdown happened for the first time I was like ‘yeah I’m going to do all these things’, but then after a few weeks I was like ‘oh it’s getting a bit much now’. I felt like I needed to see people, and that’s from me, someone who’s quite introverted and who is fine with my own company. Luckily I have two cats, Inki and Mochi, who are just over a year old now. They are very entertaining and a lot of fun, but sometimes a bit of a distraction when I’m trying to work as they are so adorable.

Today is not a typical day for me. I’m a complete night owl, so this morning interview made me have to set an

alarm. I’m not used to mornings, but regularly work into the evening. My time is spent doing lots of baking and also making loads of pizzas, that’s what I did at the weekend and Nabil and I have spent the last 3 days feasting on scrummy pizza. I’m also keeping busy trying to do as much book promotion as possible online, as travel is so restricted.

Christmas with Kim-Joy is a book full of seasonal baking recipes,

colour and cute stuff. It was actually my publisher’s idea and I wasn’t going to say no … I love Christmas …how can you not? It’s packed full of ideas AND animals, from edible Arctic foxes to polar penguin bao buns and marshmallow seals, plus melted snowman cake pops and white chocolate igloos. You can also design your own magical gingerbread village. Great to make for Christmas presents. Before Bake Off I experimented a lot in the kitchen when baking and decorating, but the way the challenges on the show were set up encouraged me to be even more adventurous. Creating creatures sort of naturally became my thing. Autumn and winter are the best, being cosy at home, with the hot oven which works so well at this time of year, rather than baking in summer when it’s hot outside. I find it peaceful, when the weather turns and love food so much, and Christmas is all about lots of different lovely things to eat.

It’s hard to choose a favourite recipe from the book, as I love them all for different reasons and I feel that I could give a different answer

every time. It may be down to the photographs but I particularly like the snowmen made out of choux pastry. They all have their own little personalities and look like they’re running along. Christmas with Kim-Joy is aimed at everybody, there are vegan recipes, ones with booze in, gluten free ideas, stuff for kids, with step-bystep images which make them easy to decorate if that’s what you want to do, but it’s just as easy to completely skip the decorating and just bake. From basic to advanced, it’s all achievable.

Yorkshire Pudding is my favourite Yorkshire dish. It is from Yorkshire

isn’t it? I guess it would be weird if it wasn’t (laughs). Only recently have I started to make them and I’ve really got into it. I make giant Yorkshire puddings, as big as possible, so that they hit the top of the oven. I stack them up in the freezer and then get them out on a chilly day to fill them with veggie dishes and delicious dumplings. Now is the perfect time of year for them. Autumnal days, getting wrapped up and eating comforting dishes … the weather makes the food taste even better.

A perfect Yorkshire day out would start at … where else … but one of the county’s Bettys Café Tearooms for

Breakfast or brunch. Then a walk on the beautiful moor at Haworth. Even in the rain this historic village is stunning and quintessentially olde worlde, there’s the Bronte Parsonage Museum, impressive independent shops and lots of tempting tearooms to pop in and out of for that all important tea, scones and cake. I’m obsessed with cake! Then another walk at beautiful Bolton Abbey, followed by even more food... It’s good to look forward to your next meal. (laughs)

IRISH CREAM SNOWMEN CHOUX

Christmas isn’t complete without choux pastry filled with the most delicious Irish cream filling… plus adorable snowmen too. MAKES: 18–24

CHOUX PASTRY

85g [ 0∕3 cup plus 2 tsp] unsalted butter 225ml [1 cup] water pinch of salt 50g [6 Tbsp] plain [all-purpose] flour 50g [5 3/4 Tbsp] strong white flour (to make gluten free, swap both plain and strong white flour for 100g [3/4 cup] glutenfree flour plus 1/4 tsp xanthan gum 2–3 medium eggs

IRISH CREAM LIQUEUR FILLING

480ml [2 cups plus 2 Tbsp] double [heavy] cream 4 Tbsp icing [confectioners’] sugar 1 Tbsp Irish cream liqueur

VANILLA ICING

200g [1 1/2 cups minus 1 Tbsp] icing [confectioners’] sugar 40–50ml [2 2∕3–3 1/2 Tbsp] water 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste Matchstick cookies or similar sprinkles 1/2 quantity Royal Icing orange and black food dyes (or more sprinkles) Fondant, fruit, nuts, candy canes, etc. for additional decoration (optional)

ROYAL ICING RECIPE

40g [1 1/2oz] egg white (substitute with aquafaba for a vegan version) 225g [12∕3 cups] icing [confectioners’] sugar Plus extra egg white (or aquafaba) and icing [confectioners’] sugar to adjust and get the right consistency time you will need 20 x 2.5-cm

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C [400°F/ Gas mark 6].

2 To make the choux pastry, chop the butter and add it to a small saucepan with the water and salt. Heat until the butter has melted and the mixture at 180°C [350°F/Gas mark 4].

is starting to bubble. Meanwhile, combine both flours (or gluten-free flour plus xanthan gum) in a separate bowl. When the butter mixture is bubbling, remove it from the heat and add the flours all in one go. Stir with a wooden spoon until it forms a smooth ball that pulls away from the sides very easily – this is called a panada.

3 Transfer the panada to a enough to pipe and hold its shape.

stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and leave to cool for 5–10 minutes.

4 Add 2 eggs, one at a time, to the panada, mixing on slow speed after each addition until combined. Whisk a third egg in a separate bowl and gradually add 1 tbsp at a time, mixing well after each addition. You may not need to add the third egg, or you may need to add a little or all of it. It’s important to add it gradually Stack the smaller choux bun on

to avoid having a batter that is too runny. You are looking for a glossy consistency, which leaves a ‘v’ when a spoon is lifted out of the dough.

5 Transfer to a piping [pastry] bag and cut a medium tip. Line 2 baking add them before the icing sets

sheets with baking paper or a silicone mat, then pipe 20 x 3-cm [1 1/4-in] circles onto one of the baking sheets.

6 Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C [350°F/Gas mark 4] and bake for a further 20 minutes. Don’t open the oven until at least 25 minutes have passed, to avoid the choux pastry 7 Meanwhile, pipe a second batch onto the other baking sheet. This [1-in] circles (there will be some leftover choux so you can pipe extra if you like).

8 When the first batch of choux have finished baking, immediately turn them over and use a knife to pierce the base. This is so that the air inside has somewhere to escape, and also gives you a place to pipe in the filling. Bake the second batch of choux for 10 minutes at 200°C [400°F/Gas mark 6], then a further 10 minutes

9 Meanwhile, make the Irish cream filling. Add all the ingredients to a clean, grease-free bowl and whip on medium-high speed until stiff Don’t overwhip. Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag and cut a small tip.

10 Pipe the cream into the cooled choux buns through the hole created earlier, making sure each one is filled completely.

11 To make the icing [frosting], whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl, then spoon the icing over the top of each choux bun. top of the larger one.

12 Decorate with matchstick cookie arms and sprinkles for buttons. These will stick if you deflating.

but use a little extra if needed. Add the facial features with royal icing dyed black and orange, or use sprinkles. You can also use nuts, fondant or fruits to create accessories for their heads.

TIP FOR THE ICING: Use a stand mixer (or handheld electric whisk) fitted with a balloon whisk attachment to combine the egg white/aquafaba and icing sugar until you get a smooth consistency. Then add tiny amounts of extra egg white (or aquafaba) and/or icing sugar to get the right consistency. Add food dye to colour as desired! That’s it!