Be Big Day Ready!

This is Fiona’s favourite time to be in the kitchen: windows misting up as the warmth of the oven meets the frosty outdoors. So get in there and bake our simple gingerbread biscuit recipe for bonfire night, or simply pick up a pack we’ve made for you instead. Either way, be sure to ask the smallest and youngest of your family and friends to help decorate them. (They make great cake decorations, if you’re feeling ambitious!)

Our bakers and decorators are deep into festive preparations, too. Right now, we’re cutting out snowflakes, hand-rolling 101,800 holly berries to grace your Fiona Cairns Christmas cakes (grab yours from Waitrose and stash it away now) and crafting cheerful carrot noses for untold numbers of snowmen.

As well as sharing sweet treats at a few garden centres this month, we’ll also be at the annual Waitrose food and drink festival at Tobacco Dock, London, again this year. Please drop in and see us for a spot of early festive cheer; we’ll be sharing samples of our delicious Christmas cakes, an early present to all of you!

And the last weekend of November brings Stir-up Sunday, when our forebears traditionally got in the kitchen to make Christmas cakes, puddings and mincemeat for the weeks to come. Find Fiona’s Classic Fruit Cake recipe here. It’s a comfort to think of the generations of bakers behind us. You don’t have to join them, though, if you prefer to buy our beautiful and delicious Christmas parcel cake instead. Order it straight to your door on Ocado - job done!