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Richmond baker James Hoyland in the CBC baking tent.
Photo courtesy CBC
Local baker shares Christmas cheer
Published 12:08 PST, Tue December 22, 2020
Last Updated: 2:13 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021
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It may be a Christmas like no other, but Steveston resident Dr. James Hoyland still anticipates the holiday warmly.
“Our Christmas is always a fairly low-key family affair. We like to do family crafts and a lot of cooking. We open our stockings before breakfast. Presents are after breakfast, and we take it in turns opening one gift at a time,” says Hoyland of his family of four.
The day will be full of “games, food, crafts and a lot of laughter,” he says.
Asked about what the pandemic has taught them to treasure, Hoyland muses, “We have always been a close family who enjoy staying home together so the start of the lockdown was not a great hardship for us, at least to begin with.”
The family misses the travelling they usually do throughout the year, but particularly this season when they typically visit at least one of their elders. This year, the wider family plans to be together through video calls that bridge the distance between Steveston and Hoyland’s homeland, Britain.
In fact, the pandemic has even curtailed his usual trip by bike from the southwest tip of Lulu Island to his job at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
“I've been teaching almost entirely online, so the commute to work is to a converted cupboard in my house where I've set up my video production suite,” he says.
No newcomer to video production, Hoyland was in two series of the CBC’s The Great Canadian Baking Show, which he calls a wonderful experience where he learned a lot and made some marvellous friends.
“From a baking point of view, I learned a lot on the show and (while) preparing for it. But I was also pleasantly surprised at my own determination to keep going when things were going wrong,” he says.
Closer to home, Hoyland shows that same determination to keep going when he talks of the benefit of living in Richmond.
“We are blessed to live in a location where we a few short steps from beautiful open space, which we now value more than ever,” he says.
When asked what he’s learned to treasure from the pandemic, he says, “For me though, one thing I have really missed is the wider human contact. I will take those interactions less for granted once they return.”
Still baking and creating new recipes, Hoyland shares a Christmas favourite (with a kick) from his household, that he calls a pleasantly decadent little snack. He says the gin and tonic shortbread is easy to make and “very moreish” (a British saying meaning something you want to eat more of). If you want to make it without the alcohol, Hoyland suggests substituting lemon juice for the gin.
And what does this nationally-acclaimed baker eat on Christmas Day?
“Bagels or pancakes for breakfast. A gougère or tourtière for dinner with pavlova for dessert. I make a traditional British Christmas pudding, but I'm the only one who likes it so I eat all myself,” Hoyland says with a smile.
To see Hoyland in action, visit www.cbc.ca/life/greatcanadianbakingshow/episodes.
Gin and tonic shortbread
Ingredients:
• 2/3 cup softened unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup juniper sugar (see recipe below)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 and 3/4 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
Steps:
• Make the juniper sugar the night before: grind 2-3 tablespoons of dried juniper berries in a spice or coffee grinder until it is a fine soft powder. Sieve out any large bits. Mix with half a cup of sugar. Place in a jar and let sit overnight.
• Cream together butter and sugar by hand, or in a stand mixer, until soft and fluffy.
• Add the remaining ingredients and mix slowly until combined.
• On a lightly floured surface roll the dough into a log about one and a half inches in diameter.
• Wrap the log tightly in parchment or waxed paper and refrigerate for two hours, or freeze for about half an hour.
• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Slice the log into rounds 1/4 inch thick and place on papered baking trays (they do not spread much so they can be placed close together).
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until bottoms of cookies are golden.
Icing ingredients:
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2-3 Tbsp. gin (you may not need all of it)
Steps:
• Drizzle gin, a little at a time, into icing sugar in a small bowl until it makes a fairly thick paste.
• Pipe or spread onto cookies and sprinkle with more juniper sugar.
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