Recipe for Gran Hanks Brandy Butter

I was looking through my old books for another traditional British Christmas recipe when I received a very welcome email from Blighty's British Recipes newsletter subscriber Heather Wiltshire.

Heather wrote:

Hi John, love your recipes...and will try your version of the Brandy sauce soon. My Mum and Gran have always made this "Brandy Butter or Hard Sauce" every Christmas and its amazing on warm mincemeat tarts..trust me! My brother and I often sneak to the fridge and enjoy a spoonful before it even gets to the table. So I'm sharing, and if you want to use it on your blog, go ahead, I consider it a Public Service!

Gran Hanks Hard Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 lb Icing Sugar (approx measure..add more if you like a stiffer butter)
1/4 lb Butter
1-2 tbs Brandy

Preparation
Cream the Icing Sugar and Butter together...then add Brandy slowly to taste. you might only like 1 tbsp...
Keep refridgerated until ready to use.

Amazing on warm Mincemeat tarts. Or by the spoonful when Mum isn't looking!


John's Notes
It took me all of about 5 minutes to prepare Gran Hanks Brandy Butter. Thank you so much Heather, it is absolutely delicious, which is a pity since, as a diabetic, I won't be able to eat more than a sample of it. My family think it is fabulous so I made two batches. One batch will be saved for Christmas when we will savour it with our mince pies. The other batch is sitting in the fridge and probably won't last very long!

I used a little extra butter which gave the brandy butter a thicker texture. I also used a whole shot of brandy which has given my Gran Hanks Brandy Butter a lovely rich flavour.