Move over, mince pies! Well, maybe not… after all, absolutely nothing beats that melty, gooey, fruity goodness of a superlative Christmas mince pie. Sometimes though, you don’t have the time to make these; they’re really only super-good if you make everything from scratch, including the pastry…

“Unusually for an Asian nation, the Vietnamese have a fondness for coffee – a taste they acquired from their French colonisers. (Interestingly, Vietnam supplies the world coffee trade with much of its robusta beans, most of which end up as instant coffee.) The left-over syrup keeps well and tastes delicious spooned over ice-cream.”