Nothing like a good old kitchen ‘spat’ at Christmas

There is something about cake that provides the glue for every social occasion. It’s celebratory, joyful, a tiny bit sinful and it brings people together in all kinds of circumstances. It’s the social adhesive at Christmas, writes Clodagh Finn. 

IT was the first fight of Christmas, and possibly the one with the most at stake. Call me misguided or pathetic — or both — but one of the best things about the festive season was the post-baking, pre-washing-up wooden spoon.

The one with the remnants of the Yule log’s chocolate icing was a particular favourite, and usually by the time we came to do battle over it, competition in the kitchen had been whittled down to just two — my mother and me.