The Laboratory

Welcome to our 12th annual Advent Calendar! We're celebrating anniversaries this year, with 40th, 50th, 100th and 150th all making an appearance. If it's a special anniversary Christmas for you this year, why not let us know ? Maybe you've been getting things ready this weekend, like we have. No tree yet, but we certainly have bought a lot of party food! Our greatest find was at Carluccio's , which has just opened in Woking. We missed them last year, but we have this year's cream of the almond crop, it's the delicious Ricciarelli : What have you done to get ready for Christmas? Let us know in the comments. And of course, tell your friends about this Advent Calendar. The quick link is: bit.ly/adcal2014

Forget iced-topped mince pies, panettone, and stollen. There's a new Christmas treat and it's delicious! Ricciarelli are handmade cakes made with almond, sugar, honey and egg whites, with a hint of candied orange.

 A tiny family-run bakery in Montalcino makes these Tuscan cakes for Carluccios. They use September's fresh almond crop and bake the cakes lightly so they're crunchy outside, but soft and light inside. Ricciarelli means "little curly things". The only problem is ... they're sold out! We managed to get one packet for our friends Ian and Brendan, and one for ourselves. So our top tip ... get to Carluccios next November and buy up as many as you can - some for gifts, but mainly for you!