(bright music) - When it comes to Christmas, Britain's country houses have always put on a great show and Harewood House in Yorkshire is no exception.

There it is, Harewood House.

It's huge.

It's glorious.

A Georgian palace created by some of Britain's greatest architects and craftsmen, Harewood has been celebrating Christmas in spectacular style for over 250 years.

Aren't they just amazing?

This year, they're planning something truly magical.

- It's a total dreamscape, the whole thing.

- As the team count down to the grand Christmas opening, I'll explore historic Harewood recipes.

You couldn't get much more meat in there, could you?

- We're gonna.

- And show you how to cook delicious modern dishes inspired by my discoveries.

It's cold outside and this is really warming.

I'll learn about a royal princess with a special Christmas story.

It would have boosted their morale.

- Mm-hmm.

- And thoughts of home.

Reveal treasures straight out of a fairy tale.

Well, I feel a little bit like the princess and the pea.

And encounter some surprising Harewood residents.

Come on, just be brave.

And I'll meet the dedicated team who work... - That looks like it's going for a walk, doesn't it?

- Volunteer, and celebrate in this remarkable stately home.

Welcome to my magical "Country House Christmas."

(bright music) Harewood was built in the 1760s and has been the seat of the Earls of Harewood for eight generations.

Since 1986, the house, gardens, and priceless art collection have been managed by a charitable trust.

(bright music) The doors have just closed to the public and I've been given the complete run of the house as the staff get ready for the Christmas opening in two weeks' time.

(bright music) Down in the basement, the tempting smell of ginger and spices is luring me to the old servants' dining hall... (all chattering) - There's always one, isn't there, who has to eat them.

(laughs) - Where some of Harewood's 230 volunteers are busy icing gingerbread men to decorate the old kitchen for Christmas.

(bright music) Hello, there!

- Oh, hello.

- This is the gingerbread factory.

I've never seen so many designs.

You're really busy.

And you're all volunteers?

(all assenting) Is this the exciting time, sort of, Christmas?

- It is.

And I think the preparation, as well, puts you in the spirit of Christmas as well.

- How long, Jill, have you been a volunteer?

- 10 years.

- [Mary] 10 years.

- Yeah.

- And so, what are your duties?

I mean, this is pretty unusual, to ice gingerbread.

- [Woman] Oh, yeah, very.

(laughs) - So what else are you doing in the house?

- Most of us here steward in the house and stand in the rooms and talk to all the lovely visitors that we have here.

- Do you like being a volunteer?

- I love it.

Yes, I absolutely love it.

I love the house, I love it with a passion, and I decided that when I retired I would become a volunteer.

- So, have all of you retired and sort of decided you'd like to give something back?

(all assenting) Right, I think I'm going to sit down and do a bit of work.

(Mary laughing) They have to smile, don't they?

- Yes, oh, yes.

So how many gingerbread men or gingerbread ladies are you aiming to make?

- Oh, we just seem to keep on going.

(laughs) - [Man] I have a bikini.

(all laughing) - Oh, Sean, that's wonderful.

- When did you last see gingerbread man, er, gingerbread lady.

- [Woman] Lady, yes.

- When did, have you seen that?

(bright music) The volunteers have an architectural jewel to share with visitors.

The Earls of Harewood commissioned some of the greatest geniuses of the Georgian Age.

The architect was Yorkshireman John Carr.

The interiors were created by Robert Adam, renowned for his delicate plasterwork.

(bright music) And the house was furnished by Thomas Chippendale, who made his largest ever commission for Harewood.

Before the house is transformed for Christmas, I'm getting a guided tour with the head of the trust, Jane Marriott.

Who was the house actually built for?

- It was built for the Lascelles family, who made their fortune in the West Indies, particularly around plantations of sugar and rum and tobacco.

It is also, of course, that very dark history of slavery that I think we all feel very uncomfortable about, but I think what we like to do is to make sure that we acknowledge and we tell that story as visitors still come to visit Harewood today.

Please, come this way.

- I'll follow you.

Jane tells me that every year around 200,000 people visit Harewood.

- So, Mary, this is the gallery of the house.

- [Mary] It's enormous!

- [Janet] Yes.

- [Mary] What a great room for a party, isn't it?

- [Janet] Isn't it?

77 feet long and, actually, it was Robert Adams' masterpiece.

- [Mary] This is an amazing ceiling that Adams has... - A beautiful color scheme.

And it was very much the centerpiece of the room.

We didn't have the art collection in here at the time, so your eyes were immediately drawn to the Greek gods and goddesses and that feeling of feast and banqueting.

And the other thing which I should point out to you are these pelmets.

Chippendale actually carved each of these swags of material out of wood.

They're not material at all.

- [Mary] Really?

- [Janet] No.

- Well, you wouldn't know that without touching them.

- [Janet] No.

(bright music) - [Mary] Thomas Chippendale was another Yorkshireman, born eight miles away in Otley, his commission for Harewood took 30 years to complete and ended up costing over a million pounds in today's money.

In the east wing stands one of his masterpieces.

- [Janet] This is the state bedroom.

- Wow!

Is that opulent?

Is it grand?

I've never seen so much gild and this fantastic silk.

- Designed by Thomas Chippendale, specially for the state bedroom, and it was for very important guests, so of course it had to look that opulent and that beautiful.

- Well!

Has it had any royals actually sleeping in here?

- Yes, Princess Victoria, when she was 16 years old, before she became Queen Victoria.

And we have some diaries from Princess Victoria, who talks about how comfortable she was sleeping here and how excited she was because she was able to stay up late and party.

But of course, she also had to sleep in the room with her mother, because at the time before she was married, she would always have to sleep with someone else.

- It's just to keep an eye on her.

She's obviously a little monkey.

- (laughing) Yes, exactly.

Exactly.

- So, may I just try, for a moment?

I'll be very careful.

- Please do.

(laughs) Yes, please do.

- It's quite high, isn't it?

And they were smaller in those days.

- Yes.

- How would they have got on the bed?

- So there would have been steps up to the bed, but of course you are climbing on three mattresses under that silk.

- Well, I feel a little bit like the princess and the pea.

(gentle music) Below stairs lies a labyrinth of pantries, cellars, offices, and corridors, complete with an elaborate bell system that connected over 50 rooms above.

But one room was the true heart of the house.

What a vast kitchen.

(gentle music) Look at those beautiful copper pans.

Danny Hartman is one of Harewood's lead guides.

I don't think I've ever seen a bigger table than this.

- I know, it's amazing, isn't it?

It's original to the house.

This very top portion is as old as the house we're standing in.

- It certainly could tell a few stories.

- Absolutely, it could.

- What an amazing ceiling.

All vaulted, just like a church.

- Yes.

- It's beautifully planned.

- It is.

It was originally John Carr that designed below stairs of the house and he really kept the servants in mind for it, which is something quite rare for a house like this.

- How really brilliant that there is light in this kitchen.

Unusual for being below stairs.

Up there, yet another window.

- Yes.

- Only small.

- Yes, well, that was actually the chef's bedroom and that was his way to keep an eye on everybody that was in his domain And he used to open that middle one and just peer out to keep an eye on everyone down here.

- Talk about spying.

- I know.

(laughs) That's actually my office today.

- Is it?

- And they do exactly the same thing.

(laughs) - The old kitchen remained largely unchanged until the 1920s, when another princess came to Harewood, this time, to live.

Married to the future earl in 1922, Princess Mary was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, making her the aunt of our current Queen.

When she arrived at Harewood, the young bride brought new life to the old house.

And behind us, a battery of ovens.

- So, this is actually the most sort of modern thing in the kitchen.

It's actually from about 1930 and it was installed when Princess Mary moved into the house.

- And I wonder if Princess Mary, when she came here, she would have had very grand ideas, because she would have been in Buckingham Palace.

- Yes.

That's part of the reason why the range was added.

It had to be all brought up shipshape and proper for a princess.

- Yes.

Because Queen Mary, her mother, I actually saw as a child.

- Oh, really?

- And I can remember her and I lived in Bath.

I was a child of about eight, I think, holding my father's hand.

And I can remember this lady with beautiful curls, Queen Mary, and then she was superbly dressed, but she had a shape that was sort of all the way down, rounded, but wonderful stature.

- Yes.

- And to think that her daughter, Princess Mary, was here in this house.

- Yeah.

- Danny, what would this kitchen be like at Christmastime in its heyday?

- Pretty hectic.

In its heyday, they'd cater for over a hundred people for Christmas dinner, so it was full steam ahead down in the kitchens, everybody busy preparing for everything.

- [Volunteer] That's great.

- [Volunteer] Have we got some more shiny ones in there?

- [Volunteer] A few.

- [Mary] A hundred people is quite a houseful.

My Christmas guest list is a little bit shorter.

But when friends drop by, I love to spoil them with this comforting festive recipe from my childhood.

There's nothing more Christmassy than the smell of spices, treacle, and ginger.

The whole house will smell once I start baking my treacle spiced traybake.

This luxurious cake is topped with thick ginger icing and decorated with shards of sweet stem ginger.

First of all, I'm going to put all the ingredients in the bowl together.

The all-in-one method is so quick.

So, here it goes.

I put the eggs in first.

That gives us sort of damp layer to the outside and it'll slip round more easily.

So, four eggs.

Like this.

(egg tapping) This recipe is one of my mother's and she did quite a bit of baking and I think she felt that there were, we had black treacle in at Christmastime and she only used it for the Christmas cake and a bit in the pudding.

And she just experimented with this and I have been making this recipe ever since.

In goes 175 grams of castor sugar, 300 grams of self raising flour, one teaspoon of baking powder, one teaspoon of ground mixed spice and one teaspoon of ground allspice.

Oh!

It really does remind me Christmas is coming.

That's it.

Four tablespoons of milk and 225 grams of baking spread straight from the fridge.

Put the treacle in last because it's the most messy.

So, in it goes.

Lovely, dark, rich black treacle.

That's 200 grams.

(gentle music) Beat it all together with a mixer.

(mixer whirring) Now it's time for the star ingredient.

Lastly, in goes the ginger.

I'm using stem ginger in syrup, three bulbs, roughly chopped.

When it's smooth and thoroughly mixed, turn into a lined baking tin.

Don't tell anyone.

Mm!

Gosh, it reminds me of, you know, helping my mother make this very recipe, licking the bowl, Bake it for around 40 to 45 minutes at 160 fan.

Then let it cool.

Wow, does it smell!

(sniffs) Oh, so Christmassy, so spicy.

I'm going to take the paper off, but you must do that when it's cold, just like I've got it now.

Ease it away.

(paper rustling) Now, it's got to be stone cold, otherwise this would crack and break and we don't want that to happen.

That's it.

And now to the ginger icing.

Sieve 225 grams of icing sugar and add about six tablespoons of ginger syrup.

I'm going easy.

Can't go back.

Add a little at a time until you've got a smooth, thick icing.

This is just perfect.

This is the consistency, look.

(gentle music) Spread it right to the sides.

So, that's beautifully even over the top and a nice thick layer, too.

To decorate, I'm using finely slice strips of stem ginger.

I like to create a trellis pattern, so everybody gets a generous helping.

(gentle music) These warming spices, treacle, ginger, just what you want at Christmastime.

It's cold outside and this is really warming.

(gentle music) The walls of Harewood are lined with family portraits.

But one face stands out.

By 1929, Princess Mary was Countess of Harewood.

Now a young mother, she took over the running of the great house and a suite of rooms were specially refurbished for her.

(gentle music) Collections assistant Rebecca Burton is showing me Princess Mary's dressing room.

It's beautifully fine.

It's terribly feminine, isn't it, and light?

- Absolutely.

It's a very personalized space as well.

So for example, on the ceiling, you've got the M monograms.

You've also got the Harian crest and also that of her husband's, as well.

And she was a very keen gardener, so you've also got Flora, who was the Roman goddess of flowers, as well, decorating the niche.

So, very well thought out space.

- And little alcoves for her treasures.

- [Rebecca] Absolutely.

And actually, one of those was owls.

- Why owls?

- Having read some of the correspondence between Princess Mary and her husband, Harry, Harry often signs his letters off "From your beloved owl," so I think, actually, that might be where her passion for collecting owls would have come from.

- Another cabinet holds some special Christmas gifts that endeared Princess Mary to the nation.

- So these little boxes are really what Princess Mary is probably most famous for.

So after the outbreak of the first World War, the Royal family really wanted to kind of do their bit to support the war effort.

So Princess Mary, who was aged just 17 at the time, came up with this idea of sending a Christmas present to all the men and women who were serving in King's uniform on Christmas Day in 1914.

- How very thoughtful.

It shows her very sweet nature.

- So, the boxes themselves were actually made of brass and they have a lovely design on the front of them as well.

So you see princess Mary's profile there, surrounded by Laurel leaves, and then the two Ms for Mary, her monogram, either side.

- What was inside these boxes?

- If you were a smoker, you'd receive a box with cigarettes, tobacco, and a pipe.

Nurses, for example, would receive some chocolate and also Indian troops, they may have received a box of spices as well.

So it was really tailored to the individual.

So, every box would have contained a Christmas card and also a photograph of Princess Mary as well.

- Is this all right without gloves?

Well, that is the Crown of Mary at the top and M for Mary.

Imagine the excitement as they opened this.

- [Rebecca] Mm-hmm.

- "From Princess Mary and friends at home.

"With best wishes for a victorious New Year."

And that'll make them think, "yes."

- "Yes, we can do this."

(laughs) - Carefully back there.

And what would have been underneath that?

- So, this particular box actually has a little pencil.

- Mm-hmm.

- So, it's a bullet case pencil, which actually, again, is inscribed with the Princess Mary monogram as well.

So you'd be able to pop it away when you're finished writing.

- Can you imagine how touched they would have been?

It would have boosted their morale.

- Mm-hmm.

- And thoughts of home and they would treasure it, perhaps, to take home to see their children.

- Absolutely.

They were intended as a symbol of home more than anything else, you know.

- I think it's such a lovely idea.

How many boxes were sent out?

- So, in total, across the entirety of the war, there was about two and a half million boxes distributed during that period.

So, phenomenally large scale projects.

- But think of all the lives that were lost then.

Some of those beautiful gold boxes are most likely in France.

- Mm-hmm.

- And you know, under the ground, having been dropped and so forth because so many were lost their lives.

- Very possibly, yeah.

But we do have these remarkable stories of, actually, of the gift boxes actually saving soldiers' lives.

So you can see a picture here with actually a bullet hole in.

So some of the soldiers would keep their box in their top pocket.

And then you'd have, obviously, a soldier would be shot ana actually we've got thank you letters and things to Princess Mary, describing the fact that the boxes saved their lives.

- [Mary] I think it's such a lovely idea.

- [Rebecca] Absolutely.

(gentle music) - [Mary] While Princess Mary earned the affection of the nation with her Christmas gifts to the troops, the gardens at Harewood were also playing their part in the war effort.

Covering an enormous six acres, the old Walled Garden is presented as it would have been in 1918 to mark the centenary of the end of the war.

Maria Mahon is one of the gardeners.

Maria.

- Hello, Mary.

- Gosh, you're busy at work.

- Good to meet you.

- Nice to see you, too.

- Hi, there.

- Gosh, I ought to know what that is.

It's keeping something warm, but I can't tell.

Come on, give me the know-how.

- It's a carrot clump.

It's the old fashioned way, before we had fridges and freezers to store your carrots over the winter.

So in there we've got various circles of carrots with a little bit of sand, more carrots, a little bit of sand, building it up, covering it with straw, and hopefully they should last right through till February, if we need to.

- [Mary] It is immaculate.

(gentle music) Maria and her team have planted the garden with varieties of winter veg that might've been grown here during the first World War.

- So they've been full of staple crops, all your greens, you know, the kales and the cabbages, and some wonderful varieties of beans, to use both fresh and also store for the winter.

During World War I, I didn't realize till we started researching it, just how short of food we were.

And it really got quite desperate in 1917, when there was a harvest failure and all the warships were bombing the merchant ships bringing in food.

'Cause we were 65% dependent on food from overseas.

- During the first World War, the food produced by the Harewood kitchen garden was urgently needed close to home.

Like many country houses, Harewood was pressed into service as a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers.

And with many more mouths to feed, every scrap of land was cultivated.

- Any flowers were done away with, the flowerbeds were done away with, and the war effort was to grow as much food as we could.

And so Harewood did a lot to help feed all the convalescing soldiers in the house.

Over the period of the war, there was 1,269 soldiers convalesced in the hospital.

- That's a number!

- That it was turned into And so they all needed feeding as well as the staff and the nurses.

- And the staff that ran the garden were mainly the Land Army, because all the men had gone to war.

- That's right.

There was over a quarter of a million ladies working on the land during the war.

Half the women-- - [Mary] In Britain.

- Yeah, in Britain, yeah.

And if it wasn't for them, we would have starved.

- [Mary] At this time of year, much of the garden is bare, but it's during winter that many root vegetables are at their finest.

And for my next festive recipe, I have my eye on some sweet Harewood parsnips.

- [Maria] Oh, that's not so good one.

Oh, there's a better one.

- [Mary] Give me all.

I don't want to waste it.

- That looks like it's going for a walk, doesn't it?

There you go.

- Maria, thank you very much.

- You're welcome.

Thank you.

(gentle music) - I really enjoyed meeting Maria.

What a task!

A six acre walled garden.

And there were masses of those parsnips and they were real whoppers and I'm going to use them in a recipe now.

(bright music) These are my parsnip blinis, topped with a Christmassy cranberry sauce and a delicious local Yorkshire blue cheese.

(gentle music) First of all, I've got 125 grams of self raising flour.

(gentle music) And to give a little bit of extra rise, I'm going to add some extra baking powder and just a quarter of a teaspoon.

(gentle music) Half a teaspoon of sugar and a little salt.

Then I'm going to make a well in the middle.

No need to beat the eggs first, just drop them in.

(gentle music) Then slowly add 75 mil of milk and whisk until it's nice and smooth.

That's the batter made.

And time for the parsnip.

Well, you won't get better parsnips than this.

Look at it, a real big one.

I'm going to use just about half of it.

(gentle music) Parsnips are ready to harvest in autumn, but they get sweeter after the winter frost.

Sweet enough that in wartime, they were used in cakes and puddings.

(gentle music) Add the grated parsnip to the batter.

Then give that a stir.

(gentle music) So it looks as though it's lumpy, but it's just pure parsnip.

This should make around 40 to 50 blinis.

Right, I've got a pan on here.

That feels fairly hot.

Take a teaspoon of the batter and make a little circle.

They've got to start to have a little bubble on the top and be set.

They're coming along nicely, ready to turn over.

Then it's time for the topping.

First, peel and finely dice a pear.

I know all about pears because I do one every morning for my husband's breakfast.

And then I'm going to grate some of this Yorkshire blue.

When you see in recipes that you crumble it, have you ever tried crumbling a lovely, beautiful moist blue cheese like this?

Most of it goes up your nails.

I think it's much easier to take a grater and grate it.

(gentle music) Once the blinis are cooled, you can spread on some Christmassy cranberry sauce, then top with pieces of pear, walnuts, and the Yorkshire blue.

Having the cranberry sauce gives all these toppings something to stick to.

Nothing could be more Christmassy than Yorkshire blue cheese.

Lovely, crunchy knots, and cranberries.

I'm quite pleased with those.

(gentle music) Perfect for a Christmas party.

(gentle music) The first Christmas tree recorded at Harewood was in 1850, following the fashion set by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

And for the 168 Christmases since, the staff and family have always gone to town with the decorations.

This year, the theme takes us back to the time of Princess Mary and the fantastical Christmas dreams of her two little boys, George and Gerald.

(gentle music) Their child's eye view of Christmas in the 1920s is being brought to life by designer Simon Costin.

(gentle music) Simon hard at work.

This is spectacular.

What did you have in mind when you started?

- Well, the idea is that the two children, George and Gerald have gone to bed.

It's Christmas Eve.

Wildly overexcited, but their dreams were so intense that they've infected all the rooms.

It's the dream of their mother's wedding dress, of Princess Mary's wedding dress.

- [Mary] The two boys' dream.

- Of the two boys.

But in their minds, it's all become muddled with the Christmas tree.

- [Mary] The boys would have seen a photograph of their mother's wedding at Westminster Abbey.

- [Simon] Yeah.

- [Mary] So they'd sort of have a feel of it and they'd remember that she had a sort of crown or a coronet or pearls or something at the top and a long veil and looking very beautiful and gracious.

- So we've re-imagined that as this sort of slightly deranged Christmas tree wedding dress.

And the original dress did have a very, very long train.

It was a 15 foot long train.

And it was embroidered with every flower from every county in Britain.

- That's a bit, that's enchanting, isn't it?

- [Simon] Yeah, she was lovely.

Do you want to have a go?

- I will.

Now, that train is going to look amazing.

Lots of helpers here.

Have you been working all day on this?

- All day.

- All day.

(Simon laughs) Right.

- So what we're doing is placing all the crystals onto these pieces of embroidery and then embellishing the whole veil and areas that need a little bit of extra zhuzh.

(gentle music) - It's very effective.

And it is magical.

Throughout the house, Simon is decorating eight rooms, each one a different scene from George and Gerald's Christmas Eve dreams.

(gentle music) Many of his ideas are inspired by details from the Chippendale furniture.

- When I was thinking of how to devise the schemes for each room, I was thinking about what would a six and seven year old be looking at?

What would be on their eye-line as they walked through these rooms?

And as you can see, all these little details on the furniture.

You've got little, little Pan's head there.

- [Mary] Oh, Pan's head!

With the-- - [Simon] With the horns.

- [Mary] Horns.

- He was a sort of classic Greek god, half goat, half man.

And Pan was seen to represent our sort of kinship with nature.

And they appear everywhere.

Chippendale used Pan as a motif throughout the house.

So, in the long gallery there's actually going to be a gigantic four and a half meter tall Pan, woven from willow.

And in the children's minds, they've muddled Pan and Santa, so he has a sack of presents over his back and his panpipes and he's running down the main hall.

- I think you've had one or two dreams in your time.

(Simon laughs) But that one, I think, beats the lot.

- Yeah, yeah.

(gentle music) - [Mary] Simon certainly has some big ideas, a giant Greek God is a surprising choice for Christmas.

I'm intrigued.

So I'm going to get a sneak preview.

In a workshop 10 miles from Harewood, willow sculptor, Leilah Vyne, is bringing Simon's fantastical vision to life.

Goodness gracious.

I know I'm in the right place.

Hello, little fellow.

Hello!

Hello, you.

Take me to your mistress.

Come on, come on.

- Hello.

- Leilah.

I don't quite know what to say.

It is massive.

Isn't it?

- It will be quite big.

(laughs) - Well, it's no doubt that it is Pan.

I mean, look at the eyes.

Very clearly defined.

- The eyes are actually a base of a basket.

And the iris is, if you have a look, they're slightly squared.

So it's the start of a basket and then it's just gone out oval.

- And round with the horns.

And of course, the pipe.

And it's stiff when you cut willow.

I mean, how do you bend it?

- When we want to use it, we soak it in water.

So this stuff here, it's nice and bendy and flexible.

It won't snap.

And that's because it's been soaked.

This has been soaked for about 14 days.

Would you like to have a go?

- I'm ready to have a go at most things.

(Leilah laughs) Right.

(bright music) And if I thread it along there... - [Leilah] That'll be fine.

I'll hold that there for you.

- [Mary] Then I follow a line.

- Yeah.

And then, just thread the tip in and through.

You pull it quite taut and then-- - To keep the thin shape.

- Yes.

- [Mary] It's a bit like darning.

- What quite often happens is, when you poke that in, that comes loose, so you end up with baggy bits.

- Oh, we don't want baggy bits, do we?

- No, we don't.

But that was perfect.

Well done.

- And so tell me, what made you start to do this?

- So I started with basketry and then about eight years ago, I started with sculpting and it went from there.

- [Mary] How many more days till it goes?

- Four days.

- Four days and it'll be in situ?

- Yeah.

- I think it'll look wonderful.

And it'll really add to the Christmas dream.

- Yes.

(bright music) - Back at Harewood, there's just a few days to go before the house reopens its doors to the public.

(bright music) The whole team is busy bringing the Christmas dream to life.

(bright music) It's hungry work.

So I have a festive treat for them all.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without mince pies.

But in times gone by, they used meat instead of our usual fruit and spices and apples and so forth.

And so I'm going to do them in the old fashioned way.

(gentle music) These are my savory mince pies, made with succulent Yorkshire lamb from the Harewood Estate, sultanas, and spices, all encased in a buttery rough puff pastry.

First, brown up 400 grams of lean lamb mince (meat sizzling) with two large chopped onions.

Work that in with the lamb.

Sprinkle in 25 grams of flour.

And then cook that over the heat just for a short while.

Add 350 mil of good lamb stock and stir until it thickens a little.

Then you can add the spices.

Now a nutmeg will keep for five or ten years, so it's a very good buy.

Just got to grate it in.

That's it.

And then some mace, and I've got some already ground here.

Just a little like that.

Stir it in.

In these old recipes, they often used to put meat with fruit and so I'm adding about 25 grams of sultanas.

Those will swell and add flavor.

To sharpen up the fruit flavors, add the zest of one small lemon, season, add two teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce and a little Greggy Browning.

And I'm going to let that simmer away on a very low heat for 30 minutes.

(gentle music) Whilst that's happening, you can get on with the rough puff pastry.

Mix together 225 grams of plain flour, 75 grams of chilled, grated butter, and the same of lard.

Blend with one beaten egg and about a hundred mil of cold water.

Kneed it into a smooth dough.

That's pretty normal for pastry so far.

But now for the special bit.

I want the pastry to rise in layers and have lovely, flaky layers.

And this is how I'm going to achieve it.

Take the pastry and roll it out.

So, light movements.

And notice that I'm not pushing all the air out at the end or that end.

I'm keeping the air into the middle.

It makes the best pastry.

I'm going to fold it up like that, a bit like a book, and turn it once.

(gentle music) Repeat this sequence twice more, then pop it into the fridge.

Once both the pastry and the meat are well chilled, we're ready to finish the pies.

Historically, these pies were made in an oblong tin to represent the manger in the nativity.

Roll the pastry out thinly, cut it to shape, and line the pie tins.

Make sure the filling is stone-cold, otherwise it will start to melt the pastry and you won't get those flaky layers.

Push that down inside.

Put the lids on top like that.

In order to get a good seal, I'm putting a rolling pin across the top.

Push that across like that.

Top with a pastry leaf glazed with beaten egg and make a hole in the center to let the steam out.

And they want to be in the oven, a fan oven at 200, that's quite hot, and they will take a time to get really crispy brown, about 45 minutes.

But keep an eye on them on the last 10 minutes.

Once cooked, they should be golden brown all over.

They're a comforting taste of Christmases gone by.

And I know just the people who will enjoy these.

("Deck the Halls") Down in the old still room, the decorating continues.

- Think about your colors.

Like what colors look nice together.

Can't decide, because I really like them just green.

(all laughing) - Local florist Sarah Richardson is showing some of the volunteers how to make traditional Christmas wreaths using evergreens from the garden.

(all chattering) Well, this is where the work is going on!

(all laughing) How amazing is that!

- Lots of beautiful things from the garden, all the different textures that we've added in.

- Aren't they lovely?

So, I have brought you some wonderful lamb pies.

The lamb is from the estate and they're hot, so I hope you're going to enjoy them.

- [Woman] Oh, happiness.

- The volunteers are divided into teams and each team is assigned a day of the week.

These ladies are the Friday gang.

So, how long have you been coming?

- [Volunteer] 12 years.

- And what tempted you to come and help in the house and be a volunteer?

- Well, I used to work for the NHS and other people's problems all my life and I thought, when I retire I'm going to work in a stately home.

- So what do you get from working here as a volunteer?

- You just have to look around, don't you, to see the house, the grounds, the visitors, our friendships.

It's just everything about it.

- I've learnt so much about history and about Yorkshire and about famous Yorkshire people.

And it's just tremendous.

- So do you look forward to Fridays when you come here?

- Absolutely.

Yes.

Yeah.

I think we all do.

- Yes, we've all, it's sacrosanct.

We're absolutely sacrosanct.

- What do you think of the lamb pies?

- [Volunteer] It's amazing.

- [Volunteer] Absolutely beautiful.

- (laughing) It's beautiful.

- I think you should be very proud of these wonderful wreathes, all ready for Christmas at Harewood.

- Thank you.

- [All] Cheers.

- Cheers, yes.

(bright music) While the house and gardens are managed by the Harewood Trust, the Lascelles family still runs the wider estate.

David, the current Earl, is the grandson of Princess Mary.

Today, he's taking me on a tour.

- Good morning, Mary.

Welcome.

- 'Morning.

What a glorious day for a drive!

- It is beautiful, isn't it?

- [Mary] When you were a little boy, was it tremendous to come down here exploring?

- [David] It was a great adventure playground, it was.

It was wonderful.

- Although the countryside here looks natural, much of it was created in the 1770s by the renowned landscape designer Capability Brown.

And so, Capability Brown did everything south of the house?

- [David] The view from the house and the view back up to the house is all Capability Brown.

- [Mary] Isn't that glorious?

- He was the man, the go-to landscape designer at the time.

Where trees were planted emphasized contours so that it was very much to draw the eye across the landscape in a particular way.

- And every tree that he planted would have been tiny and now it's come to fruition.

- Yeah.

- It is magnificent.

- He must've been very charming.

I've always wondered how he would have persuaded people to create this landscape, which they can't have seen the fruits of in their lifetimes.

Incredible eye, incredible vision that he must have had.

(gentle music) - The Harewood Estate covers over four and a half thousand acres and is home to around 500 deer, 200 sheep, and an inquisitive herd of Highland cattle.

(gentle music) You couldn't be much closer than that.

- [David] No way.

- [Mary] Really nosy.

Hello.

(gentle music) They're delightfully wooly and they have those long bits of hair over their eyes.

- [David] Yeah.

- [Mary] Look at the babies, they look very huggable, don't they?

Look at them.

Absolutely adorable.

(gentle music) - Oh!

And there are the deer.

Look at that.

- Now, what age would they be with antlers that size?

- Well, you're supposed to be able to tell by counting the points on the antler.

- [Mary] Now, this one just here... - Yeah, he's quite old.

- [Mary] He's pretty old.

- [David] Quite a fine sight, actually.

- [Mary] Look at them.

- Traditionally, estates like this would have been very self sufficient.

And that's something we're trying to move back towards in a way.

I mean, it's very much the way things are going with food, generally, I think.

People really care now where their food comes from.

- [Mary] For at least 300 years, the meat and game from Harewood has been used to make a local specialty that's become a British classic: The Yorkshire Christmas pie.

In 1858, a Yorkshire pie even graced the Christmas table of Queen Victoria.

(gentle music) Today, Josh Whitehead, a local chef who does cooking demonstrations at Harewood, is going to show me his interpretation of this signature Yorkshire dish.

You must be Josh.

- That's right.

- I've heard a lot about you.

- I've heard a lot about you and all.

- All good things, I hope.

The Yorkshire Christmas pie has been made for centuries.

Tell me about it.

- The original version would have had various different animals in it.

Some recipes say a brace of mallards, a brace of wigeons, a brace of snipes, 10 ducks, five rabbits.

So it was a really extravagant thing.

- I mean, that'd be some pie, wouldn't it?

- It'd usually be put in, one bird inside another, similar to a five-bird roast.

- And looking from here, you've got every sort of meat that I can think of.

- Yes, we've got quite a selection of different meats that we've sourced from the estate.

- Josh's pie has eight, yes, eight different cuts of pork, venison, wild duck, and wild rabbit.

Do go ahead, because I want to watch.

One of the special features of the pie is its decorated pastry case.

Now, that looks like chocolate.

- This is not chocolate.

This is shortcrust pastry, but what we've done is we've burned vegetables to make black powder and that's just being used as a food coloring.

- Well, it's a one-off for me to see black pastry for a start.

- I've just got these cutters for the design.

So we just cut two deers and two houses.

(gentle music) - [Mary] Josh sticks the black pastry to the inside wall of the pie tin using butter, then rolls out the main pastry case, setting aside about a third of it for the lid.

It's a good pastry, isn't it?

It's holding together very well and no cracking.

- The little bit of vinegar in the pastry makes it quite elastic.

Because you've got to do a lot of molding around with the shape, so you want to be able to have it nice and pliable.

- Well, I think I'll leave that to you.

(both laugh) (gentle music) - He pushes the pastry right into the corners to get a sharp edge to the pie.

Well, you've made a fine job of that.

(gentle music) With the pastry case chilling in the fridge, Josh starts on the sumptuous filling.

He mixes in shell pistachios, some dried cranberries...

Very Christmassy!

- Very Christmassy.

- [Mary] And some figs that have been pickled in Harewood gin.

- It's like having a bit of chutney inside the pie.

- Well, we've certainly got a variety of things in here.

- Well, the last thing that needs to go in is the Harewood spice.

That's something that I've come up with.

Two of the ingredients in it is white pepper and cayenne pepper.

But then we've also got different wild ingredients that we've found on the estate.

So there's things like wild mushroom powder, pine needles, and a few other secret spices.

- So only you know what's in it.

It has a mushroomy smell.

- The idea is that that is a taste of the estate.

It gives a flavor of Harewood.

(gentle music) - Then it's time to fill the pie, pressing the meat right into the corners.

You couldn't get much more meat in there, could you?

- We're gonna.

(gentle music) - [Mary] Now to the lid.

Josh has kept back enough pastry to fit over the mound of packed meat.

- So we're gonna crimp it.

So start with one.

Wrap that over my thumb for two.

(gentle music) - So you twist it over and press your thumb.

Then Josh seals the pie with several layers of egg wash. (gentle music) - By doing the triple egg wash, you get a really dark mahogany finish on the pie.

(gentle music) - [Mary] One hour and 45 minutes in the oven and half an hour of cooling does the trick.

- And here we go.

- Gracious, that looks concha color.

It looks so generous.

(gasps) And there are our reindeer.

Isn't that absolutely amazing?

- So there's the reindeer and the Harewood House.

(gentle music) - Josh serves it cold with pickled walnuts.

- It's just full of flavor.

That's a real taste of Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Christmas pie, your version, and it's the best.

- Thank you very much.

(bright music) - The grand Christmas opening is almost upon us and the star of the show is on his way.

(bright music) The four meter high figure of Pan is ready to take his place in the long gallery.

(bright music) But he's not the most unusual resident at Harewood.

(whimsical music) The Humboldt penguins were introduced here in 1989 as part of a bird garden for visitors and I can't resist popping by to say hello.

I'm told they mate for life.

And one Harewood couple has been together for 20 years.

(whimsical music) It's feeding time.

There are some people that are very hungry here.

Bird keeper Peter Stubbs shows me exactly what to do.

Hello.

- Now, this is Otto.

- This is Otto.

- You just hold it halfway down the body like that.

- [Mary] Yeah.

- [Peter] And just, uh-- - You do it first.

And the fish goes down all in one.

Go on, just be brave.

That's it.

What about you?

You going to have some?

You've just dropped it.

(water splashing) (whimsical music) You've all become pretty brave now, 'cause you're hungry, aren't you?

Girls and boys, are you ready?

(water splashes) (whimsical music) I'd love to linger, but there's work to be done.

(bright music) Back at the house, the countdown to the grand opening continues.

And it's all hands on deck, adding the finishing touches to the decorations.

(bright music) But before the doors open to the public, there'll be a special preview for the staff and volunteers who've worked so hard getting it already.

And I want to say my own special thank you with a luxurious treat that harks back to one of our oldest Christmas traditions.

I'm going to make a very special celebration cake.

Twelfth cake.

It was especially served on Twelfth night.

But this time it's for that wonderful team who have been getting the house ready for Christmas.

They've worked all hours and the result is amazing.

(gentle music) This cake has a lot of ingredients, so you'll need a good sized bowl.

(tapping egg) In goes five large eggs, 250 grams each of softened butter, castor sugar, and self raising flour.

And 75 grams of ground almonds.

(mixer whirring) Give it all a good mix.

(gentle music) That's beautifully smooth now.

(tapping whisk) It's stiff because it's got to support the fruit and we don't want all the fruit to go to the bottom of the cake.

We want it to be disbursed all the way through.

Then add 350 grams of dried apricots and 200 grams of pineapple pieces.

Make sure to dry them really well.

(gentle music) Then a hundred grams of chopped almonds and I've kept them fairly course because I want you to come across them as you eat them.

It gives a lovely bit of texture.

Add the finely grated zests of two lemons and 350 grams each of rinsed and dried cherries and then sultanas.

So you can see, it's really heavily fruited.

I'm going to fold that mixture.

(gentle music) Twelfth night was traditionally the last night of the Christmas season.

It was an occasion for feasting and revelry and the centerpiece was a rich, iced fruitcake, The forerunner of our modern Christmas cake.

It's quite heavy, you know, when you get so much fruit in.

But it's going to be well worth it.

Spoon the mixture into a 23 centimeter deep cake tin lined with baking paper.

That's it.

That goes into the oven at 140 fan for about two and a quarter hours.

Keep an eye on it.

It wants to be slightly shrinking away from the sides of the tin and a glorious golden brown on top.

Once it's baked and cooled, it's ready to decorate.

And this is a chance to really push the boat out, because Twelfth cakes were distinguished by their extravagant icing.

(gentle music) Start by coating the cake with warmed apricot jam, which will help the marzipan to stick.

Wrap the marzipan round the rolling pin about that far.

Lift it up and then put it on top and just let it drape down.

(gentle music) Trim off the excess, sprinkle lightly with water, and lay on some gold colored fondant icing.

(gentle music) That's it.

Just like putting a blanket on a bed.

An icing smoother will give it a smart finish.

(gentle music) Now it's the grand finale.

Just the decoration, the part that I really love.

Brush with edible gold dust for a truly luxurious touch.

I've got here some edible lace.

There it is.

And I'm going to just brush it with water, because that's what you have to do.

Then gently put it in place.

Press it into the cake.

That's it, and it's sticking quite firmly.

Twelfth cakes were decorated with crowns because traditionally on Twelfth Night, masters and household staff would swap roles and a servant could become king for the evening.

So we have the crown, three silver balls, and then a star with a gold ball.

And continue all the way around the cake.

(gentle music) I've decorated the cake with little icing crowns, but there's one more crown to go.

I've got a stunning one here.

The crowning glory.

All ready for the party.

(bright music) The house is finally ready for the grand Christmas opening and the staff and volunteers are the very first to see the finished decorations.

The Christmas Eve dreams of two little boys have taken over the entire house.

- Look at the trees.

- Yeah!

- [Mary] A towering Christmas tree is bedecked with Princess Mary's wedding dress.

- [Man] That's incredible.

- The dining table is laden with a sumptuous feast of cakes.

Although you wouldn't want to eat them.

They're made out of polystyrene.

Such enormous, beautiful cake.

Aren't they just amazing?

They are huge, aren't they?

Well, the house would have been very full.

They would have had quite a lot of Christmas cakes, I think.

- Do you put Jammie Dodgers on your cakes?

- Not usually.

(all laughing) But I'm all in for a bit of cheating.

- Wow.

Oh, look at the big ones!

- [Mary] Meanwhile, the kitchen is overrun with 500 gingerbread men and some very proud bakers.

- In a group like at front, right?

- Oh, yes, that's like the dad.

- The little gingerbread men are escaping.

- [Man] Oh, they're escaping.

They're hiding inside the pots, right?

- The smell!

- I can smell it.

- Doesn't it hit you?

- I can smell it.

(all laugh) - But you can imagine George and Gerald down here.

- Absolutely, yes.

- Yeah.

- Pinching them, eating them.

- With the food.

(bright music) - [Mary] And then the grandest room of all, the long gallery.

Oh!

(man laughing) With the giant willow figure of Pan.

(bright music) It's a very true form, with the horns and the pipe.

It just is going to be breathtaking when people walk through.

- I think it is.

- [Mary] Running a house like Harewood takes a huge team effort.

Staff, volunteers, friends, and family have all come together for this very special celebration.

And I hope they enjoy my contribution, my festive parsnip blinis.

- [Man] Ooh!

- Now, here you have a wonderful blini.

- [Man] Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

- Lovely.

- Well, cranberries always make me think of Christmas.

- Yes.

(guests chattering) And of course, Twelfth cake, an indulgent reminder of Christmases past.

- This here?

- [Server] This is.

- This is it.

(bright music) (guests chattering) - That is lovely.

- Oh, wow.

- [Mary] It's another chapter in the history of a very special house.

A time for everyone to come together in the true spirit of Christmas.

("We Wish You a Merry Christmas") ♪ We wish you a merry Christmas ♪ ♪ We wish you a merry Christmas ♪ ♪ We wish you a merry Christmas ♪ ♪ And a happy new year ♪ ♪ Good tidings we bring to you and your kin ♪ ♪ We wish you a merry Christmas ♪ ♪ And a happy new year ♪ (glasses clink) (all cheering) (bright music)