Homemade Gift Ideas

Christmas Biscuits

Ingredients

• 100g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
• 275g plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• To decorate
• 400g icing sugar
• 3-4 tbsp water
• 2-3 drops food colourings
• Edible glitter

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale, light and fluffy.
   
   Watch technique0:50 mins
3. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract, a little at a time, until well combined.
4. Stir in the flour until the mixture comes together as a dough.
5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 1cm/½in.
6. Using biscuit cutters or a glass, cut biscuits out of the dough and carefully place onto the baking tray. To make into Christmas tree decorations, carefully make a hole in the top of the biscuit using a straw.
7. Bake the biscuits for 8-10 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Set aside to harden for 5 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.
8. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and stir in enough water to create a smooth mixture. Stir in the food colouring.
9. Carefully spread the icing onto the biscuits using a knife and sprinkle over the glitter. Set aside until the icing hardens.

Homemade Chocolate Truffles

A personal speciality! (Also, oreo truffles - email me for the recipe)

 

 

Ingredients

• 250ml whipping cream
• 225g dark chocolate
• 55g unsalted butter, cut into cubes and left to soften
• unsweetened cocoa powder, to dust
 

Preparation method

1. Chop the chocolate roughly. Then pulse in the food processor until it's the consistency of breadcrumbs.
2. Boil the cream. Turn on the food processor again and pour the cream very slowly onto the chocolate. It is a bit like making mayonnaise and you should soon have a perfectly smooth emulsion. If the mixture does split, process for a couple more minutes and it usually does the trick. Add the butter, bit by bit and beat until it has been incorporated. Pour the mixture into a bowl or tray and leave to cool for about 15 minutes in the fridge. When it has set to the consistency of butter icing, it is ready to be piped or spooned into truffle sized bits.
3. If piping, put mixture into a piping bag, and pipe blobs of mixture about the size of a cherry onto a tray covered with greaseproof paper, or cling film. Cool for at least two hours, then finish by rolling in cocoa powder, coconut or chopped toasted nuts.

 

Cranberry studded mince meat

 

Ingredients

• 75g soft dark brown sugar
• 60ml ruby port
• 300g cranberries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• 75g currants
• 75g raisins
• 30g/1oz dried cranberries
• 1 clementine, zest and juice only
• 25ml brandy
• few drops almond extract
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp honey

Preparation method

1. In a large pan, dissolve the sugar in the ruby port over a gentle heat.
2. Add the cranberries and stir.
3. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves, currants, raisins, dried cranberries and the zest and juice of the clementine 
   
   Watch technique1:02 mins
4. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until the fruit has broken down and has absorbed most of the liquid in the pan. (You may need to squish the cranberries a little with the back of a wooden spoon to incorporate them fully.)
5. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
6. Add the brandy, almond extract, vanilla extract and honey and stir well with a wooden spoon to mash the mixture down into a paste.
7. Spoon the mincemeat into sterilised jars and, once cool, store in the fridge for up to two weeks.