How to Make: Festive Biscuit Christmas Wreath

If you have a little spare time around Christmas, and like to give gifts that have the personal touch- or decorate your home your own way, give these super cute, super simple edible wreaths a go...

Simply make a biscuit mix (I've included a Nigella Christmas biscuit recipe below, but the possibilities are endless- I would definitely keep them seasonal though; even if you just add a little mixed spice, or use a ginger bread recipe.) and chill for half an hour or so before using.

Roll out, and using a cutter, stamp out the biscuit shapes. I used stars, but you could use a reindeer, holly, hearts... Be creative! I do like the pattern created by using a star, and it makes it nice and easy to decorate.

All you have to do is arrange the biscuits on a baking tray, overlapping very slightly- remember the biscuits will spread- though you will want it sturdy enough to hold together as these biscuits can be infuriatingly fragile. For this reason I recommend making plenty, as some as likely to break. I made lots of dough and froze any extra I had for another day- or to quickly whip up for any unexpected guests!

Bake the biscuits on a low heat. I tend to ignore the time given by recipes and almost always stick to under ten minutes. Remember to consider the thickness you cut them to. They really do take no time at all. The dough should be slightly golden and look cooked, but still be soft. They will harden once they have cooled! I like my biscuits to have a slightly chewy, soft centre.

Whilst the biscuits are still cool, use a skewer to pierce a hole (gently!) into the top of each biscuit, so thread can be run through it. Now your biscuit becomes a decoration, and can be hung on doors or trees, or even attached to presents!

Your wreaths will be all ready to decorate now. Leave them to cool completely, then mix up some royal icing with icing sugar, lemon juice and egg white. Using a piping bag and a small nozzle, pipe onto the biscuits. Use the spares to experiment- I like dotty biscuits, using the royal icing to adhere silver edible balls. They look so festive! I also experimented with edible glitter. The sparkliness looked really beautiful reflected against the baubles when I hung it on my Christmas tree.
There are plenty of design possibilities, play around and try them out!

Recipe
I used a Nigella Lawson recipe- I recommend adding slightly more Cinnamon, just to give it a bit more of a Christmas-y taste.

• 100 g unsalted butter softened
• 100 grams soft dark sugar
• 300 grams plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• Pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 to 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 4 tablespoons clear honey

Place the butter and sugar in a clean bowl and mix together vigorously with a wooden spoon until the color and texture of the mixture becomes pale. Place the mixture into the bowl of a food processor and add the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and freshly ground black pepper. Blend the mixture. While the food processor is blending, gradually pour the eggs and honey down the funnel of the food processor's lid into the bowl until a dough has formed (you may not require all of the liquid if the dough has come together before it is used up). If the dough is too dry add a little water to the mixture. If the dough is too wet add a little flour.

Why not try...

* Using a large star cutter, and piping people's names onto each biscuit. Thread a ribbon through the biscuit, and use to attach to gifts, or as place settings on the Christmas table.

* Wrapping in cellophane gift bags and tying with a silver or blue ribbon to present as a beautiful hand made gift

* Using different coloured icing to match the lights on your tree, or the decorations in your home.

xxx

Winter Warmers: Goan Tomato and lentil Soup

Goan Tomato and Lentil Soup

This soup recipe is something I created based on one I saw in the supermarket. I liked the sound of it, but always one to make from scratch over buying in, the flavours inspired me to go home and create it myself. The mix of lentil and tomato makes it not only super healthy (A much needed boost of immunity in these winter months!) but also gives it a really lovely, thick texture. It looks like a standard winter soup, but the spices give it an more fragrant and unusual flavour than your standard winter vegetable soup.

10 or so cherry/plum tomatoes
1 tin chopped tomato

4 carrots
2 cups red lentils
2 medium onions

cumin seeds
1/2 fresh chopped chilli

Ground coriander

Ground cumin

Ground turmeric
Garlic bulb
A thumb sized piece of ginger

Black pepper
Goan potato curry spices (see recipe)

Start by soaking the lentils for ten minutes, in a few changes of water. Put in a pan and boil for twenty minutes of half an hour, until soft.
Heat a large pan and when it is warm add the cumin seeds. Gently heat until they begin to pop and jump about. Add a drizzle of oil and a small knob of butter (to prevent browning) and tip in the chopped onion. Once they are soft, add the garlic and all the spices, stirring so they create a sticky coating over the onions. Add a small amount of chopped fresh chilli and the ginger, grated- You can also use ginger powder.

At this point I should mention I also added some nameless spices in my cupboard, brought back from Goa, Ghana, etc. I believe the ones I used were for a potato curry- the scent was quite sweet. If you also have intrepid relatives, feel free to experiment at this point. If you don't, I would recommend heading to an Indian or African supermarket and seeing what spices you can find.

After five minutes, tip in the chopped carrot and pour in a cup of water, bringing to the boil. Place in the cherry tomatoes, whole. Reduce to a simmer, cover and leave for twenty minutes. At this point, add the tin of chopped tomatoes and the cooked lentils. Grind in the pepper. On the lowest heat, leave the soup to simmer for another fifteen minutes or so, then season with a little salt and a lot more cumin (according to taste!), puree, leaving thick chunks, and serve.

xxx

South Indian Crab Curry

Helena has arrived in Europe, and we followed a traditional reunion trip to Foxcroft with a reunion home cooked meal for the weary traveller. The unanimous choice with my co-host was South Indian Crab Curry, a dish that I had tried a few months back and had intermittently dreamt of since.

Fairly typical in East Asian cooking, I hadn't really experienced crab in Indian cooking before. (Not that I claim to be an officionado!)

Crab meat in a curry. Who'd-a thought it?

Everyone I mention this recipe to seemed a bit quizzical, but whilst white crab meat is fairly delicate, the brown crab meat is more, well... meaty- and substantial. Together, it has a really interesting thick consistency, and with the mass of spices, ends up a beautiful dish with really beautiful texture and depth of flavour.

As I mentioned, this is the second time I've cooked it, and it actually tasted better than I had remembered. Don't be daunted by the long list of ingredients (I often am!) as most of them are standard store cupboard spices. I find that curries are one dish whereby a long list of ingredients can hint at a really good finished product.

I've done the ingredients here for roughly 2-3 people.

1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 green cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 large clove of garlic
1 onion
1-2 red chillis, deseeded and finely sliced
1 tsp turmeric
butter
125g brown crab meat
200ml coconut milk
juice of a lemon
250g white crab meat
A generous bunch of fresh coriander

Roughly, (it's a curry, how much precision do you really need..?) you start by frying the chilli, ginger, garlic and onion in the spices. When they're sticky and softened, add the brown crab meat with some butter and cook for a minute. Then add the coconut milk and about half a glass or so of water.
Leave to simmer for a while so the flavours infuse then add the lemon juice and simmer til its the consistency of double cream.

At the end, stir in the white crab meat and half the coriander. Season and serve on a bed of white rice, then top with the rest of the coriander.

Totally lovely!

x