Merry 'almost' Christmas one and all!
This is quite possibly one of the most exciting posts we have ever written! JUST LOOK HOW FESTIVE IT IS!
Christmas is 100% the most wonderful time of the year, and one thing that makes it so wonderful is the food. It's the time for delicious treats and bakes, and so we decided the best thing to do is to bake all of our favourites and put them all into one big festive box! Of course we would! We absolutely love the way this box turned out - just looking at these pictures make us SO happy! And we hope it makes you happy too! We love how exciting it looks all packaged up in red, and it's just gorgeous (if we say so ourselves)!
In the box we have: Ginger Creams, Brownies, Candy Cane Kisses, Sticky Toffee Cookies, Gingerbread Snowflakes and Peppermint Creams.
All of the recipes in this box are so so simple and easy to make, you just need to set aside the time to make it all. If you don't have the time to make all six, then these festive treats will be just as delicious made individually, so take your pick!
We think this would make an amazing Christmas present or a great addition to any party. It certainly gets people talking - that or leaves them completely speechless!
If you're looking for a spicy bake that simply tastes of Christmas then the ginger creams or gingerbread snowflakes are the ones you
A Christmas bakes box is not complete without a candy cane and the taste of peppermint so we absolutely love these gorgeous candy cane kisses. This meringue recipe is super easy and honestly the best meringue we've ever made. They have a delicious peppermint flavour which goes perfectly with the crispy and chewy meringue.
Peppermint creams are a bit of a throwback for us as we used to make them when we were younger. Because what child doesn't want to eat chocolate dipped icing? Well, it turns out that these sweet treats are just as good as an adult and are completely irresistible with a drizzle of dark chocolate.
As we said before, we wanted to keep these bakes simple. This brownie is a simple recipe topped with green and red sprinkles for a festive feel. They are fudgey and moist (sorry) on the inside and no-one can resist the rich and decadent chocolate flavour.
Last but certainly not least are our sticky toffee cookies. We made these cookies just a few weeks ago, but they definitely deserve a place in this box. Again, they are incredibly easy to make but are absolutely divine, topped with a sticky toffee sauce and filled with chunks of creamy fudge!! They are the cookie version of the ultimate winter dessert that leaves you feeling cosy and festive.
So now it's your turn, choose one or choose them all, just make sure you save this post somewhere because we can guarantee you won't be able to resist these divine recipes for too long! Make sure to leave us a comment below with your favourite from the box.
Brownies
Ingredients:
200g butter
300g dark chocolate
300g caster sugar
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
160g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
60g dark chocolate
sprinkles
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC and line a baking tin with greaseproof paper (ideally 20x30cm).
2. Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water making sure the bowl does not touch the water.
3. Once melted, remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the sugar, then add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk until light and bubbly.
4. Carefully fold in the flour and cocoa powder.
5. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and bake for 20-25 minutes. Set aside to cool completely in the tin.
6. Once cool, turn out the brownie and cut into squares. Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl and drizzle onto the brownies using a piping bag or spoon. Decorate with festive coloured sprinkles.
Ginger Creams
Find our original recipe post here
(makes 6)
If you want more it's just double all the ingredients. However we would recommend adding a little less bicarbonate of soda (1.5tsp for double ingredients).
For the Biscuits...
Find our original recipe post here
(makes 6)
If you want more it's just double all the ingredients. However we would recommend adding a little less bicarbonate of soda (1.5tsp for double ingredients).
For the Biscuits...
120g self-raising flour
1½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
40g light brown muscovado sugar
50g cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
small pinch salt
40g golden syrup
For the Buttercream Filling...
1oz butter
2oz icing sugar
A squeeze of both lemon juice and lime juice
1.Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas mark 4 and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
2. Place all the ingredients apart from the golden syrup into a large bowl. Rub the ingredients together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add in the golden syrup along with 1tsp of cold water and mix together until the dough starts to form. Bring the dough together using your hands to form a smooth dough.
4. Divide the dough into 12 even balls (you can easily make more by making slightly smaller biscuits but remember to keep the numbers even!)
5. Place the balls onto the trays, leaving a little room for them to spread, and squash them down slightly. Bake for 10 minutes until golden and cracked, set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
6. While the biscuits are cooling make the buttercream filling, start by beating the butter until light and fluffy. Add in a squeeze of lemon juice and beat again to combine. Gradually add in the icing sugar a spoonful at a time until fully combined and smooth. If your buttercream is too runny add in some extra icing sugar until you are happy with the consistency.
7. Put the buttercream into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe a swirl onto 6 of the biscuits. Then place another biscuit on top of the buttercream and push together gently to secure. Keep the biscuits in a cool place so the buttercream doesn't get too hot and squeeze out of the sides when you try to eat them!
2. Place all the ingredients apart from the golden syrup into a large bowl. Rub the ingredients together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add in the golden syrup along with 1tsp of cold water and mix together until the dough starts to form. Bring the dough together using your hands to form a smooth dough.
4. Divide the dough into 12 even balls (you can easily make more by making slightly smaller biscuits but remember to keep the numbers even!)
5. Place the balls onto the trays, leaving a little room for them to spread, and squash them down slightly. Bake for 10 minutes until golden and cracked, set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
6. While the biscuits are cooling make the buttercream filling, start by beating the butter until light and fluffy. Add in a squeeze of lemon juice and beat again to combine. Gradually add in the icing sugar a spoonful at a time until fully combined and smooth. If your buttercream is too runny add in some extra icing sugar until you are happy with the consistency.
7. Put the buttercream into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe a swirl onto 6 of the biscuits. Then place another biscuit on top of the buttercream and push together gently to secure. Keep the biscuits in a cool place so the buttercream doesn't get too hot and squeeze out of the sides when you try to eat them!
Candy Cane Kisses
Recipe based on Meringue Girls
Ingredients:
150g caster sugar
75g egg whites (approx. 2 eggs)
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 candy canes, crushed
red food colouring
1.Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC and line several baking trays with greaseproof paper
2.Line a small baking tray with greaseproof paper and pour in the caster sugar. Heat this in the oven for 7 minutes
3.Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk the egg whites - start slowly to create small stabilising bubbles and then increase the speed until the egg whites form stiff peaks.
4.Take the sugar out of the oven and decrease the temperature to 100ºC. With the mixer speed on high, slowly add the hot sugar into the egg whites one spoonful at a time. Make sure the mixture comes back to stiff peaks after each addition. Once the all of the sugar is incorporated, add the peppermint extract and continue to whisk on high speed until you have a smooth, stiff and glossy mixture - this should be at least 5 minutes. Feel a bit of the mixture between your fingers and if you can still feel the gritty sugar then keep whisking at a high speed until it has all dissolved.
5.To create the red stripes, fit a piping bag with a star nozzle and then paint lines of food colouring on the inside of the bag. Spoon the mixture into the piping bag and pipe out your kisses, keeping the bag straight and directly above the baking tray. Squeeze the kisses from around a 2cm height and pull up to form the point. Sprinkle with crushed the candy cane.
6.Bake for around 45 minutes, until the meringue bases come off the greaseproof paper clean. Leave the meringues in the oven to cool for as long as possible, ideally overnight.
Peppermint Creams
Ingredients:
750g ready to roll icing
1 tsp peppermint extract
green food colouring
60g dark chocolate
1.Take the icing and work in your hands until soft and pliable.
2.Create a well in the centre and add the peppermint extract and food colouring. Knead this in your hands until the colour and flavour is fully blended.
3.Lightly dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out the icing to around 1cm thick. Using a small cookie cutter, cut out the stars and place them onto greaseproof paper.
4.Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave, and pour into a piping bag. Cut a small hole in the piping bag and use to drizzle over the stars. Alternatively you can use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate or even dip them into the chocolate.
5.Allow to set for a few hours or until you just can't resist any longer.
2.Create a well in the centre and add the peppermint extract and food colouring. Knead this in your hands until the colour and flavour is fully blended.
3.Lightly dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out the icing to around 1cm thick. Using a small cookie cutter, cut out the stars and place them onto greaseproof paper.
4.Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave, and pour into a piping bag. Cut a small hole in the piping bag and use to drizzle over the stars. Alternatively you can use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate or even dip them into the chocolate.
5.Allow to set for a few hours or until you just can't resist any longer.
Gingerbread Snowflakes
Find our original 'Gingerbread Wreath' recipe post here
Ingredients:
For the gingerbread...
150g unsalted butter, softened
150g dark muscovado sugar
2 eggs
3 tbsp golden syrup
400g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
For the royal icing...
8oz icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 egg white
1.Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC Fan/Gas Mark 6, and line several baking trays with greaseproof paper.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and golden syrup, and then add in the flour, baking powder and spices and mix well to bring the dough together.
3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to around 3-4mm thick. Cut out the stars using cookie cutters and arrange onto the lined baking trays, and place into the oven for around 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. To make the royal icing, start by whisking the egg white until frothy but not firm, and then add in the lemon juice. Then, one spoonful at a time, sieve and fold in the icing sugar. Once all the icing sugar has been added, give it a quick beat to make sure there are no bubbles and then transfer to a piping bag.
6. Carefully pipe the snowflake patterns onto your gingerbread shapes. We also added some glitter and little edible pearls to add a little Christmas sparkle.
Ingredients:
(makes 12)
For the cookies...
200g butter
325 self-raising flour
1 egg
200g light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 tbsp dark treacle
fudge pieces -
we used vanilla fudge & 2 Cadburys fudge bars
For the sticky toffee sauce...
1 tbsp dark treacle
75g butter
150g light brown sugar
100ml double cream
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas mark 6 and line two/three trays with greaseproof paper.
2.Cream together the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy, then add in the egg and beat until combined. Gradually add in the flour, mixing with each addition to form a smooth dough. Then add the dark treacle and mix to combine. Chop the fudge into small bite size pieces and add these to the dough leaving a few for the top.
3.Divide the dough into balls and arrange onto the lined trays, making sure to leave enough room for the cookies to spread as they bake in the oven. Add the extra fudge pieces on top of each of the cookies.
4.Place into your pre-heated oven and bake for 12 minutes until just golden. Set aside to cool on the trays. (Do not try to take them off the trays until they have cooled.)
5.To make the sauce; melt the butter, muscovado sugar and treacle in a saucepan over a very low heat. Once the butter has melted, stir the sauce gently until everything else has melted too. Then, stir in the cream and turn up the heat. Once the sauce is bubbling and hot, take it off the heat and leave to cool and thicken before using.
6.When the sauce is thick enough, drizzle over the cookies using a piping bag or spoon. Sprinkles are optional but definitely add a festive sparkle.
We really hope you loved this post! Make sure to tag us if you make any of the recipes, ESPECIALLY if you give the whole box a go!
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See you soon, lots of love and festive greeting,
Antonia and Imogen x
