sugar & spice cookies

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 30g (1oz) unsalted butter
• 60g (2oz) light muscovado sugar
• 250g (8oz) self-raising flour
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus 2-4 tbsp juice
• 60g (2oz) ground almonds
• 1 large egg

To decorate:

• 50g (5oz) icing sugar, sieved
• Silver balls
• Parchment paper and baking sheets
• 5cm (2in) biscuit cutters
• Small plain piping nozzle
• Paper piping bag

Method

1. Put the honey, butter and sugar into a small pan and stir over a low heat until the butter is melted.
2. Sieve the flour, ginger and cinnamon into a bowl. Add the lemon zest and ground almonds.
3. Pour the egg, melted mixture and lemon juice into the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together.
4. Knead the mixture on a lightly floured surface for a couple of mins, then wrap in cling film and pop in the freezer for 30 mins to firm up.
5. Set the oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180°C. Roll out the dough to a 5mm (¼in) thickness, on a parchment-lined surface, and stamp out the biscuit shapes. You should be able to get about 20. Push the tip of a tiny plain piping nozzle near the top edge of each biscuit, and lift out to make a hole.
6. Put the biscuits on to parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 mins until pale golden. Cool on a wire rack.
7. To decorate: Mix the icing sugar with 4 tsp hot water, to make a smooth icing. Spoon into a paper piping bag with the nozzle. Pipe icing on the biscuits and decorate with silver balls. Leave to set

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star shaped christmas tree

Ingredients

• 500g (1lb) plain flour
• 300g (10oz) unsalted butter
• 150g (5oz) caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• 2tbsp milk
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• Icing sugar, for dusting

For decoration:

• 125g (4oz) royal icing sugar
• 6 x star cookie cutters in various sizes, from 4.5cm to 13.5cm (1¾-5½in)

You'll also need:

• Baking sheets, lined with non-stick liners or baking parchment

Method

1. Set the oven to 180°C or gas mark 4.
2. Tip the flour into the bowl of a food processor, add the butter, sugar and salt, and whizz until the mixture forms fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract, and whizz the mixture until the ingredients bind together into a dough. Or rub the butter into the flour, add the other ingredients and work them until they bind together.
3. Roll the dough out to about 5mm (¼in) and, for each tree, cut out two of each size of cutter, re-rolling dough as necessary. So, for two trees, cut out four of each size. Place cookies on the lined baking sheets and bake the cookies in the centre of the oven for 12-15 mins, or until they're a light golden colour.
4. Remove cookies from oven and transfer to wire racks to cool. Dust cold cookies with icing sugar.
5. To decorate the cookies, mix water into the royal icing sugar to give a spreadable consistency. To save making your own, ready-made royal icing can be used to stick the cookies together. Spread a little royal icing onto each cookie to stack them up. Stack two of each size, alternating the points, and sticking the top star on vertically. Leave a while for the royal icing to set before placing the cookie trees on plates and wrapping them in cellophane. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week (not suitable for freezing).

Easy Christmas jellies recipe

 

Ingredients:

• 8 small glasses or plastic cups
• 1 packet of raspberry jelly
• 1 packet of passionfruit jelly
• 1 packet of lime jelly
• Fresh berries or Christmas lollies to decorate

Method:

Prepare red jelly and pour 1/4 cup into each cup, refrigerate until set (will take about 4-6 hours).
Prepare yellow jelly, allow to cool and pour 1/4 cup gently on top of red jelly, return to fridge until set.
Prepare green jelly, allow to cool and pour 1/4 cup gently on top of yellow jelly, return to fridge until set. Just before serving, decorate with berries or lollies.

Caramel Crunch Toffee Apples

Toffee apples rolled in crunchy caramelised biscuit pieces, then drizzled with chocolate. Impress friends at your Halloween party or on Bonfire Night with this yummy and unique treat.

Ingredients

Serves: 6

• 6 dessert apples
• 6 wooden sticks
• 400g dairy toffees, unwrapped
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (250g) packet Lotus Caramelised Biscuits, roughly crushed
• 125g milk chocolate, chopped
• 125g white chocolate, chopped

Preparation method

Prep: 25 mins |Cook: 10 mins | Extra time: 10 mins

1.	Insert wooden sticks 3/4 of the way into the stem end of each apple. Place apples on a baking tray covered with lightly greased aluminium foil.
2.	Combine toffee and water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring often, until toffee melts and is smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Dip each apple into the toffee and gently run apples around insides of saucepan to scrape off some of the toffee. Scrape excess toffee from the apple bottoms using the side of the saucepan.
3.	Spread the crushed biscuits out on a dinner plate. Roll toffee apples in the biscuits and place on the aluminium foil. Place the milk chocolate and white chocolate into separate microwave-safe bowls. Heat in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Drizzle milk chocolate over the apples, then drizzle the white chocolate over the milk chocolate. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Creamy Curry Pumpkin Soup

 Ingredients

Serves: 8

• 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
• 30g butter
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• 825g pumpkin puree
• 375ml single cream
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation method

Prep: 5 mins |Cook: 15 mins

1.	Preheat oven to 190 C / Gas 5. Arrange pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking tray. Toast in preheated oven for about 10 minutes or until seeds begin to brown.
2.	Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in flour and curry powder until smooth. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble. Gradually whisk in stock and cook until thickened. Stir in pumpkin and single cream. Season with soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring just to the boil, then remove from heat. Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds. www.allrecipes.co.uk

Pumpkin Loaf Cake

Ingredients

200g (7 oz) plain flour

1 1/4 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

255g (9 oz) pureed pumpkin

200g (7 oz) dark brown soft sugar

110ml (4 fl oz) buttermilk

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter, softened

Method:=

1.

Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4.

2.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl.

3.

Mix in the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and butter until well blended. Pour into a 23x12cm (9x5 in) loaf tin and smooth the top.

4.

bake for 1 hour in preheated oven, or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Halloween Cupcakes

Ingredients

250g plain flour

200g sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

250ml vegetable oil

7 tablespoons honey or golden syrup

325g grated carrots

1 recipe cream cheese icing

orange food colouring paste

green food colouring paste

1 tube black writing icing

Method:-

1.

Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4.

2.

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, beat eggs, oil and syrup. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in carrots. Fill a greased or paper-lined muffin tin 2/3 full.

3.

bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from tin to wire rack.

4.

Meanwhile, make the icing according to recipe. Take 2/3 of the icing and ice the cooled cakes. Divide the remaining icing, colouring 1/3 green and 2/3 orange.

5.

Using a icing bag or a plastic bag with the corner cut off, pipe the orange icing onto the iced cupcakes, making a round pumpkin shape. Doing the same with the green icing, make a little stem and leaf at the top of each pumpkin. Draw faces onto the pumpkins with the black writing icing.