Handmade, vintage and bespoke has always been a passion of mine and after being made redundant this year I was forced to get creative and make my own when it came to gifts, specifically Christmas gifts!
Raiding the fridge, the sewing kit and the jewellery box have proved not only money saving, but fun too!
I was never the type to just give one gift to someone – so I hit upon the idea of a little care package for my nearest and dearest.
This way I could batch make all my gifts and save some time!
At Christmas time people like to eat, drink and be merry – so I decided to make some christmas cookies, some flavoured vodka, and a suitably themed mixtape which I don't need to tell anyone how to make!
SPICED CHRISTMAS COOKIES
225 grams softened unsalted butter (you can use salted, but leave out the tsp of salt if you do)
180 g icing sugar
420g plain flour
1 egg (whisked in a small bowl)
2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
It's a little messier because of the icing sugar(most cookie recipes use caster) but it won't spread very much(which means it will keep its shape) and it's got a lovely texture!
In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter together then add the wet ingredients (egg and flavouring) until combined.
In another bowl – mix all the dry ingredients together then mix them in with the wet ingredients a wee bit at a time until everything is combined.
The dough should be dry to the touch(kind of like playdough). The first time I made them it wouldn't combine all the dry ingredients – so I added a half teaspoon of water at a time until it all binded together.
Leave it to rest for 10-15 minutes – use this time to clean up your worktops so you can roll out the dough!
I made the mistake of chilling the dough for a couple of hours the first time I made it. It ended up getting really greasy when I rolled it out and the cookies lost their shape completely. This dough is pretty much ready to go when you make it!
Cut your greaseproof paper to the size of your cookie sheet or baking tray – I like to cut a couple so I can lay them all out and bake one batch after the other. Every baker has their own way of doing things!
I used Christmas Tree and Star cutters for my cookies – it's always worth heading down to your local pound shop or supermarket as they always have seasonal baking equipment for super cheap – and once you have them, you can use them over and over.
Roll your dough to about a half centimetre thick and cut as many cookies as you want or need.
Bake for no more than 10 minutes at 180 degrees.
Makes about 24 medium sized cookies!
If you want to use these as tree decorations, while your cookies are still warm cut a small circular hole near the top of your cookie and then let them cool.
I didn't decorate mine, but you can decorate them with royal icing!
I use the royal icing recipe from Sweetopia – it's foolproof and really easy to make.
Divide your icing by the amount of colours you want to use, and then set aside some icing to outline your cookie – and thin out the rest using a little bit of water at a time to get the required consistency.
Fill a piping bag with the thicker icing, and using a nozzle with a small rounded tip (I use a Wilton #2) – outline your cookie. Do this by squeezing the icing out so you are almost dropping the icing onto the cookie.
Once this has dried, use your thinner icing to 'flood' the cookie. Fill another piping bag with the icing, and using the same size nozzle, fill the area but not too much or you will overflow. I like to fill it with a gap between the thinner icing and the outline, then gently tap or shake the cookie so the icing fills up the blank area.
If you want to put dragees(sugar balls) or hundreds and thousands on to embellish it, wait 10-20 minutes so that they don't sink into the royal icing.
Let the cookies dry for at least four hours. If you are giving them away as gifts I recommend letting them sit until the same time the next day.
You can package them in sellophane bags, or in a tissue paper filled tin. You can also turn them into cookie pops by sticking a lolly stick into the bottom while they are still warm!
SPICED VODKA
Years ago I was introduced to flavoured vodka by an old flatmate of mine from Sweden.
It's really REALLY easy to make and the only real expense is buying a decent vodka. It does take some time though – so make sure you have at least 2 weeks before Christmas to make it!
You can use spices, or fruit – or even sweets to make a really inexpensive and thoughtful gift.
I decided to make pear and cinnamon vodkas as these were in my kitchen at the time. However there are lots of flavour combinations out there you can experiment with – it's just a matter of looking in your kitchen cupboards!
You will need:
1 litre of vodka per batch(preferably smirnoff or something similar. Cheap vodka overpowers the flavouring.)
4 Pears for the fruit vodka
10 cinnamon sticks for the cinnamon vodka
Glass Jars/bottles
For the Pear Vodka:
Skin and core the pears – making sure there are no seeds or seed husks.
Divided the chopped pears between your jars/bottles(I used 5 regular sized jam jars) and fill to the top with vodka.
Seal with the lid, and leave to infuse for a week in a dark place(back of a cupboard works well). Stir once every couple of days.
For the Cinnamon Vodka:
Stick 2 – 4 cinnamon sticks in a jar/bottle.
Fill to the top with vodka and leave in the back of a cupboard for 2 weeks.
You can either present them in the jars with ribbon and labels, or get some small bottles from Lakeland or Ebay.
BY JULIE
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