Take the biscuit and turn it into fabulous Christmas tree decorations
Get into the festive spirit and bake beautiful and tasty biscuits that also could be used as unique decoration of your home this Christmas.
CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES
For the biscuits:
125g unsalted butter
100g dark soft brown sugar
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp black treacle
250g plain flour
100g self-raising flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp mixed spice
Finely grated zest of 1 orange or lemon (optional)
Basic royal icing (for piping and flooding cookies):
2 extra large egg whites
430g icing sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
Coloured royal icing (for piped decoration):
3 extra large egg whites
675g icing sugar
3 tsp lemon juice
Green, red and teal food colouring (ideally gel) or colours of your choice
Decorative tree toppers:
30g each green, red and teal rolled sugarpaste
You will also need:
1-2 baking trays lined with baking parchment
A tree-shape cookie cutter
4 piping bags with fine, round nozzles
A round-bladedknife
A paintbrush
Small, shaped cutters
MAKES: 12
PREPARATION: 30 MINUTES, PLUS 30 MINUTES CHILLING AND TIME TO COOL COMPLETELY
COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES
For the biscuits, melt the butter, sugar, water, syrup and treacle in a heavy-based saucepan on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
Sift the flours, bicarb and spices into a large bowl. Add the zest, if using.
Make a well in the middle, pour in the melted mixture and stir gently so any lumps are smoothed out and a soft dough is formed.
Roll the dough to a thickness of about 2-3mm and cut out as many cookies as you can. Transfer them to a lined baking tray and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Bake for 8-12 minutes in a preheated oven, 200?C/400?F/Gas Mark 6, until golden.
Let the biscuits cool for a while on the tray before transferring them to a wire rack. Leave until completely cool.
For basic royal icing, mix all the ingredients together until smooth. Put a third of the mixture into an icing bag and pipe round the edges of each cookie to create a frame.
Add a teaspoon of water at a time to the remaining icing mixture until it resembles emulsion paint.
Then, with the knife, cover each biscuit with icing.
Pop any air bubbles with a cocktail stick or toothpick and if necessary smooth out any unevenness in the icing with a damp paintbrush.
For coloured icing, mix together egg whites, icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
Transfer to 3 small bowls and stir in a little coloured gel. Use to decorate the biscuits.
Cut out small shapes from the sugarpaste and attach to the top of each biscuit tree.
CHRISTMAS STARS
1 quantity gingerbread cookie dough (see Christmas Tree Cookies)
1 quantity of basic royal icing (see Christmas Tree Cookies)
Yellow food colouring gel
Edible gold glitter
Silver sugar stars
Edible silver balls
You will also need:
Star cookie cutters in assorted sizes
2 piping bags fitted with small, round nozzles
MAKES: 10-12
PREPARATION: 25 MINUTES, PLUS 30 MINUTES CHILLING, TIME TO COOL COMPLETELY AND 15 MINUTES TO SET
COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES
Make 10-12 star-shaped biscuits from the dough, bake (as before) and allow to cool completely.
Prepare the royal icing (as before) and transfer about 3 tablespoons of it to a small bowl.
Tint with a drop of colouring gel. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe round the edges of each cookie. Leave for 10 minutes.
Add a teaspoon of water at a time to the remaining icing until it resembles emulsion paint.
Using the knife, cover each cookie with the icing, pop air bubbles and smooth out any unevenness (as before).
Allow to dry for 5 minutes then scatter edible glitter and sugar stars over each biscuit. Pipe dots of icing onto the points and top with the edible silver balls. Leave to dry.
ICED SNOWFLAKES
1 quantity cookie dough (as before)
Icing sugar, for dusting
250g ready-to-roll white sugarpaste
2 tbsp apricot jam
4 tbsp royal icing (as before)
Edible silver balls
You will also need:
Snowflake cookie cutters
Piping bag and small nozzle
Tiny star-shaped embossing tools
MAKES: 10-12
PREPARATION: 25 MINUTES, PLUS 30 MINUTES CHILLING AND TIME TO COOL COMPLETELY
COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES
Make 10-12 snowflake-shaped cookies from the dough, bake (as before) and allow to cool.
Dust a work surface with icing sugar, roll the sugarpaste to a thickness of about 2mm, then cut out snowflake shapes.
Warm the jam gently in a saucepan and brush lightly over each biscuit. Carefully put an icing snowflake on top of each and press into place.
With the icing in a piping bag, trace delicate lines across the biscuit snowflakes and decorate with the embossing tools. Stick on the silver balls with blobs of icing.
Allow to set, then tie a ribbon to each cookie.
Extracts taken from Christmas cupcakes & cookies, published by Ryland Peters & Small, priced £9.99. To order your copy with free UK delivery, cLL THE EXPRESS BOOKSHOP ON 0871 471 3469 or visit www.expressbookshop.com. To order by post, send a cheque, made payable to the Express Bookshop, along with your contact details, to, The Express, orders Dept, I Broadland Busieness Park, Norwich NR7 0WF.