Shortbread
Christmas Cake
Chocolate Truffles
There are very few recipes which are as easy to make as this shortbread. Pricking the pans was always my job, and I used to use a clean onion holder (you know the things with about 15 skewers poking out of them) because it was much quicker and neater than a fork. The first time I made the whole recipe myself, I was about 12. I had to follow the recipe carefully then, but now I’ve got it memorised, as I make it every Christmas. If you cut this shortbread into neat squares while it’s warm, it makes a great Christmas present – we give away about 6 tins of it each year. The tins that the Danish cookies come in are ideal, but you can put it into anything.
INGREDIENTS:
SMALL NON-METRIC QUANTITY
2 cups flour
3 heaped tablespoons cornflour
3 heaped tablespoons castor sugar
½ lb. butter
Pinch salt
FOUR 6 X 7" ROUNDS or TWO SLICE TINS
4 and 2/3 cups flour
7 heaped tablespoons cornflour
7 heaped tablespoons castor sugar
500 g butter
½ teaspoon salt
METHOD
Mix all the dry ingredients. (Heather usually sifts them but I never bother – if you open new packet of flour and cornflour to make the first batch, then the powder is very light and fine already.)
Melt butter and add. Work in with fingers. Press into greased and floured tins (flouring is not essential as long as they’re well greased), prick all over with a fork, and bake in a 300° F. oven for approximately three quarters of an hour.
When golden and cooked, remove from oven and sprinkle with castor sugar. Cut into pieces in tin while still warm. Leave in tin until cold.
Small quantity makes two eight-inch rounds.
We don’t often make this Christmas cake, as we’re never organised in time. Maybe this year will be an exception. This recipe makes a lovely moist cake that keeps well, but if you don’t have time to mature it you can just make a simple boiled fruit cake only using fancier fruit. A few years ago, Heather filled a large airtight glass jar with assorted dried fruit, and filled it with brandy, port, and tokay/muscat (the ends of assorted bottles.) Just opening the bottle releases enough alcoholic fumes to make you tipsy, but the fruit makes a fantastic cake!
INGREDIENTS:
4 oz. butter
4 oz. yellow sugar
1 dessertspoon treacle or syrup
3 eggs
6 oz. flour (1½ cups)
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon salt
4 oz. sultanas
4 oz. seedless raisins
8 oz. currants
2 oz. glace cherries
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 oz. ground almonds (optional)
2 tablespoons brandy
METHOD
Wash and drain all the fruit thoroughly.
Cream butter and sugar and treacle. Add beaten eggs.
Sift together flour, salt, bicarbonate and spices, and add to creamed mixture. Add almonds, then finally the fruit.
Mixture should fall off spoon, but slowly. If too stiff a little more egg should be added.
Line tin with paper and put in mixture. Bake at 275° F. for about two to three hours. While still warm sprinkle about two tablespoons brandy over the top. Cover with a clean teatowel until it’s cold, then put the cake into an airtight cake tin lined with several layers of paper or plastic. Keep for several weeks, adding more brandy as desired (not too much – remember, the alcohol’s not going to evaporate from a cold cake.) Serve in very small pieces. NOTE: If you make a boiled fruit cake instead, you can give it the same treatment and it will be delicious.
Want something incredibly simple to make, but still delicious, to nibble on? If you follow this recipe, and make sure that the biscuits are crushed finely, no one will ever guess that the whole thing took less than 30 minutes to put together from scratch. The end result tastes so good that last year I won first prize at the Lilydale Show.
INGREDIENTS:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
½ lb. crushed sweet biscuits (usually 1 packet)
1 cup coconut
2 tablespoons cocoa (add a bit more if you like them extra chocolaty, but you might need to add a little liquid to make up for the dryness.)
Extra coconut for rolling
Optional – 2 tablespoons Rum or Brandy OR 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence (if you’re non-alcoholic.) A couple of teaspoons of Crème de Cacao extract makes them magnificent if you can get hold of it – we’ve got a large bottle that’s been in our cupboard for more than 20 years, and it’s still perfect.
METHOD
Crush the packet of biscuits finely using a food processor or biscuit grinder (if you haven’t got these technological luxuries you can use a plastic bag and a rolling pin but it’s a lot more work.) Stir in the coconut and cocoa. Add the condensed milk and other liquid to the bowl and mix well. Roll into balls the size of a walnut and roll in some of the extra coconut.
Chill the finished balls in the fridge until you need them.
