Marsden - Christmas on a Plate

In the same series: Emma Marsden

HEART ON A PLATE

These quick and easy festive recipes will fill your home with Christmas sparkle

Make your own edible gifts - from Red Robin Lollypops to Snowball Truffles

Create simple party canaps and snacks

Bake Snowflake Cupcakes for a Christmas tea

Whip up home-made hot chocolate with a touch of spice

Everything you need for a delicious and decorative festive season!

Emma Marsden is a food writer and stylist who studied at Leiths School of Food & Wine. She was Cookery Editor at Good Housekeeping magazine and has written a number of books including Heart on a Plate, Fortnum & Masons Afternoon Tea and Honey & Preserves, Weight Watchers The Smart Cook and Sainsburys Kitchen Know-How. She contributes regularly to Harrods magazine and has worked on a number of advertising and packaging campaigns for companies including Lakeland, British Eggs, Kikkoman, Linda McCartney and Tropicana.

These simple biscuits are seasoned with a heady mix of rich spices. Hang them at the window to let the winter light flood through the middle.

MAKES ABOUT 12

a little oil, for greasing

110g unsalted butter, softened

40g golden caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

1 tbsp golden syrup

200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

tsp ground ginger

tsp mixed spice

tsp ground cloves

a pinch of salt

1 bag of coloured boiled sweets

edible glue

You will need

a set of Christmas-shaped biscuit cutters

Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Oil a baking sheet well.

Beat together the butter, sugar and golden syrup until smooth. Sift over the flour, bicarbonate of soda and all the spices with the salt. Mix well again until all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the butter mixture. At this stage you may need to bring the mixture together with your hands. Knead lightly to make a smooth dough. Shape into a disc then wrap in cling film and chill for 15 minutes.

Roll out half the dough between two sheets of cling film until 3mm thick. Stamp out the shapes using the biscuit cutters, rerolling the dough as necessary. Cut out holes from the middle, leaving at least a 1.5cm border. Transfer to the baking sheet, then push a skewer into the top to make a hole. Do the same with the remaining dough.

Bash each sweet, still in its wrapper, using a pestle and mortar, until its finely crushed. Sprinkle one crushed sweet inside each hole and bake for 1520 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

If you want to decorate the biscuits, brush a little edible glue all over each one and sprinkle with caster sugar. Allow to set before hanging.

Stained Glass Biscuits with a Touch of Spice

Twisting two different-coloured biscuit doughs together and shaping one end gently into a hook creates these pretty biscuits. If you want to get ahead theyll keep in an airtight container for up to a week.

MAKES 6

For the vanilla dough

30g butter, at room temperature

30g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

60g plain flour

For the red dough

tsp red food paste, such as claret

tsp vanilla extract

30g butter, at room temperature

30g caster sugar

60g plain flour

To finish

1 medium egg white

golden caster sugar, for sprinkling

Make the vanilla dough by beating the butter, sugar and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Slowly add the flour, continuing to beat to incorporate it all. Bring the mixture together with your hands to make a dough, adding a drizzle of water if necessary, then wrap in cling film and chill for 15 minutes.

To make the red biscuit dough, stir together the red food paste and vanilla extract in a bowl. Add the butter and sugar and beat together to make a paste, add the flour and mix, then knead as before. Wrap and chill for 15 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Divide each piece of dough into 6 pieces. Roll a plain piece of dough gently with your hands to make a 16cm length. Do the same with a red piece. Twist each piece around the other, then roll very carefully again to shape the dough like a rope. Shape into a candy cane with a crook at one end, then trim the top and bottom to neaten the edges. Put on the baking sheet, then brush with egg white and sprinkle with the caster sugar. Do the same with the rest of the dough to make 6 candy canes. Chill for 10 minutes.

Bake in the oven for 1215 minutes until golden, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Candy Cane Biscuits

A stunning sweet finale to Christmas lunch instead of the traditional pudding. The shortbread thins, made with pistachio and lemon, are sandwiched together with cranberry and rum ice cream and finished with a light dusting of icing sugar.

SERVES 6

For the ice cream

2 tbsp rum

50g dried cranberries or sour cherries

300ml full-fat Greek-style yogurt

100g golden caster sugar

For the pistachio thins

125g plain flour

25g pistachio nuts, plus 1 tbsp, finely chopped

75g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

zest of 1 lemon

40g caster sugar

1 medium egg yolk, beaten

icing sugar, for dusting

You will need

a set of different-sized star cutters

Put the rum into a small bowl and add the dried fruit. Set aside to macerate. Put the yogurt and sugar into a freezeproof container and whisk together. Freeze for 12 hours, until firm. Give it a good stir to break up the crystals, then stir the rum and dried fruit mixture into it and continue to freeze for around 3 hours, until hard.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Put the flour into a food processor with the nuts and whiz until the nuts are finely chopped. Add the butter, lemon zest and caster sugar, then pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add the egg yolk and whiz again, then tip into a bowl and knead lightly to bring the mixture together. Shape into a disc, then wrap in cling film and chill for 15 minutes.

Roll the mixture between two sheets of baking parchment until its about 3mm thick. Stamp out 6 stars using a 9.5cm cutter, 6 stars using a 7cm cutter, 6 stars using a 5cm cutter and 6 stars using a 3.5cm cutter, rerolling the dough as necessary.

Put the top piece of baking parchment on to a baking sheet and put the stars on top. Bake for 810 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.