Showing posts with label Happy Cupcake Company. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happy Cupcake Company. Show all posts

Sunday, 23 December 2012

The Perfect Gift : Sugary Christmas Biscuits and Snowflake Decoration!

Mum was being sneaky with the camera..
Moi, in my element.

And so, little sugar lumps, for my second act tonight I bring to you a gift idea! My first, actually. And I'm so proud of these little beauties. :D
As a close group of people, my friends and I absolutely love Christmas! We buy gifts, bake cake and generally have a really good time! Anything to make school less of a drag. :)
But as we've got older, buying a gift for every single person in the group became difficult and money became pretty tight for a lot of us... *sigh*.
So this year, we decided to bite the bullet and try secret Santa. Buying only one gift?! It seemed ridiculous!
But actually, it worked so well! And my secret Santa (who actually turned out to be my good friend Sophie) got me the most beautiful bracelets, nail varnish and chocolate! She knows me so well. :)
In fact, this Secret Santa was such a success that I found the time to bake for everyone instead!
Using a really great biscuit recipe from The Primrose Bakery book, my new snowflake icing plunger from The Happy Cupcake Company, some Thorntons chocolates, lots of cellophane and metres of gold ribbon I managed to make gifts for everyone! Reeeeeeeeeesult!
Not being the most creative person ever, I was sooooooooo unbelievably proud of these and I hope it's not too late to inspire some of you lot either! :D

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..


The Result!

Makes approx. 30 biscuits depending on size of cutter.

Ingredients
85g unsalted butter
100g golden caster sugar
1 large egg
200g plain flour, sifted, plus more for rolling
1/2tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/Gas mark 4. Line 1 or 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl.
Add the egg and mix well.
Gradually add the flour, salt, baking powder and mix.
Flour a work surface, roll the dough to a thickness of 5mm.
Cut out biscuits in your desired shape and place them well spaced out on your baking tray(s).
 Bake for 10-12 mins or until they turn a light golden brown.
N.B. Remember to keep a really close eye on the time, these cook really quickly and actually do continue to cook once out of the oven!
Leave to cool on a wired rack.
Decorate as desired! If you can, these plungers are a must have baking purchase!
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Sunday, 2 December 2012

The Holidays are Coming...







Well hello there my sugary snowflakes! How are we all on this cold winters eve? Tucked up in the corner of a sofa somewhere? Sipping on a cup of tea or hot chocolate? Munching on bourbons  (I know, they're my weakness too) and even if you're not... Just take a second out of your lives to imagine it. It'll get you feeling Christmasified in no time! :D
Because it's that time of year again! Yesterday was the first of December and I have to say, even as I get older, the ritual of opening the first window in my advent calendar is always so exciting, for me, it starts a season of food, family and friends. What's not to love?
In my opinion, it's the traditions that make Christmas. Those outings and funny little habits that your family do every single year. The reasons forgotten. But the sentiment still there.
And speaking of outings, I just thought I'd share with all of you lovelies what I've been up to in order to kick-start the festive season!
For those of you who don't know Somerset particularly well, Bath is an absolutely beautiful city built on the site of original Roman Baths and all year round it really is a sight to behold. A Rome away from Rome really... (see what I did there? I know. It's not my best. Sorry about that... Oh dear. I'm coming over all embarrassed... excuse me.)
ANYWAY, every year, they hold a Christmas Market. Y'know, the whole wooden hut, fairy lights job, and every year, we miss it. I don't even know why, we live so close, we just never get round to going.
But this year was different and with a lovely cooked breakfast filling our tummies, we donned our cosiest scarves, dragged the Grandparents into the car and head off to the market.
I have to say, it was amazing!!
I hope the pictures will let you know how much.
I even treated myself to some new little baking equipment, a lovely little Christmas tree cookie cutter and a cute little plunger in the shape of a snowflake from the The Happy Cupcake Company stall, check out their site it's amazing!
Good day all round me thinks! Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the early Christmas cheer! :D
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