Macadamia And Ginger Shortbread

As much as I love a piece of Christmas cake or a mince pie at Christmas time, sometimes it's nice to have something a little bit lighter. Just a little morsel of something sweet and delcious. My mother in law makes great shortbread biscuits and rum balls every year, so I really can't compete with her on the biscuit stakes. The solution is to make flavoured shortbread, which is completely different, but oh so good.

This macadamia and glace ginger version I came across three or four years ago and have been making it ever since. It is delicious! A beautiful combination of buttery shortbread, nutty toasted macadamia nuts and sweet, but bitey glace ginger. Perfect to enjoy with a cup of tea or to give away as a homemade gift.

This shortbread is nice and short and can tend to be a bit crumbly. Make sure you don't overcook it, otherwise it can be really hard to cut into pieces without falling apart. Making it into one large 'biscuit' makes it very quick to make. If you have a mixer, it really only takes a few minutes to combine all the ingredients.

If you don't normally like glace ginger, I'd suggest that you try this recipe and see if it changes your mind. Being finely chopped it just adds a beautiful flavour without being overwhelming. If you really can't stand it, maybe use dried cranberries instead for a festive look.

Macadamia And Ginger Shortbread

100g macadamia nuts

250g butter, softened

1/2 cup caster sugar plus extra to sprinkle

2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup cornflour

100g glace ginger, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 140 degrees.

Spread macadamia nuts on a baking tray and toast for 8 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Coarsely chop nuts and set aside.

Use a mixer or hand beater to cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.

Add flour and gently mix to combine.

Stir through nuts and ginger.

Tip dough onto a large piece of baking paper on a baking tray and shape into a large rectangle, about 1cm thick.

Score dough into fingers and then prick with a fork and sprinkle with a little extra caster sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes or until pale golden.

Remove from the oven and cool completely on tray before cutting into fingers at markings.

Wrap in cellophane with red and green ribbons to give as a gift, or store in an airtight container for a week or so (if it lasts that long!)

Enjoy!

Golden Spiced Christmas Biscuits

This year I've tried to add some Christmas baking into the kids Advent calendars, so that they're not having chocolate every day. Weekends really are the only time we have for baking, so biscuits were in order this weekend.

As much as I love gingerbread, sometimes they can be a bit strong for the kids. These spiced biscuits have a beautiful treacle flavour from the golden syrup and brown sugar and a nice mild spice from the cinnamon and mixed spice. My husband even proclaimed that they were the best Christmas biscuits I've ever made! Smiles all around.

I think these biscuits are perfect just as they are, but if you do like a more gingery flavour, add 1/2 tsp ground ginger to the mix too.

Decorate with icing pens if you have them, or icing in a piping bag with a very fine tip. You could use  sprinkles or silver cachous if you liked too.

Enjoy them with a cup of tea or coffee when you want something sweet, but not too rich and fancy.

Golden Spiced Christmas Biscuits

1 cup plain flour + extra for dusting

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp mixed spice

75g butter, cubed

1/4 cup golden syrup

Icing pens for decorating

Preheat oven to 160 degrees and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, spices and butter. Whiz until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Tip into a bowl and add golden syrup. Using your hands, mix until a soft dough forms.

Tip out onto a lightly floured bench and knead for a minute or so until the dough is smooth.

Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick.

Cut out your desired shapes and place onto trays with a little bit of room for spreading.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden.

Remove from the oven and cool on trays before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

When cold, decorate as desired with icing.

Enjoy!

Christmas Berry Cheesecake

I love a no-bake cheesecake and this one is based on my Mum's recipe, which came from who knows where originally. I don't think I ever had a baked cheesecake growing up and now still prefer the fresh, creamy version straight from the fridge.

This is the easiest cheesecake recipe I've ever come across. No need for gelatine, whipping cream or anything difficult. Just throw everything into the mixer and its done. Mind you, it's not the healthiest either, but it tastes damn good! Don't be tempted to use light cream cheese or skim condensed milk as I have done in the past. The cheesecake just won't set. Fine if you want to serve it in small glasses or ramekins, but not so good if you want a cake that doesn't turn into a puddle!

I've modified the original recipe, as you do, to make it a bit more Christmassy. I hope you enjoy it too. Using some of the raspberry white chocolate Tim Tams in the crumb makes the crust a bit more fancy and a gorgeous pink colour. Leave them out if you can't find them. Just make up the weight with regular sweet biscuits. Ginger nuts are great too.

I don't like a very thick biscuit base on my cheese cake, so this makes only a thin crust. If you prefer to have a thicker crust, or want the biscuits to come up the side of the tin too, then double or even triple this part of the recipe. If you want a really thick cheesecake layer, double that part of the recipe too. I always think thinner is better, especially at this time of year when there are so many treats on offer and you just want a small piece of deliciousness!

So that the end result doesn't end up too messy, don't put the berries on the top until you're just about to serve. If you are using frozen berries, you'll end up with a bit of juice which you can drizzle over the top too. This looks really pretty and gives an extra tartness. If you can get your hands on fresh berries, then go for it.

Christmas Berry Cheesecake

90g packet of Zumbo Raspberry White Chocolate Tim Tams
100g plain sweet biscuits
100g butter, melted

250g cream cheese, softened
1 can of condensed milk
80ml lemon juice (or to taste)
1 cup mixed berries (I used defrosted frozen raspberries, blueberries and fresh pomegranate jewels)

Line a 24cm springform cake tin with baking paper.
Place Tim Tams and sweet biscuits in a food processor and whiz until they look like sand. If you don't have a food processor, place them in a bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

Tip the crumbs into a bowl and stir in melted butter. Mix until well combined.
Press the crumb mixture into the base of the tin, making sure there are no holes and the crust goes right to the edges.
Place in the fridge to harden.

For the filling, place the cream cheese into a mixer with a paddle and beat until softened and smooth.
Add half the tin of condensed milk and continue to beat until smooth.
Add the remaining condensed milk and lemon juice and beat again until combined.
Pour the filling over the base and smooth the top.

Place in the fridge over night to set.

To serve, carefully unlatch the springform tin and peel off the lining paper.
Remove the crust from the base of the tin using a spatula or 2 cake servers.
Place on serving plate and mound the berries and any juices over the top.

Enjoy!