I never ever know what to get for the children's schoolteachers at Christmastime, so this year I have opted to make them something instead. Also, because buying wine/chocolates for 6+ people is an expense I simply cannot afford this year.
I decided I would make them a 'hamper' of sorts, containing lots of yummy Christmas goodies for them to share in the staff room in this final week before the break. My husband suggested adding pots of hot chocolate, tea and coffee too. I thought it would be nice to have something that everyone can share, including all of the teaching assistants, cleaners and admin staff, and I am sure there is only so much wine a teacher can drink... (or maybe not, knowing kids... haha)
I have made Nigella's trusty Christmas Rocky Road recipe, swapping the amaretti biscuits for regular shortbread. I will also be making some Gingerbread men, and some Christmas spiced star biscuits but for now here is a picture of my creation plus the recipe. All hail Nigella! (I sneaked a little off-cut, it tastes fabulous)
This recipe appears in Nigella Lawson's book Feast, published by Chatto & Windus.
Ingredients
250g/9oz dark chocolate, chopped
150g/5oz milk chocolate, chopped
175g/6oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
4 tbsp golden syrup
200g/7oz amaretti biscuits
150g/5oz shelled Brazil nuts
150g/5oz red glacé cherries
125g/4oz mini marshmallows
1 tbsp icing sugar
edible glitter, to decorate (optional)
Preparation method
Place the dark and milk chocolate pieces into a heavy-based pan. Add the butter and golden syrup and cook over a low heat to melt and combine.
Place the amaretti biscuits into a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin to make crumbs of various sizes.
Place the Brazil nuts into another freezer bag and bash in the same way.
Take the pan of melted chocolate mixture off the heat and add the crushed biscuits and nuts.
Add the glacé cherries and mini marshmallows. Fold the mixture carefully to coat all of the solid ingredients with the syrupy chocolate mixture.
Pour the mixture into a 25cm/10in x 30cm/12in greased and lined baking tray and smooth the surface as much as possible (although it will look bumpy).
Refrigerate for two hours, or until firm enough to cut. Dust with icing sugar, then sprinkle with edible glitter if you wish.
Remove the block of rocky road from the tray and cut into 24 rectangles.
oOo
I also made some Christmas Spice Biscuits, the recipe originally came from Parentdish but I found it on the
Frugal Family blog. I cut mine in to little star shapes. Here is the recipe:
Christmas Spice Biscuits
250g plain flour
125g butter
125g brown sugar
1 small beaten egg
3 teaspoons mixed spice
pinch of salt
Pre heat your oven to 190′C / 375 F / Gas mark 5
Beat the butter and sugar and then add the beaten egg to the mixture bit by bit.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix them all together until you can get your hands in and make it into a ball of dough.
Roll out the dough until it is about 1/2 cm thick, then cut out your biscuits.
Place each biscuit onto a greased baking tray and cook for about 15 minutes. You can tell they’re done as they’ll go a lovely golden brown.
You can use a straw to make a hole at the top of each biscuit before cooking them so that you can hang them from the Christmas tree if you want to
oOo
And last but not least, I made some Gingerbread men. I have wrapped it all up ready for the morning now and completely forgot to take a picture of the gingies and the stars before I did so, but you can find my
easy peasy Gingerbread recipe in a previous entry on my blog if you want to give it a go yourself.
