Posts Tagged ‘biscuits’
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Crafty Cheap Christmas Sweets
Generally, if you want to give a present that appeals to all ages, sexes and races and don’t have a budget of thousands of pounds, it has to conform to at least one of the holy trinity of gift ideals - impressiveness, cuteness or deliciousness. Case to point - in my previous post I told you all how to make a sockmonkey- a present that hits both the ‘aaah’ cute factor and - unless you are some stitching wizzkid - a certain amount of surprised adulation from your family that you actually made something other than a sandwich with your own fair hands.
In this post I am going to show you how to make three different types of edible Christmas treats, that when parcelled together with a bit of decoration can make a gift that is both impressive and yummy. Observe! My ginger biscuit, peppermint cream and chocolate truffle Christmas tree! (for want of a snappier name)
What do you need to make this sweetie stack?
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Posh afternoon tea for two for £10 [Part 2]
My home-made afternoon tea went down a treat – have a look at the results:
Admittedly I came in just over budget at £11.94, but think I did an OK good job with making my own scones and sandwiches. Remember, I’m not the best of cooks, so this was something of a challenge for me. I also have a very tiny kitchen and not a huge range of baking utensils, but I made–do with a few substitutes. For instance, I don’t own any scone cutters, so I used a glass tumbler to cut out the rounds of dough instead. And I also don’t have a pastry brush, so I ‘brushed’ milk on the tops of the scones with my (very clean!) finger tips! Thankfully the scone recipe was super-easy and they came out quite well – and it was lovely eating them warm and straight out of the oven.
Scones before …
… and looking v. golden and gorgeous, after!I picked some flowers out of the garden for my ‘centrepiece’ and dug out all my vintage china to set the table. I got a new cake stand for my birthday, which looked very pretty piled with scones and retro English biscuits. I ended up going for Jammy Dodgers, Party Rings and Fondant Fancies. My friend brought along her own art-deco cup, saucer and plate, and I think we achieved that mis-matched vintage look we were going for.
Despite going over budget, it was a big success and we had a lovely afternoon. Watch the video below and see me making a huge mess in the kitchen. I’m not called the Swedish Chef (from the Muppets) for no reason…
TOTAL SPENT: £11.94
COST OF AFTERNOON TEA FOR TWO AT LONDON’S DORCHESTER HOTEL: £75.36 (not including the discretionary service charge we usually pay)
SAVINGS: £63.42PROS:
• Could relax with friend at home.
• Lovely warm scones straight out of the oven.CONS:
• The shopping, cooking and cleaning-up afterwards.
• Not exactly Dorchester-standard food.
Posted in Food
