December 2020 Entries

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!”... What a fabulous experience! I am proud to say that I was a Linzer Cookie virgin, but I loved the experience so much these will now become part of my repertoire - and not just for Christmas!! My dough contains almond meal as opposed to hazelnuts simply as I wanted to try them then and there and had no hazelnuts to hand. Next time I venture down this path I will make sure I do it with hazelnuts as I think these may be even more delectable. I used a strawberry jam for this bake but also have some homemade lemon curd which I will use to sandwich some of these delicious morsels that are waiting unfilled! And since it is the season of all things festive instead of the traditional circular cookies - I moved to more of a Christmas theme with trees and bells - both of which I think suit being drenched in layers of icing sugar and looking like they’re covered in snow! Not that we get white Christmases where I come from! The biggest challenge baking biscuits such as these in December in New Zealand, is the heat - I had to keep popping the dough back into the fridge for fear it may melt all over the bench! That and my Briard dog Flossy who is tall enough to reach the benchtop and loves a bit of “bench surfing”, hoovering up an morsels left unattended!