Christmas Shortbread Stars

Can you see the corner of the cardboard I used as a reflector? It didn't help much though. It was such an overcast day, I couldn't get rid of the shadows, so these photos are quite dark.

My kitchen is a flurry of action this week. I am busy baking cookies for the tradespeople who come to do work on our house. It would probably be easier to buy ready made cookies, but where's the spirit of Christmas giving in that??

Besides, how could I deny Miss Pantry the chance to "help" Mummy in the kitchen? She loves to pour ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix it all up with the whisk. It's a bit messy, but there's no time like the present to start including her in the kitchen. Being able to cook is an important life skill (in my opinion), and one that I want my children to have.

I've posted a shortbread recipe previously. This recipe is similar, except there's no egg. But I'll be honest, the dough is fiddly. At first I thought I'd never get the crumbly pieces to come together. But persistence, or rather sheer pig-headedness in my case does pay off. Just keep kneading, and the warmth of your hands help it stick.

Fiddly dough aside, these are the best homemade shortbread I have ever tasted. It is buttery as expected, but the crumbs are extremely fine, and the texture so light and delicate, it is almost powdery. Even Mr Pantry declared that "these are much better than the other shortbread and so easy to eat".

Eat them as they are, dust some icing sugar over the top, sandwich with jam, dip in chocolate, sprinkles, nuts, or whatever else floats your boat, but make sure you make them today!

And be warned. These are so yummy, it is hard to stop at one!

Recipe from Western Star.

Happy baking and Merry Christmas!

Teeth-Sticking-Plate-a-Licking Chocolate Caramel Slice

Such beautiful layers, don't you think? Who says brown coloured food is ugly?

Ah, dear readers. The things I do for you. In order to make my chocolate slice look presentable for photos, I trimmed off all the crusty edges. So that you can see the beautiful jaw sticking layers inside. And of course, one must not waste food, so I had to eat those off cuts. But I did it with you in mind. Really.

 Even the off cuts are beautiful.

This slice is sweeeeeet. Perfect for sharing with people you love durng Christmas. So make it! Believe me, everyone will love you that little bit more after tasting it.

As Miss Pantry would say, "All gone"!

Recipe from Donna Hay Modern Classics Book 2 and here.

Happy baking!

Smoked Ham and Cheddar Quiche

Miss Pantry's childcare was having their annual Christmas party for the children, and I volunteered to bring a quiche.

My lovely quiche, in all its goldeny glory.

The most time consuming part was making the pastry, my obsessive compulsiveness did not do well here. Trying to get the pastry the same thickness throughout and making sure I got a nice fluted edge was time consuming, not to mention complete insanity because I was just going to pour the filling over the top anyway!

Look! I spy a fluted edge!

Next time I might just buy some ready rolled shortcrust pastry to save time and spare my poor brain cells from self-combustion.

Parsley from my garden.

But don't let me put you off making the pastry for this scrumptious open-faced pie. Normally, I find kneading and rolling pastry quite therapeutic, but because I was making this for other people, I wanted to make a good impression (pun intended). The rest of the quiche was so easily assembled, a monkey could do it. Or your typical OCD Asian housewife like myself.


Recipe from Donna Hay Modern Classics Book 1.

Basic shortcrust pastry ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 145g butter
• 2-3 tablespoons iced water

Method:

1. Put flour and butter in food processor and whiz until mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
2. While motor is running, add enough iced water to form a smooth dough.
3. Knead lightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. When ready to use, roll on floured surface to 3 mm thick and line your quiche dish/tart dish. 

Quiche ingredients:

• 350g shortcrust pastry, above
• filling ingredients from here

Method:

1. Preheat oven 180 degrees C. Roll pastry as above.
2. Blind bake pastry shell (baking paper over shell, add weights, bake 10 minutes, then remove weights and bake another 5 minutes) and set aside to cool.
3. Reduce oven to 160 degrees C.
4. Sprinkle pastry shell with ham, cheese and parsley. Whisk together eggs, cream, mustard, salt and pepper.
5. Pour over filling and bake 40 minutes or until set.

Happy cooking!