Hanna's Shortbread

 

500g butter

½ tsp vanilla

½ cup icing sugar

1 cup brown sugar

5 cups plain flour

castor sugar

Lemon rind and juice of ½ lemon (optional)

1. Cream butter and vanilla. Add sugars (and lemon rind/juice if using) and mix well.
2. Mix in flour a little at a time, beating very well between each addition. Dough is done when it pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl and feels slightly dry (rather than sticky) to the touch. This may take slightly less or more than the 5 cups of flour.
3. Knead dough lightly and press out ½ inch thick onto a baking tray, and score the dough into fingers – this is the easiest way. Sprinkle with castor sugar.
4. An alternative is to roll the dough to about ½ inch thickness and cut into shapes with biscuit cutters (stars, hearts, etc.). Place biscuit shapes on a baking tray lined with baking paper (optional). Sprinkle with castor sugar.
5. Bake for 20 minutes at 150C, or until light brown. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with more castor sugar.
6. If you have used my easy method of pressing into a tray and cutting fingers, immediately re-score the cuts on the tray to make sure the fingers will break cleanly when you separate them.
7. Leave shortbread to cool.

My Favourite Christmas Cake

 If you're not like me (last minute Christmas cookery is a specialty of mine!), and want to make your Christmas cake early, I can recommend this recipe. It is by far my favourite Christmas cake, and terribly addictive once made and tasted. It freezes well.

My favourite Christmas cake

 
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1 kg mixed fruit (or 250g. chopped Raisins, 125g chopped glace cherries, 125g chopped mixed peel, 250g. Sultanas, 250g. Currants)

125g. chopped blanched almonds

2/3 cup brandy OR orange juice 

210g. plain flour

60g. self raising flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

250g butter

250g. light brown sugar

2 tablespoons marmalade OR dark jam, 1 dessertspoon vanilla essence

4 eggs

Optional Topping: see below.

1. Line an 8" round cake tin with two layers foil and two layers greaseproof paper. Mix all the fruits, peel and nuts together and sprinkle with the brandy OR orange juice.
2. Sift together the flours, salt and spices.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add the jam and vanilla essence and beat again.
4. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each one, then alternately add the fruit and flour mixtures.
5. Mix thoroughly.
6. Place the mixture in the prepared tin. Topping 1: Decorate top of cake with blanched almonds, or whatever takes your fancy. (I got a bit carried away when I decorated the cake pictured above!) 
   Topping 2: see step 8 below.
7. Bake in a slow oven for approximately 3½ hours. Cool in tin.
8. Topping 2: The day before you use the cake arrange on top of the cake pieces of your favourite nuts, e.g. walnuts, almonds, pecans - cherries, glace pineapple, ginger, Raisins and Sultanas.
9. Make a toffee glaze by boiling together equal quantities sugar, water and sieved apricot jam. Drizzle this over the fruit 'n nut topping and leave to set.