Try making some of these!
You will need:
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250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
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125g butter chilled and diced, plus extra for the tin
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1 medium egg
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped (optional)
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100g jam, fruit curd or marmalade of your choice
Method:
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Put the flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a bowl and rub them together with your fingertips (or you can pulse these ingredients together in a food processor if you have one). When the mixture looks and feels like fresh breadcrumbs, stir in the egg and vanilla seeds, if using, with a cutlery knife. Add 1 tbsp cold water, then start to bring the dough together in one lump with your hands – try not to knead it too much. Add 1 more tbsp of water if it’s not coming together, but try not to add more than that. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
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Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Butter a 12-hole tart tin, then dust your work surface with flour. Unwrap and roll out the chilled pastry so it’s about the thickness of a £1 coin, then use a straight or fluted round cutter to cut out 12 circles, big enough to line the holes in the tin. Dollop 1-2 tsp of your chosen filling into each one and, if you like, cut out little pastry hearts (perfect for Valentine's Day) and pop them on top.
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Bake for 15-18 mins or until golden and the filling is starting to bubble a little. Leave to cool in the tin for a few mins then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutella Truffles
You will need:
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30g caster/superfine sugar
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15 whole hazelnuts
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50g plain chocolate
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150g Nutella
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2tbsp single/light cream
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30g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
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In a saucepan, dissolve the caster/superfine sugar with 2 tbsp water to make a caramel. When it is ready, add the hazelnuts and mix thoroughly. When the hazelnuts are well coated with caramel, place them on a sheet of baking parchment and leave to dry.
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In a saucepan, melt the plain chocolate cut into pieces with the cream and Nutella. Mix thoroughly until well combined then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
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Use a teaspoon to scoop up a nut-sized piece of the chocolate mixture. Add a caramel-coated hazelnut and roll in the palm of your hand to form a small ball. Repeat until all the mixture has been used, then roll the balls in the toasted, chopped hazelnuts. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
You will need:
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food colouring
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X O cookie cutters, or hearts if you already have that
For each color batch of XOXO Rice Krispie Treats you will need:
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3 tablespoons of butter
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3 cups of marshmallows
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3 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal.
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Melt the butter in a large pan on medium heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted.
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For the White Rice Krispie Treats, simply mix in the 3 cups of Rice Krispie Cereal to the marshmallow mixture without adding any food colouring.
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For the Pink Rice Krispie Treats add 1 drop of red food colouring to the marshmallow mixture BEFORE you add in the Rice Krispie Cereal. Then mix in the cereal until it is completely covered with marshmallow mixture.
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For the Red Rice Krispie Treats, add 8-10 drops of red food colouring to the marshmallow mixture before you add the Rice Krispie cereal.
Hint: We made one colour of the Rice Krispie Treat mixture at a time because you don’t want the mixture to cool too much while you are making the X and O’s. Once the mixture had cooled enough so we could handle it without burning your fingers we started filling the cookie cutters to form the X and O’s. I like molding the mixture into the cookie cutters this way instead of making a sheet of Rice Krispie Treats and cutting out the X and O like a traditional cookie. You will have smoother and prettier edges this way.
For us, the 3 cups of Rice Krispie Treat mixture made 3 X’s and 3 O’s but your yield will depend on the size of your cookie cutters.