AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

                                               HOME MADE GIFTS

I firmly believe that to give a gift which you have made yourself is always well received. If you consider the array of grotty selection boxes which are often given to the young at Christmas it is easy to see that perhaps a gift of home made sugar mice,ginger bread men ,fudge,or the magical stained glass window biscuits might well be preferred to the same old Kit-Kats,Mars bars and Bounty bars packaged in a festive form.

For adults too a home made gift of melting shortbread, ginger nuts,jam ,chutney or rum truffles is sure to be most acceptable

Over the years I have already published some of the recipes mentioned here but for this series of blogs I shall publish them again in case you missed them last time.

Lets begin with Cinder Toffee This odd confection has an almost magical quality in the making and costs very little to make.


8oz granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of golden syrup

quarter teaspoon of cream of tartare

2 and a half fluid ounces of water

( I have been told that I must get up to date with my weighs and measures)

quarter teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon of warm water.
Put the sugar syrup, cream of tartare and water in to a heavy pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Boil without stirring until a little of the mixture forms hard brittle threads when tested in cold water.

Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the teaspoon of warm water and pour it in to the toffee,which will froth up. Stir well and pour into a shallow greased tin ( a cake tin will do). Break in to pieces when cold and wrap in greased proof paper. Store in an air tight tin.

This amount will fill a tin 9” approx and it is a good idea to make a small amount as a practice run. When you are confident double the amounts to fill a Swiss roll sized tin.
I sometimes use a mold but I think that a tin is easier,at least at first.

While cinder toffee is delicious plain it is even nicer dipped in a little melted chocolate and left to cool before wrapping as before.
The rest of this weeks blogs will I hope be given over to the other recipes mentioned.