Gingerbread Train

Gingerbread houses are SO last year. They're out, and gingerbread trains are IN! 

Okay, so I made that up but that should totally be the case. Just look at all that spicy cuteness ready to go 'choo choo' straight into your mouth! 

And honestly, having made two gingerbread houses before (you can see them over HERE), this train is a breeze to make. Far easier than trying to get four walls and a roof to stand up straight!

How fabulous would this look as a centrepiece on your Christmas table?! 

And the best part is that guests can tuck into the train with their coffee afterwards. 

I mean!

Gingerbread train

Makes 1

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay’s Gingerbread Garland

125g butter, softened

90g Muscovado or brown sugar

230g golden syrup

375g cake flour

2 tsp (10ml) ground ginger

1 tsp (5ml) mixed spice

1 tsp (5ml) bicarbonate of soda

Royal icing

1 large egg white, beaten

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

squeeze of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180C. 

Cream the butter and sugar well until very pale and fluffy. 

Add the syrup, flour, spices and bicarb and mix until a smooth dough forms. 

Roll the dough out on a floured surface or between two sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes if too soft. 

Using train cookie cutters, cut out the shapes and place on a lined baking sheet. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden and crisp. Allow to cool completely.

To make the royal icing, whisk the egg white gently then add the icing sugar until a stiff paste forms. Add the lemon juice and stir before placing in a piping bag. 

Sandwich the various components together with the royal icing and allow to dry. Then decorate the carriages using the rest of the icing and sweets, if desired. Allow to dry thoroughly before stringing the train carriages together with ribbon.

Store in an airtight container.

TIPS

• I used the Tescoma train cookie cutter set (visit their Facebook page here) but you could also use this print out HERE, cut out the shapes then trace around them on the dough using a knife. 
• You don't even have to use all the train cutters provided - simply cut out 4 of the main silhouette shapes and stack those together. You'll lose the 3D effect but it will look just as good!
• In order to get perfect shapes, refrigerate the dough once you've rolled it out so the shapes don't shift when you lift them onto a baking tray.

Spiced chocolate cheesecake with Christmas cake crust & Festive Decor ideas

Christmas decorations in our family home have always been the responsibility of my sister and I - as children we would decorate and redecorate the Christmas tree no less than 3 times before the 25 December, which not surprisingly drove our mother nuts! It was a happy coincidence then when my sister, Sarah-Jane and I were asked to team up and put together a very special feature for Food and Home magazine last month; 'A Guide to the Perfect Stress-Free Christmas' which ironically, was a not-so-stress-free experience creating it! But we did have tons of fun and hopefully, if you're feeling a tad stressed out about hosting Christmas lunch or dinner, it may give you an idea or two. 

A showstopper succulent wreath, rosemary napkin rings and hand-painted napkins for guests to take home as momento's.

I thought I'd share some of the great ideas my sister-dearest came up with (especially for an African-inspired Christmas), my favourite being the gorgeous succulent wreath she created as a centrepiece. Oh, and the paper origami! 

The perfect roast potatoes,  French-roast turkey and beautiful origami star string lights

The menu was all about tradition with a twist, my grandmother's French-roast turkey was the highlight - steam-roasted so it's juicy and falls off the bone - and stuffed with sage and dried pear bulgar wheat stuffing. This year, serve your turkey on a bed of fresh bay leaves, rosemary and sage - it looks so ridiculously royal and fancy with so little fuss! 

Three pea salad with mint dressing, Naartjie (citrus) and ginger beer gammon and Lemon-cured trout with herby mayo

My favourite recipe on the menu though, was this gorgeously rich and velvety spiced chocolate cheesecake which I really like not just for the decadence but because it's something a little different but still nods to tradition with the addition of a Christmas cake crust. Great for using up any leftover Christmas cake you have hanging around! 

Spiced chocolate cheesecake with Christmas cake crust

Spiced chocolate cheesecake with Christmas cake crust

Recipe originally created for F&HE Magazine December 2014 issue

Serves 12 

100g ginger biscuits, crushed

100g Christmas cake, crumbled into pieces

50g butter, melted

200g full-fat cream cheese

400g ricotta cheese

75g castor sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

40g cocoa powder

30ml (2 tbsp) brandy (optional)

5ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon

100g good-quality dark chocolate, melted

200g dark chocolate, melted, to decorate (optional)

cocoa powder, to dust

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a 22cm springform cake tin.

In a food processor, blitz the crushed biscuits, Christmas cake and butter until combined then press into the base of the lined tin.

Place the cream cheese, ricotta and sugar into food processor and process until smooth.

Add the eggs, cocoa powder, brandy, if desired, cinnamon and the cooled melted chocolate and mix to combine. Pour the mixture over the biscuit base and bake in the oven until just set, 25 – 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow to cool in the tin. Once completely cool, refrigerate overnight.

To serve, unmould the cheesecake onto a cake stand and allow the cake to come back to room temperature before decorating with melted dark chocolate and dusting with cocoa.

Roast vegetable crumble and origami Christmas trees

Coconut jam (Hertzoggie) slices

Last week I pledged to celebrate Heritage month by giving some of our favourite South African treats a bit of a twist. If you haven't tried my milk tart pancake recipe, do it! You really won't eat pancakes any other way again. When I was in the Klein Karoo a few weeks ago I was given the most beautiful homemade apricot jam from a tannie that owns the tuisnywerheid and after seeing the little hertzoggie tarts on the shop shelves, I instantly knew what I wanted to do with the sweet spread. 

I absolutely adore hertzoggies; with their crisp shortbread cups, jammy centres and fluffy, coconutty (that's a word) topping they are just the perfect accompaniment to a cup of rooibos tea. My only problem with them, is they're a bit of a pain to make. Well, in their defence, any little tart is a mission. So these slices are my shortcut to sweetness.

The shortbread base is actually the very first recipe I copied down from my mother's cookbook into my own little book and it's such a winner I use it for a thousand things. From cookies, to bars to tart crusts, it's definitely a keeper. If you're not an apricot jam fan, give the bars an even more modern twist and swop it out for fig, strawberry, raspberry or whatever you can get your hands on. 

Hertzoggie slices

Makes 12

250g butter or margarine

¾ cup castor sugar

1 egg

1tsp baking powder

2¹/3 cups cake flour

²/3 cup corn flour

1-2 cups apricot jam

3 egg whites

1 cup castor sugar

2 cups coconut

For the pastry, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg followed by the baking powder, flour, corn flour and salt. Press the pastry into a 30 x 20cm greased baking dish and refrigerate. Whisk the egg whites until soft peak stage then beat in the castor sugar until thick and glossy. Fold in the coconut. Remove the pastry from the fridge then spread with the apricot jam. Spread the coconut meringue topping over then bake at 170C for 30-35 minutes or until the top is slightly golden but the shortbread is cooked through. Slice into blocks and serve. 

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