Are you dreaming of a (gluten free) White Christmas?

Here's an old Christmas favourite that is super easy to make, stores well, and can be whipped out in a moments notice when unexpected guests arrive. It also makes an excellent little home-made gift. Nothing says thank you like the time spent making a home baked gift.

Our Little Miss gave the White Christmas, some Chocolate Apricot Truffles and a few little gifts to all the lovely teachers and staff at Riding school. 

White Christmas Slice

1.5 cups rice bubbles - I used gluten free
1 cup whole milk powder
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup desiccated long thread coconut
half a cup red glace cherries
half a cup green glace cherries
half a cup dried cranberries
250g white vegetable shortening - I used Kremelta brand

Line a shallow 25 x 18cm - or similar size - slice tin with baking paper.

Put the rice bubbles, milk powder, icing sugar, coconut, chopped cherries and cranberries. 

Either in the microwave, or over a double boiler, gently melt the vegetable fat. Be very careful not to over heat it. A couple of 10 second bursts in the microwave followed by stirring until the last lumps melt is the ideal method. 

Stir the melted fat into the dry ingredients and fruit. 

Press the mixture into the lined tin, cover and place in the fridge until set. Allow it to come up to room temperature before cutting into petite squares. 

I packaged ours in cellophane bags ready to be parceled up with the other gifts. I used cute stickers to seal the bags. 

Sweet Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam

This is a family favourite that we indulge from time to time when visitors pop by. A light hand makes these sweet scones easy to make in a flash. Get your busy on and these can be made in less than half an hour. The clotted cream is made by Clearwater in Geraldine and has a long shelf life which makes it a perfect fridge staple; I got mine from New World Ilam. 

Sweet Scones

2 cups plain flour
2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
70g cold, salted butter
1 egg
enough milk to top the egg up to 200ml of liquid

jam of any variety and clotted cream

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C. and line a baking tray with baking paper. 

Sift the flour, baking powder and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients. 

Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. 

If you are not sure if the mixture is rubbed in enough, just shake the bowl and any lumps of butter will float to the top. 





Using whisk combine the egg and milk. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the milk and egg. This is where the light hand is required: Using a table knife gently mix the dough until it is just combined. Turn the dough out onto a floured board or piece of baking paper. Pat into a 4cm deep rectangle shape. Using a floured knife cut into 12 scones. Place on the lined baking tray and bake for 13 minutes until golden brown and well risen. 

The test for doneness is to tap on the bottom of the scone and listen for a hollow sound. 

Allow the scones to cool a little before splitting, creaming and jamming, or as I've done serving them DIY style. 

All done in no time and ready for our afternoon tea visitors. 

Making Melting Moments

Melting moments are such an old time favourite. Too often the ones in cafes are so big they are more like melting minutes than melting moments, so I decided to make some cute and dainty ones for us to share with our friends. I got this recipe from the old version of the Edmond's book, hence the imperial measurements. Crumpled and stains, its a standout go-to for just about any old-school recipe you might want. 

Melting Moments

7 ounces butter
3 ounces icing sugar
4 ounces flour
4 ounces cornflour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 175deg. C. (or 350deg. Fahrenheit in imperial measures)

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. 

Sift the dry ingredients together and fold into the butter and sugar until well mixed.











I used a piping bag and round nozzle to pipe the biscuits onto the tray. 








It's way more time effective than rolling them into balls by hand. 

I piped each one to about a 4cm diameter circle. 

The tops will all have a peek; don't worry, just push the peaks down to smooth the top. 

Leave at least 4 or 5 cm between each biscuit as they will spread a little in the oven. 

Bake for 20 minutes. They should not colour, and won't harden until they cool, so be careful to set the timer. 

Once cold fix together with lemon icing. 









Lemon Icing

approximately 1 cup icing sugar
the juice of a lemon

Combine the icing sugar and lemon juice to form a firm icing. Add more icing sugar if the icing is too thin. It will depend on the size of the lemon. 






The icing needs to be firm or it will drip out from between the biscuits.

Happy baking xx

Canada's Rowing Snack Recipe

Last week one of my students made this fantastic slice for a trial practical. It's the recipe her mother makes her for snacking on during rowing training. Every day we send a 'brain food' snack as part of Little Miss 5s morning snack; she gets sick of the standard fruit and nut mix, so this recipe is an excellent and interesting substitute. Canada used sunflower and sesame seeds, but since we have a sesame allergy in our house I substituted linseed and chia instead. Interestingly it has Milo in it, thus a good supply of Vitamin B and Iron to add to the protein from the nuts and seeds. One of my friends suggested using Cadbury Hot chocolate powder instead of Milo for a gluten free option. 

Canada's Rowing Snack Slice

1 cup coconut
1 cup oats
1 cup raw nuts - I used walnuts
1/2 cup linseed
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
2/3 cup Milo
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup dark cane sugar
125g butter

Preheat the oven to 180deg. C and line a 20 x 25cm baking tin with baking paper.

Measure the nuts and seeds into a large bowl. Add the Milo, and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar and honey into a small pot and melt together. 

Boil for 5 minutes. 

Stir the toffee into the seed and nut mixture and spread into a lined tin. 












Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. 

Take from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cold slice up and store in an airtight container. 

This is a delicious and nutritious mid-morning snack that will keep you going right through the day.

The best Shortbread recipe in town...

At school we have a great tradition amongst the staff of taking turns to provide morning tea to mark our colleagues significant events. About six of us at a time bring a plate to share. Everyone takes great pride and care in making a delicious home made treat. This week my name came up and, having sat on the couch for at least half an hour contemplating the possibilities, I decided on making some shortbread. This recipe is a family favourite; the first time I made it with the fruit and nut toppings, my darling partner was slightly aghast that I was messing with perfection. However sampling the product changed his mind.

Fruit and Nut Shortbread

255g butter
115g icing sugar
115g flour
115g custard powder
115g cornflour
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped preserved ginger
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons chopped cranberries
2 tablespoons slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 150deg. C and line a large baking sheet

Cream the butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy.

Sift the flour, custard powder, cornflour and salt.

Fold the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar and turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap.



Use the plastic food wrap to form the shortbread dough into a large rectangular tube shape.

Place into the fridge to chill for about 15 minutes. 



Using a sharp thin bladed knife cut the tube of dough into 5mm slices. 

Arrange the slices into the baking tray allowing enough room for them to spread.

Into one third press the ginger and walnut, in the other third the cranberries and almonds, and leave the last third plain.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The shortbread should not colour, but will be lovely, crispy and short once cooled. 

Feel free to mess with whatever topping you fancy! Happy baking xx