Yesterday I made a list of some of my favourite things to do in December (if you haven't seen it then you can read that here). One of the things on that list was baking, it's one of the best things to do this time of the year. Filling the cupboards with boxes of tasty home bakes, and the house with a delicious smell.

I've mentioned it countless times already this month, but baking it one of the best Christmas activities out there. It's taken over my Tuesdays of December, and it's now taking over my Foodie Friday.

If you haven't noticed already, I love a good home bake, which is why my Christmas period is largely spent with flour everywhere, the mixing bowl turned on and my head in the oven asking 'are they done yet?'. 

We love a good home bake in our family, and now that we're off on holiday we've started to have a baking day each week. Even with regular baking, none of the food ever lasts - and we're finished within a couple of days.. I'm taking it as a compliment that they're just that good.




So, in need of a new recipe to tingle those taste buds, we thought we'd try out a recipe for coconut slices that we tried years ago and seem to have forgotten about. But believe me, they will never be forgotten again. Within minutes of the first slice being cut, my dad had already eaten 4 squares. They're extremely moreish, light enough to eat a couple in a row, but filling enough to act as a mid morning or afternoon snack.



Ingredients

Base:

• 100g of butter
• 100g of plain flour
• 100g of caster sugar
• 85g desiccated coconut
• 3 egg yolks (but save the whites for later)
• 5 tablespoons of jam (flavour of your picking) 

As promised with yesterday's post (Christmas baking - Peppermint Creams), I have done a lot of Christmas baking that I want to share with you. So today I decided to jot down two of the recipes that we've been using this Christmas time.

The first of which is a recipe for Mince Pies, and I promise to you - this is the easiest recipe possible. I wanted to include it in my blogmas posts as it is quite easily the simplest recipe for a very festive treat, and produces very yummy and delicious mince pies, definitely ones to rival those shop bought ones that the shops are filled with a this time of year. They literally take no time at all, and with only 4 ingredients (if you're being picky) why not try them  at this time of year!



Mince Pies
Ingredients:
Short Crust Pastry
Mince meat
1 Egg

 Method:

1. Roll the pastry to the thickness of 1cm
2. Cut the pastry into circles, a little bigger than what you anticipate the mince pies to be
3. Place the circles into a baking tin and fill with a teaspoon of mince meat
4. Cover with a lid of your own shape & size - I chose a star to cover most of the pie
5. Brush each pie with whisked egg with an even cover 
6. Place in the oven 180 degrees for 20 minutes
7. Leave to cool then serve!

The second recipe that I want to share with you this blogmas day is a recipe for Christmas Orange Cookies. These cookies are very light and are infused in orange to give a citrus taste to them, without being overwhelming. These cookies are great for an after meal treat, and are great fun to decorate. As you can see, we have great fun decorating these light cookies with lots of different decorations so that they look so desirable. They really don't last long in our household!

Christmas Cookies
Ingredients:
150g of butter
150g of caster sugar
1 egg (separated)
Teaspoon of Orange Flavouring
150g of plain flour
50g of self raising flour



Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 109 degrees
2. Cream the butter and the caster sugar in a bowl
3. Add orange flavouring to your liking
4. Knead the mixture into a dough then leave the mixture in the fridge for 24 hours. 
5. Cut your shapes that you please in evenly rolled dough
6. Cook 10 - 15 mins in a oven at 190 degrees
7. Decorate as you please then serve & enjoy!

Over the next few days running up to Christmas, my blogmas posts are going to be centred around Christmas Baking and different recipes that you can try out. The week leading up to Christmas is typically when we do the most baking in our family, re-making all our favourites in time for everyone coming home. The yearly tradition began yesterday and continued well into today, with many more recipes in the pipe line for the next few days too (as well as a rocky road house kit!). Its a wonder that we bake so much - with all the Christmas foods and sweets we really don't need double batches of mince pies, cakes, cookies and more but its almost impossible to resist when you get into the swing of baking.




Today I'm sharing the recipe for Peppermint Creams - a super simple recipe that doesn't involve much time, mess and barely any ingredients!

Ingredients:

• 225g of Icing Sugar
• 1 egg white
• Peppermint flavouring
• Milk Chocolate 

I was invited along to a blogger event at a macaron shop in Edinbugh's West End - Mademoiselle Macaron - to celebrate the cute little shop turning one year old. The owner of the shop, Rachel, couldn't have been lovelier as she made her way around the bunch of bloggers chatting about her passion.




The shop itself is very adorable, and was decorated with balloons and bunting, adding a very homely feel to it. There's an area in the front where you can buy some macarons or cakes and have a drink, and a section in the back where she leads workshops. Because there were so many of us, we spilled into both of these areas, although I tended to stay around the table where all the macarons were laid out.





The macarons were AMAZING. Never have I even considered trying a savoury macaron but the details that they added to make them all look absolutely delicious made it impossible to resist. After trying them all (and going back for seconds) I think I've come to the conclusion that the macarons with cream cheese, rocket and parma ham were my favourite, although it's hard to pick a favourite when there's options like gin & tonic, raspberry & jam, scottish tablet and mini burgers. (YES, mini burger macarons- such an ingenious idea!)






While working my way around the table, with a glass of prosecco in hand, I chatted away to lots of other Edinburgh bloggers. I love events like this where I can walk in - without knowing anyone else there - and still have a blast. It's always so lovely getting to chat away to people who have the same hobby as I do. It was also fascinating talking to Rachel, and she explained how her love for macarons came about, as well as her love for France.


I thoroughly enjoyed this event, and can't thank Mademoiselle Macaron for inviting me to celebrate in style. I can't wait to head back over and try more of their fantastic flavours!

Love,
Emily
xxx

If you've been keeping up with my 'Happier & Healthier' Series, then you'll have seen quite a few recipes that I've posted already. While those were all for healthy meals, I thought I'd share a recipe for those with a bit of a sweet tooth, like myself. Here's the recipe to a chocolate cake that I made with my sister the other day.




Ingredients

For the Cake

• 3 Eggs
• 200g of Brown Sugar
• 60g of Cocoa Powder
• 150g of Plain Flower
• 50g of Butter
• 2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder

Now my hand would shoot right up if anyone was to ask who eats more than their fair share of chocolatey and sugar food- I have a problem and I'll be the first to admit it!