Category: Christmas

December 18, 2015

O little town of gingerbread

So this is later than the usual Monday night. But I hope you’ll forgive me when you see the contents, and when you remember it’s December and that I now have a full-time job.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, I have been fortunate enough to join a team full of kind and kooky misfits, who have made the last three months super fun.

This year, when considering my yearly gingerbread offering I deliberated over how I might transport one into work to share the joy. But when you make gingerbread houses like this and this and get the central line tube to work, even the thought of attempting that makes you sweat.

The obvious answer? Make little ones for everyone. Sure. That’s not mental at all.

You will need:

1lb 10.5 oz/750g/5 cups plain flour

5oz/140g/1 cup soft brown sugar

7oz/200g/1 cup unsalted butter

2 eggs

5 tbsp treacle

8 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

A box of royal icing (read notes below)

The template

ALL THE SWEETS (including boiled sweets for the windows)

LED tea lights if you want it to look like there’s a fire on inside

Some notes:

The quantities above make 4 little houses. Yes, I made 3 batches of mixture. It will make about one medium to large house, both the links in the blurb above required a batch and a quarter or so.
For the roofs I use either chocolate buttons, fingers or matchmakers. The roof on house one is the right size for chocolate finger biscuits, matchmakers are great because they are long, but they are narrow so you need quite a few. Roughly it works out like this per roof for these templates: one box of matchmakers, two boxes of fingers, and two bags of buttons (based on Sainsbury’s own 3 for £1 bags)
You need a lot of royal icing, get a few boxes, I used 3 for 12 houses.
For the bases I use a thick cardboard box covered in tinfoil. You could buy a cake board, but then you have to work out if your house will fit, or make it to fit the board. I prefer to make the base to fit the house, less restrictive that way.
For a bit of advice on template making for bigger houses click here
You are unlikely to complete all this in one day, as you need to let the dough cool before rolling it out, just a little FYI.

Step one

In a saucepan melt together the butter, treacle, sugar and golden syrup. Try not to let it get too hot.

Step two

Mix together the spices, salt and flour together and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and use a hand whisk to break them up. Start making small circles to incorporate the flour.

Step three

Pour the treacle mix into the well and continue mixing with the whisk for as long as you can until it becomes too hard to stir. Swap the whisk for a wooden spoon until fully combined.

Allow to cool. Put it outside if it’s cold or in the fridge to speed up the process. It will be sticky but don’t add more flour.

Step four

Bash up hard boiled sweets with a rolling pin in a sandwich bag, or use this life changing gadget, the mini food processor, to mush them instead.

Step five

Once the dough has cooled it’s time to roll out the houses. Big, flat baking trays are best for this.

Flour a surface and roll out the dough in batches. You will probably need to use a knife and a metal spoon to extract the mix from the bowl. Don’t fight it, it’s a winning formula structure-wise.

Roll a piece of dough to the same size as your tray for maximum efficiency re:oven space.

Step six

Use the rolling pin to lift the gingerbread onto a piece of gingerbread the size of your tray. It is essential to do this before cutting; it stops you stretching individual pieces out of shape when you move them.

Use the templates and a knife to cut the panels out. Contrary to the image above it’s best to do batches of the same shape – that way the bake is the right amount of time for that sized piece. The most obvious way to explain that little ramble is that the chimney pieces will cook a lot quicker than the side panel for example.

Step seven

Transfer the gingerbread onto the tray and cut out window shapes. This year I invested in a little cutter set of different shapes and sizes. It was amazing. Total gingerbread game changer.

Fill the gaps with the sweet crumbs. This is why you need baking paper. Otherwise the sweets melt and glue your house to the tray.

Bake on 180C/gas mark 4/350F for 10-15 minutes. Over-cooked is preferable as they need to be able to stand up, and they will get softer as they sit out.

Step eight

Time to assemble. Mix together the royal icing making sure it’s really thick, it will stick better and dry quicker if it’s opaque white and not that sticky to touch.

If you’re making a big house, have a spare pair of hands at the ready and/or a lot of glasses and bottles to prop things against.

These little ones are actually really easy to put together in comparison.

Start with one side flat on the table. Pipe two even strips along each edge. Stick the two matching sides to this piece, propping them up with a glass so you have your hands free.

Step nine

Pipe along the top edges and stick the final side piece on the top.

Step ten

Flip the house upright. If you’re making a big house put it straight on the base at this stage and pipe on the inside corners to re-inforce the house. Less important with these little guys. They are actually great ‘starter houses’. Yes I do a bit hate myself that I say that, and many of my other tips with ZERO irony.

Pipe along the back sloped edges and the back. Stick down a roof panel. The straighter edge should be at the top, as you are more likely to cover irregularities at the bottom with a bit of overhang.

Pipe the top of the roof, the sides and edge. Stick the other roof panel down.

Step eleven

Make the chimney in the same way, and attach it to the roof.

Step twelve

Pipe some snow in the windows while the piping bag still has quite a thick opening.

Step thirteen

Start tiling! Make sure the first layer overhangs the bottom of the roof, and build up subsequent layers by overlapping them as shown.

Step fourteen

Neaten up the edges with chocolate fingers or matchmakers and a chocolate button or two. A row of dolly mixtures along the top, or mini marshmallows looks cute too.

Step fifteen

Continue to decorate the sides and the back. I find a much narrower nozzle on the piping bag is good for this. I like putting these little dots around things.

This year I used a lot of white chocolate buttons, I don’t have much choice in the local small supermarkets nearby. Silver balls, mini stars, chocolate drops and other round sweets are amongst my favourites for the decorations.

Step sixteen

Don’t forget the little door! I wouldn’t attach it at this stage if you are doing a big house, because you need to squeeze the tea lights through it. The little ones can just be placed over the top of them as they don’t need to be attached to a base at this stage.

Step seventeen

Keep making them.

Here’s a snap of me (with the reddest face, thanks blushing reflex) that was insisted upon, and all but one of us (come back Saskia!) in the obligatory family photo.

How did I get them into work? A special train, a suitcase and some blankets.

December 7, 2015

It’s as easy as one, two, tree

Afternoon folks! Making the most of my lunch break to post this week because we are officially in Christmas party season. You know what else we’re in? CHRISTMAS TREE SEASON.

Yes. That’s right, get yours out of the attic or head down to your local festive pop up, it’s time.

There’s a lovely nostalgia people have with their generations old decorations; almost everyone I’ve talked to about their tree has some kind of heirloom ornament that takes centre stage each year.

I still think it’s nice to freshen it up from time to time though, and with December costing a fortune, here are some quick and easy christmas tree decorations you can make with things lying around the house/garden.

Pine cone ornaments

Pine cones

Picture frame hangers (screw in ones)

Tip-Ex (white out)

Ribbon or string

Screw the picture hangers into the bottom of the pine cones, attach a loop of string/ribbon an paint the ends of the pine thingys with the Tip-Ex. It dries so quickly you don’t even need to put paper down.

Paper circles garland

White card

Contrasting thread

Circle punch

Sewing machine (or you could use glue/double-sided tape if you don’t have one)

Punch a load of circles out of the card. Put them through a sewing machine. Yup. THAT easy.

Christmas tree star

Five reasonably straight twigs

Some twine

Cut the twigs to the same length using secateurs or scissors. Tie the ends together at 45 degree angles or less. Make sure that when a twig is on top of another at one end that it goes under the next one at the other end. The only exception is the twig you started with, which when you tie it to complete the star, will probably be under both those it’s attached to. Add more twine to secure the cross overs in the middle too.

November 30, 2015

Last Christmas I gave you my blog

Hi all, massive sorrys this week as I’m afraid I went away for the weekend. Working full time again and running out of my little stash of ready posts has meant that I’m empty handed so far as new ideas go this week.

BUT, fear not, for I have now been blogging for two whooooole years. I also quite like Christmas. Here are a few ideas from the last couple of years to keep you ticking over until next week.

Mince Pie Truffles

Modelling clay tags/ornaments

Twig decoration

Washi tape bunting

Chocolate pudding truffles

Lino print cards

Peppermint hot chocolate

Christmas character lollies

Gingerbread house

Hot chocolate stirrers

Grown up milk and cookies

November 23, 2015

Santa Claus is coming to town

Two years of fabrefaction.co.uk friends. Yup. THAT HAPPENED. Thank you for the support and the loving, please keep sharing, commenting and messaging me; I love hearing from you and seeing what you’ve made.

In keeping with my first post ever, and the one year anniversary post of this little blog, here’s another lovely advent calendar for you to make.

“Oh but advent starts next week, I don’t have time!” Yes, yes you do. I made this in a day. Less than really when you consider I went out for breakfast and dinner. You could even take the easy way out and glue instead of sew.

This particular calendar is a labour of love for my very hardworking and wonderful sister. Poor duck got jealous of mine once, and this year I thought it was about time she had something a little more permanent so she never forgets again. Thanks for your love and support sib.

You will need

A dowel rod (40cm) (or a wire coat hanger)

Festive looking string or ribbon

Felt (I bought two packs of 5 felt squares from John Lewis, you’d probably need 6 or so A4 sheets)

24-48 chocolates (I used mini Lindor truffles (there are 22 in a bag) and some woodland friends from Waitrose)

Something a bit more special for Christmas eve

24 miniature pegs (I got these from Tiger)

Buttons etc to decorate

FIMO or air dry clay

A marker pen or ink and mini number stamps

This template for the stockings

Step one

Depending on the length of your dowel you might need to cut it down. Mark the cut point at 40cm.

Step two

Cut the end of the dowel off. Those of you into wood work (of which I am sure there are plenty) don’t judge me for my saw, I’m relatively confident after using it that it wasn’t the right choice.

Step three

measure a length of twine/string/ribbon about twice the length of the wood and double knot tie it onto either end. You might want to add a little glue to secure it. Make sure to turn it so the knot is at the back.

Step four

Hold the centre point of the twine and allow the rod to hang off the side of the table. Make sure it’s level and tie a knot in the middle so that you have a loop to use for hanging.

Step five

Using the template cut out 23 mini stockings (2 pieces of felt for each). I cut through two layers at a time, and squeezed 8 cut outs from each square of felt. If you bought A4 sheets I imagine you’ll get 10-12.

Step six

Keep cutting.

Step seven

Sew the stockings together using an overlocking or zig zag stitch. I edged the white bits separately before attaching them and left the heel hanging over the edge.

If you are making this for next Christmas, feel free to hand sew. I cover how to blanket stitch here. If you want this ready in time for this advent I recommend borrowing a sewing machine or using glue.

Step eight

Cut the excess off the heel of the stocking and any loose threads.

Step eight and a half

(Totally missed this step on the original post)

Secure the heel with a little dab of glue, but make sure it doesn’t soak through and stick the stocking together.

Step nine

I decided not to sew heels on all of them as I wanted a bit of variation. So I used some of the embellishments from last year’s advent calendar to decorate. Glue is acceptable here I reckon, otherwise you really need to sew them on before sewing them together.

Repeat until you have 23 little stockings and one big one.

Step ten

Fill your little stockings as you go, they look very cute as they stack up.

Step eleven

After a few learning lessons from last week, I made the number markers with air dry clay. I found it easier to work with than FIMO. It also worked really well to ink the stamps before pressing them into the shapes.

This is entirely optional, you could write the numbers on the pegs, stamp them, make circles of card instead etc etc.

Step twelve

Once the shapes have dried out (no cooking required with this clay), stick them to the pegs with enough space at the top to open and shut the peg without squashing them.

Step thirteen

Cut 6 lengths of ribbon. I decided to taper mine at different lengths, as you can see in the final photos. To shape the ends nicely, fold the ribbon in half and cut diagonally on the fold to create a v-shaped cut.

Step fourteen

Tie the ribbons onto the rod and peg the stockings on.

Happy Christmas FiFi xx

November 16, 2015

Stick it, hang it, tag it

A classic case of things not turning out quite how they were meant to this week. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but my housemates managed to cajole me into embracing the rustic charm of these makes nonetheless. By the end I managed to accept them as ‘not too bad after all’ and the lack of precision means that they would be a great little craft for kiddies as the winter creeps in.

With Christmas decorating just around the corner these guys are a great finishing touch as tree decorations, tags on presents and for card making. They are cheap to make and are cute little token gifts for the people you love, or at least those you like enough to want to give them something, but not enough to actually apply yourself to Christmas shopping.

You will need

A block of FIMO modelling clay

Shape cutters

Festive string or ribbon

Acrylic paint and a small paint brush

Alphabet cookie stamp, I go this from Tiger recently (or regular stamps might work)

A paperclip

Step one

Roll the FIMO out into a thin sheet, about 2-3mm thick.

I learned a few things here. Greaseproof paper is not the easiest thing to roll this out onto, a clean surface would be better. Roll the FIMO into a ball with your hands first to warm it up a bit as it will be easier than just rolling straight onto the block. Dust will get into the FIMO so easily, it picks up EVERYTHING, so make sure you wipe your rolling pin and surface carefully.

Step two

Cut out a variety of shapes. Re-roll and keep cutting until you have used all the FIMO. It’s surprising how many you get in the end out of such a small block.

Step three

Stamp the names of your nearest and dearest into the shapes. I found that words longer than four letters were problematic. I employed some creative shortenings, although my housie Marianne was not impressed with Matz as her new nickname. It will depend on the sizes of your cutters, but you might want to do initials or words like ‘love’, ‘joy’ and ‘noel’ if there’re some long names knocking about.

Step four

Using a cocktail stick or bent out paperclip make a hole at the top for the hanging. Wiggle the stick about in a circular motion to make sure the opening is big enough for your string or ribbon.

I then made dots all around as an edging with a paperclip.

Step five

Place on greaseproof paper and onto a tray. Bake in the oven on 100C/200F/gas mark 1 for about 30 minutes. I guessed because the packet provides zero instructions, other than to not heat it above 130C. You can tell by picking them up as they start to feel less soft and a bit lighter as they cook.

Step six

Using very watery acrylic paint, brush over the letters and the edging. Quickly dab away the excess with some clingfilm to create a rustic look.

Use one: Tie up with a couple of trimmings from the garden, maybe a button/pom pom/little bell like mine. Tie with the string around a gift wrapped in brown paper.

Use two: String up and hang from a jug of twigs or your Chrimbo tree.

Use three: Make mini ones with initials and create a simple Christmas card with a piece of wash tape and brown card.

November 10, 2015

Food innovation at its finest

Apologies for the day late post friends. I had a miniature pie melt down at the weekend (#myblogginglife) and as a result didn’t fancy posting yesterday. Instead I took an evening of sitting on the kitchen counters with the housemates eating pumpkin pie.

Speaking of the housemates. A while ago one of mine professed herself to be a food innovator. Bold claim? Yes. I thought so. When I asked for proof of this theory, she was ready with it. “Well,” she said calmly, and with an air of smugness, “I’ve had an excellent idea for mince pie truffles”. Lover of mince pies I am. Did I think this idea was a good one, worthy of the self proclaimed food innovator title? No, reader, I did not.

About a week of scorning later (I cannot put words together to explain how disgusting I thought the idea was and how aggressively I communicated that to her) she returned home with a box of mince pies to prove her idea, totally unfazed, a quality all struggling food innovators must no doubt possess. I’m sure Heston could empathise.

Anyway. Turns out, I like mince pie truffles. You’ll have to trust me on this one. Best eaten from the fridge, sound and look entirely unappetising, ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the recipe for the humble (but great) mince pie truffle.

This post is dedicated to one Ms Afua Addai-Diawuo, food innovator.

You will need

6 mince pies

300g/10.5 oz dark chocolate

Some sprinkles if you have them

Step one

Using a food processor blitz the mince pies until they are a dough like consistency. It will be very sticky so you will probably need to put the mixture into the freezer for about 30mins to an hour.

Step two

Roll the dough into evenly sized balls.

Put them back into the freezer for a while longer, until solidified.

Step three

Melt the dark chocolate and dip the truffle centres to coat them and leave them on some cellophane or greaseproof paper to dry.

If you want to see how to dip them, I cover it a little more thoroughly in this post from two weeks ago.

And there we go, early festive treats in three easy steps.

December 24, 2014

Ginger breading fun 2014

Hello again. Just a little post with some photos of this year’s gingerbread house. I said back in this post that I would start to theme them, which I’m afraid I didn’t have the inspiration for in the end, but it does have a balcony which was my engineering feat of the year.

For those of you looking to squeeze a bit of gingerbread house making into what’s left of Christmas eve, other than needing your head examining, you might find the posts I did last year useful:

#1: Gingerbread house recipe

#2: How to assemble a gingerbread house

#3: Tips for decorating a gingerbread house

Now for the good bit…

Gingerbread house 2014

Have a wonderful Christmas all 

December 22, 2014

The final sprint

Some years (every year) I have grand plans for home made gifts and decorations at Christmas. Rarely does this materialise in the lovely relaxed and whimsical way it looks in my head. Generally I end up covered in the contents of my baking cupboard feeling totally harassed by the number of hampers I’ve decided to make.

If you’re anything like me, or if you’re completely handmade/craft-phobic in the first place, this one is for you. Three super quick festive crafts to brighten up the house and fill up stockings at the last minute. You don’t need an ounce of artistic/baking ability for any of these. So no excuses.

#1: Cute Christmas bunting

You will need

String (I got this two colour spool from Tiger for £1)

Christmassy washi-tape

Step one

Cut a random length of tape and place the string in the middle. If you really want to punish yourself you can try and make them all the same length, but I really like them random and it’s much easier that way too.

For this step I cut loads and stuck them on the edge of the table so I had them ready and did them in batches so I wasn’t constantly cutting one then sticking it etc etc.

Step two

Fold over the wash tape and stick together. Again, I found it easier to do this step in bulk and then snip them in one go (see below).

Step three

Cut an upside-down ‘v’ shape into the end.

Step four

Hang them. 

#2: Twig decoration

You will need

Some twigs foraged from the nearest tree

White or cream spray paint

Fairy lights or decorations

Jug/vase/plant pot

Step one

Spray twigs.

Step two

Place in holder.

Step three

Decorate.

Just in case you want the tutorial, here’s how to make the candle holders in the photo.

#3: Hot chocolate stirrers

I saw one of these at the shops today, it was £3! These make a great little stocking filler, present topper-upper or gifts for the neighbours. Just swirl into hot milk for a luxury hot chocolate.

You will need

400g/ 14oz Milk chocolate

50g/ 1.5oz White chocolate

Condiment cups (if the closest McDonalds doesn’t have these you can buy them online, or use mini-muffin cases)

Mini mini marshmallows (these tiny fellows are from Waitrose)

Fudge pieces

Cake pop sticks

Edible glitter (optional)

(Makes 10-12. You need roughly 35g chocolate per cup so adjust the above to suit the number of hot chocolates you want to make).

For wrapping

Cellophane roll (available online or from craft shops)

Chrismassy ribbon or string

Step one

Chop the fudge into little chunks so that they’re roughly in proportion with the marshmallows.

Step two

Melt the chocolate slowly in the microwave and put into piping bags. You can temper it if you want, but given that you won’t see much of it, it might not be worthwhile. I go into a bit more detail as to how to temper chocolate here.

Step three

Fill cup to near the brim with milk chocolate. Add a little white and swirl in with a cocktail stick.

Place stick in and surround with fudge and marshmallows.

Leave to set.

Step four

Dust on a little glitter.

Step five

Wrap up. Cut a square of cellophane wrap and place cup in the centre, bring corners up to the middle and secure. I used a loom band to do this, you could use a small elastic band or go straight in with the ribbon/string.

Trim off the corners and ‘foof’.

Go on. There must be one spare you can treat yourself to?

December 15, 2014

Grown up milk and cookies

In England we tend to leave Santa a sherry or a brandy and a mince pie. I’ve heard that in some Scandinavian countries he gets ‘treated’ to porridge…lucky guy. Well this post is a nod to our North American friends from whom Santa receives milk and cookies. I decided to jazz up the traditional a little, after all, you hard working parents deserve a little more than a glass of milk on the 24th.

I should start off by saying that the recipe leans more towards a sort of whoopie pie consistency than a cookie, a whookie if you’d like. Perhaps if you wanted to commit to whoopie pies you could sandwich them with the salted caramel buttercream I made a couple of months back.

Without further ado here’s an easy Bailey’s (Irish cream) cocktail (which is more like a pudding really) and triple chocolate Mars Bar whookies.

You will need

260g/9 oz Plain flour

150g/5.5 oz Soft dark brown sugar

100g/3.5 oz Unsalted butted

100g/3.5 oz White chocolate chips

40g/1.5 oz Cocoa powder

50-100g/2-3.5 oz Dark chocolate

3 Eggs

3 Mars Bars

1.5 tsp Baking powder

1 tbsp Full fat milk

For the Bailey’s cocktail

Bailey’s Irish Cream

Chocolate milk

50g/2 oz Dark chocolate

Rum/Brandy if you have some (I went without)

A sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

Step one

Chop the Mars bars into small chunks.

If you, like me, can’t control yourself around chocolate, you might want to add an extra one to the mix. There’s just something about chopped up Mars bar that is excessively moorish.

Step two

Combine all the dry ingredients (minus the chocolate) in a large bowl.

Step three

Make a well in the middle and add the eggs, milk and butter. Stir to combine. Ideally your butter will be room temperature, otherwise you’ll be mixing for a while.

Step four

Add the white chocolate and Mars bar and mix again until the chips and chunks are evenly distributed.

Step five

Drop dessert spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. They won’t spread too much so flatten down a bit.

Step six

Bake on 180C/gas mark 4/350 F for about 15-20 minutes.

Step seven

Leave to cool and then melt the dark chocolate and drizzle over the top.

Step eight

Melt the remaining dark chocolate in a small bowl and dip your glasses in to coat the rim.

Step nine

Add a shot of Baileys (and a dash of rum if you have it). A sprinkle of both cinnamon and nutmeg. Top up with approx 150ml of chocolate milk.

As you can probably tell, I didn’t exactly measure this one out, so go with your taste as a measure.

Step ten

Leave out for Santa.

December 8, 2014

Little pudding

This week two celebrations collided when my lovely teacher at college had a special birthday and we crept ever closer to the 25th December. Thankfully, teach didn’t mind the seasonally confused gift – Happy Birthday Lana!

This week it’s Christmas pudding truffles, surprisingly easy to make, and with a large yield they are perfect for last minute gifts on a budget.

You will need

300g/10.5 oz Dark chocolate

100g/3.5 oz White chocolate

300ml/10.5 fl oz Double cream

30g/1 oz Unsalted butter

Red sprinkles

Cocoa and caster sugar for dusting

(Makes 60-70)

Step one

Chop the dark chocolate finely using a bread knife. Resist the urge to eat it all.

Step two

Heat the cream and butter gently in a saucepan. Wait until it starts to bubble and steam dances across the surface. There is no need to let it boil, as Mary Berry always says – chocolate melts in a child’s pocket.

Step three

Take the cream off the heat and whisk into the chocolate until fully melted. Place in the fridge to speed up the setting process.

Step four

Check regularly on the truffle mix, don’t let it harden fully. Once a spoonful holds its shape when dropped onto the rest of the mixture it’s pipe-able.

Place into a piping bag, and, holding it perpendicular to the greaseproof paper (which you have put down as instructed, um, nowhere in this post) squeeze downwards. Don’t worry if these are a bit misshapen, it’s just to make sure they’re roughly the same size.

Step five

Pipe pipe pipe.

Leave to set a bit longer, preferably with a window open to cool the truffle down quickly. The truffles won’t thank your winter central heating.

Step six

When the truffles are set roll them into balls. You will need fairly cold hands for this, so rinse them in cold water.

Step seven

Dust the truffles in cocoa and caster sugar. I mixed these at random so I’m not sure on quantities, but I used about two thirds caster sugar to a third cocoa powder.

I dusted as I rolled, as hands warm the outside of the truffles so the caster sugar will stick.

Step eight

Melt the white chocolate slowly in the microwave, pipe little splodges and drop some red sprinkles on top. I got these from Sainsbury’s, so not too hard to track down.

Leave the white chocolate to set and pack away your truffles into little bags or boxes and spread the Christmas (or Birthday) cheer!