Frohe Weihnachten! Part 2: Pinwheels

Frohe Weihnachten! I present to you this second part in a series on German-style Christmas biscuits: two-tone pinwheels!

Everyone knows how to make biscuit pinwheels, so this isn't a demo; this is merely me sharing one of my creations that I made. These are made using chocolate and vanilla flavoured doughs, but you could use anything you like.

One thing I will say though, is that I think it looks prettier if the outer layer is slightly longer than the inner layer, giving it an enclosed look. Also, having one very thin layer and a thicker layer adds a degree of visual interest.

These are made using the exact same dough as the sandwiches, which is a lovely versatile dough mixture of 6 ounces (170 grammes) each of caster sugar and butter, beaten together, followed by 1 medium egg, and 12 ounces (340 grammes) of plain flour and whatever flavouring you like. The chocolate dough has one eighth of the flour replaced with cocoa powder.

Rich Tea Biscuits (Dairy- and Egg Free, with Wheat Free Option)

Is there anything quite as deliciously dunkable as a rich tea biscuit? Well, now you can make them at home!

Here in Ireland and the British Isles, these biscuits are readily available in every super market as a biscuit barrel staple; supermarkets even have their own brand versions of this crispy, plain treat. Not too fatty, not too sweet, with the perfect level of firm snap to withstand a thorough soaking in a hot cup of tea.

Essentially, a rich tea is a flat, thin, crunchy scone; it was almost exactly the same ingredients, and in nearly exactly the same proportions. If you look at the nutritional information on a pack of rich teas, you'll see that they're generally 15% fat and 20% sugar, and mostly flour. A scone is generally 25% fat and 15% sugar.

I've made this using self-raising wheat flour, and with spelt flour with added raising agents. I've noticed the ones made using shop-bought self-raising flour work the best, because it has just the right proportion of raising agents. However, I've included a recipe for homemade self-raising flour.

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DIFFICULTY
Requires a light touch with dough

TIME

About an hour

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

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INGREDIMENTS

Ingredients for about 14 to 16 biscuits, depending on size

5 ounces (140 grammes) self raising flour*

Good pinch of salt

1 ounce (30 grammes) caster sugar

1 ounces (30 grammes) very cold margarine, or butter if you like

Water to bind, about 1 to 2 tablespoons

* - If you want to make your own self-raising flour, sieve 1 teaspoon of baking powder into every 4 ounces (115 grammes) of plain white spelt or wheat flour

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METHOD

• Line a one or two baking trays with non-stick baking paper, and preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F, Gas Mk.2).
• In a large mixing bowl, sieve the flour (and baking powder, if using), salt, and sugar. Rub in the margarine, or butter, until you have a very fine mixture.
• Gradually add the water, bringing the dough together with your hand. Add just enough water to bring the dough together into a stiff ball.
• Wrap the dough in cling film, or place in an airtight container, and allow to rest in the fridge for an hour to relax the gluten and set the margarine.
• Roll the dough out as thin as you dare on a floured work surface, making sure the turn the dough frequently as you roll so it doesn't pull back against the rolling pin. Cut 3 inch (7.5 centimetre) circles with a glass or biscuit cutter and prick each biscuit with a fork.
• Lie them gently on the baking trays, about half an inch (1 centimetre) apart, and bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the biscuits are completely dry and a light golden brown.
• Transfer the biscuits from the tray to a wire rack to cool to room temperature before eating. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Recipe Revision: Sweet Biscuits, or "Sugar Cookie", and Sandwich Biscuits

When I first started this blog, I did a series where I shared a bunch of recipes based on what I made for a bake sale in our church. In it I shared a recipe for some delicious orange bourbons and coconut custard cream biscuits which are a simple sandwiches of plain (or chocolate) shortcake biscuits and buttercream filling. And since then, I've not made a huge amount of biscuits; I thought that needed remedying!

I'm not really a biscuits person now that I'm an adult: I loved biscuits when I was a kid, but now I prefer cake or pastries, and if I ever eat a biscuit it's a savoury one with cheese on top. At the absolute most, I'll have a digestive or a rich tea to dip in my tea. I don't know when my delight in biscuits began to disappear, but I've not properly baked a biscuit in about 3 years.

Now that the weather is starting to cool down from the viciously volcanic heat we've been suffering from since the middle of June, I'm being once again tempted into the kitchen. I wanted to ease myself back into the spirit of baking with something nice and simple, and also something a little different from the usual pace of cakes, pastries, and desserts that I've settled into over the past two or so years.

So I made a batch of biscuits using the recipe I used in the aforementioned bourbon and custard cream recipes: it immediately showed how out of practise I was! They were lumpy, bumpy, uneven, flavourless and lost their shape in the oven. I needed to address this loss of skill immediately!

The two main issues I encountered were that a) I used unsalted butter, which has become by go-to butter since I had the "why bakers use unsalted butter" revelation earlier last year, and b) egg yolks are not all made equal, and neither are all batches of flour.

So, in this recipe revision, I specify the use of salted butter in order to have good flavour, and also using beaten egg instead of just the yolk. Because every homebaker knows the annoyance of having a spare egg white hanging around in the back of the fridge, but also this recipe could need more or less egg depending on the dryness of the flour and the softness of the butter, similar to how you use water in pastry.

INGREDIENTS

6 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar

6 ounces (115 grammes) salted butter, room temperature
1 medium egg*, beaten
3 ounces (55 grammes) cornflour

9 ounces (170 grammes) plain white spelt flour

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence, or almond essence

* - in Ireland, a medium egg weighs between 1¾ and 2 ounces (50 to 55 grammes)

To make the lemon sandwiches

Add 1 teaspoon of lemon zest to the dough, with the butter and sugar
½ ounce (15 grammes) unsalted butter
½ ounce (15 grammes) lemon curd
3 ounces (85 grammes) icing sugar
About a teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon juice


To make chocolate nougat sandwiches

Replace half the cornflour in the dough with cocoa powder
½ ounce (15 grammes) unsalted butter
½ ounce (15 grammes) chocolate hazelnut spread
3 ounces (85 grammes) icing sugar
Up to 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) milk, to mix

METHOD

• In a mixing bowl using a wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar together until well combined. It will be a challenge at first because the butter is cool and hard, but persevere!
• Beat in the egg until the mixture is light and creamy. After the egg, mix in the vanilla essence, or almond essence if using.
• Sieve in the cornflour and flour, and work in gently with the wooden spoon. Turn out onto a well floured work surface and gently, gently work into a smooth dough.
• Wrap the dough in some cling film and flatten into a disc about half an inch (1 centimetre) thick. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours.
• Once chilled, roll the mixture out to roughly an eighth of an inch (3 millimetres) and cut out shapes. You can re-roll the trimmings once before you'll need to chill it for about 20 minutes for a break to re-roll it again.
• Pop the cut outs on a cutting board and pop in the fridge while you preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F, Gas Mk.3).
• Line two baking trays with non-stick paper, or grease lightly with oil, and put the cut outs on the trays about half an inch (1 centimetre) apart. Decorate the tops of half the biscuits to make the tops, and then prick the remaining biscuits with a fork or cocktail stick. You can prick them all instead of decorating, if you prefer.
• Bake the biscuits for 10 to 12 minutes, turning the trays around halfway through baking, until the biscuits begin to turn golden around the edges. This is obviously harder to tell on chocolate biscuits, so to test chocolate biscuits they should look dry and the edges should feel slightly crusty.
• Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make sandwiches

• Make a simple buttercream with the filling ingredients, either lemon or nougat, and pipe a little on each bottom biscuit and sandwich with a top biscuit. When sandwiching, make sure the tops of every biscuit are facing outwards, with the filling on the flat bottom side.
• Allow to set for about an hour before eating. These are best eaten after several hours of sitting, but it's not necessary.

Speculaas: Dutch Style Spice Biscuits (Wheat Free)

Have you ever gone to a café and got a little spice and caramel scented crispy biscuit on the side of your saucer? Well, you don't need to go to a café to get this delicious morsels any longer, because now you can make them at home!

I present to you: Speculaas biscuits! Well, at least my take on them anyway.

Yesterday was my second anniversary with my wonderful companion, and three days ago marked one year until our wedding, so I presented him with some lovely handmade presents. I made him a paintbrush roll from some vibrant neon pink and chocolate brown flock curtain fabric that I found in a bargain bucket in my local fabric shop, and I made him a jar of these lovely, thin, crispy Speculaas biscuits.

These aren't 100% authentic to the original Dutch recipe because they don't have the same amount of spices, and they aren't 100% authentic to the shop bought brands either because they have too many spices. Normally, the shop bought ones tend only to have cinnamon (and occasionally ginger) in them, and the traditional biscuits have white pepper, ground aniseed, ground mace, and ground nutmeg.

I decided to add the aniseed and pepper as optional ingredients to the spice mix, but I generally speaking don't have mace or nutmeg around. If however you don't have access to all these spices, just use shop bought mixed ground spice, like Goodall's.

Another reason that these aren't 100% authentic is that I roll the dough out and cut out the individual biscuits: the traditional ones and the shop bought ones are moulded by having the dough pressed into a wooden or silicone mould. I hope in the future to experiment with using or making moulds

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DIFFICULTY
Requires making roll-out cookie dough

TIME

About 2 hours, mostly chilling in the fridge

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

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INGREDIMENTS

Spice Mix

4 teaspoons (20 millilitres) ground cinnamon

3 teaspoons (15 millilitres) ground ginger

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) coriander

1/2 teaspoon (3 millilitres) cloves

Optional: 1/2 teaspoon (3 millilitres) ground white or black pepper

Optional: 1/4 teaspoon (1 millilitre) ground aniseed

Dough

8 ounces (225 grammes) plain white spelt flour

½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) baking soda

Pinch of salt

3 ounces (85 grammes) dark brown sugar

3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar

4 ounces (115 grammes) very cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

A few drops almond essence

2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) cold milk

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METHOD

This recipe is best prepared in a food processor, but you can do it by hand.

To make in a food processor

• In a mixing bowl, sieve together the spice mix, flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
• In a food processor, blend together the cold butter, the sugars, and the essences until mixed but still cold.
• Add in the dry ingredients and blend until you have a dry mixture that looks like sand.
• Add in half the milk and pulse the machine in short bursts to combine. If you need more milk, add it a teaspoon at a time: you don't need a lot of milk to combine the mixture.
• Once you have a crumbly yet chunky mixture, turn the mixture onto a floured surface and bring together with your hands into a ball.
• Wrap the ball in some cling film and flatten into a disc and chill completely in the fridge for at least an hour.

To prepare by hand

• In a mixing bowl, sieve together the spice mix, flour, salt, and baking soda. Add in the sugars and break up the big lumps of brown sugar with your finger tips. Rub the sugars and dry ingredients until it's completely mixed.
• Add in the cold butter and rub into the dry ingredients as if you were making pastry. Rub until it's completely sandy.
• Add in the essences and then add half the milk and continue to rub, adding more milk gradually if you need it, until you have a nice dough. Don't add too much milk: just enough to bind it together.
• Once you have a crumbly yet chunky mixture, turn the mixture onto a floured surface and bring together with your hands into a ball.
• Wrap the ball in some cling film and flatten into a disc and chill completely in the fridge for at least an hour.

Then, make the biscuits

• Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F, Gas Mark 2½). Line one or two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
• Take the dough from the fridge and work a little with your hands to make it malleable. Roll out to an ⅛ inch (3 millimetre) thickness and cut out shapes using whatever shape you want.
• Place the biscuits on the baking sheets about half an inch (1 centimetre) apart, and place in the centre of the preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the biscuits are dry and a delicious tan brown colour.
• Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before munching down with a cup of coffee. The Dutch are great at coffee.

STORAGE
Keep in an airtight container for up two a fortnight.

Ginger Nut Biscuits (Wheat Free)

As far as I'm aware, ginger nuts in the States are known as ginger snaps, and are traditionally eaten around Christmas time. Here however, they are basically a staple of any household's biscuit barrel, and are cursed for tainting nearly every other biscuit therein with a slight gingery hue. They also are rock hard when bought from the shop, and do well to be left to go a little stale deliberately to prevent broken teeth.

I remember making ginger nuts when I was a little girl: I'd help my mother make a batch every now and then, and I was always fascinated by the biscuits going into the oven as balls and coming out flat and round. The hardest task was waiting for them to set before eating, so they wouldn't just fall apart in your hands.

Having designed a pretty fail safe recipe for the chocolate chip cookies, I decided to move onto other kinds of 'drop biscuit'. Drop biscuits are those that aren't rolled out and cut, like shortbread or gingerbread. Drop biscuits are ideal for those with limited kitchenware, as all you need is a mixing bowl, a mixer and/or wooden spoon, and a baking tray; and of course an oven. That's essential.

As you will see, this is very, very similar to the chocolate chip cookie recipe except for a few little differences.

INGREDIMENTS:
Makes 25 to 30, depending on size

• 8 ounces (255 grammes) spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) butter, at room temperature
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) brown sugar
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) golden syrup, or treacle for the adventurous
• 1 medium egg

HOW-TO:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4, or moderate). Line one or two baking trays with non-stick baking paper, depending on how big your oven is. Make sure the shelves are in the middle of the oven.
• Sieve together the baking soda, spices, salt and flour together onto a piece of greaseproof paper and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy with a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer. Once creamy, add the two sugars and continue to beat until fully combined.
• Add in the egg and beat until just mixed in. Here is where usage of the electric hand mixer ends.
• Using a wooden spoon, mix in the sieved flour mixture, and gently work in with the wooden spoon until all the flour has disappeared into the mixture. This dough doesn't need to chill, so you can use it straight away.
• Scoop rounded teaspoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls between your hands. Put on the trays 2 to 3 inches (5 to 6.5 centimetres) apart, and place the tray(s) on the middle shelf(ves) of your oven. 
• Bake the biscuits for 14 to 16 minutes, or until a rich golden brown. They will puff up during cooking, but then start to crisp and crack on the outside. This is what you want.
• To ensure consistent and even baking, turn the trays around through 180° half way through baking, and swap the shelves if you have two trays.
• When the baking is up, remove from the oven immediately. Take the trays out and leave them on the work surface, biscuits still on, for another minute until they sink back into flat rounds.
• Remove the non-stick paper, biscuits still attached, and place on the cold work surface for a further minute. Then remove the biscuits and cool completely on a wire rack.

These are best enjoyed dipped into a hot cuppa schkald.