There’s nothing quite like a homemade gift to touch someone’s heart and these ultra-festive treats will win over anyone with a sweet tooth
recipes AILSA BURT photographs JONATHAN GREGSON
Pistachio nougat
MAKES 36 PREP 20 mins plus overnight setting COOK 35 mins MORE EFFORT V
300g green shelled pistachios 2 tsp flavourless oil, such as sunflower 1 tbsp cornflour 1 tbsp icing sugar 2 x 20cm square sheets edible rice paper 300g caster sugar 60g honey 275g liquid glucose 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out 3 eggs, whites only (save the yolks for another recipe)
1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Scatter the nuts over a baking tray and put in the oven for 10 mins, then tip out onto a plate and set aside. Brush the sides of the tray with oil, then mix the cornflour and icing sugar. Dust the tin with the cornflour mixture and line the base with one sheet of rice paper.
2 Put the sugar, honey, glucose, vanilla seeds, a pinch of salt and 200ml of water in a saucepan. Heat the mixture gently over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
3 Meanwhile, put the egg whites in a clean bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk until they reach soft peaks. Turn up the heat for the sugar mixture to medium-high until the temperature reaches about 145C on a sugar thermometer, then pour the hot syrup in a slow, steady stream into the egg whites, beating for about 10 mins until you have a thick, glossy, firm meringue. It’s easy to underwhisk, so keep going until it looks like sticky chewing gum.
4 Use a spatula to stir though the nuts. Scrape the mixture into the lined tin, then spread out evenly. Top with the remaining sheet of rice paper and press down to remove any air. Leave to set overnight, covered with a clean, dry tea towel.
5 Use a spatula to loosen the edges of the nougat from the tin, then invert the tin onto a clean board and use a sharp serrated, hot knife to portion into 36 squares. Leave to set on a wire rack over a baking tray.
The nougat will keep in an airtight container for up to a month.
GOOD TO KNOW gluten free PER SERVING 143 kcals • fat 6g • saturates 1g • carbs 20g • sugars 15g • fibre 1g • protein 2g • salt 0.1g
Vanilla spiral biscuits
MAKES 15-20 PREP 25 mins plus chilling and cooling COOK 15 mins EASY V
plain flour, to dust ½ batch of universal dough (see p15) red and green food colouring paste
1 Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Lightly du
