Edible Gifts E-Book

Jane Lyster

• Herausgeber: IMM Lifestyle Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 87

Beschreibung

Making gifts for loved ones is enormously satisfying and receiving a homemade present is a real treat. The trend for self-sufficiency is still strong as people move away from mass-produced goods, and this book covers a whole range of delicious gifts to delight and wow the recipient. The gifts to make include jams, chutneys, sweets, biscuits, cakes and drinks - all with ideas and detailed instructions for presenting and wrapping when it comes time for gifting. Also included are templates for making and folding your own gift boxes! Whether it's a gift for a seasonal celebration, a birthday, a new home, or a wedding, there's something here for every occasion. Choose from delicately flavored macaroons, chocolate eggs, homemade pasta, vegetable chutneys and fruit preserves.

Leseprobe

Edible Gifts

Jane Lyster

Contents

Introduction

Materials

The food gifter’s workshop

Kitchen equipment

Craft equipment

Presentation techniques

Wrapping in paper

Making boxes

Box templates

Decorating a box

Sweet gifts •

Chocolate eggs

Amaretti biscuits

Shortbread

Box of cake decorations

Toffee apples and pears

Sugared ring doughnuts

Creams

Lemon marmalade

Fudge

Strawberry jam

Macaroons

Florentines

Not so sweet •

Homemade pasta

Pesto

Sun-dried tomato pesto

Breadsticks

Tasty oils

Water biscuits

Blue cheese and port pâté

Living salad bowl

Pickles

Marinated olives

Tasty salts

Two sauces in a pack

Plum and apple chutney

Drinks •

Elderflower cordial

Tea infusions

Cocktails

Champagne and flower cocktail

Cocktails in measures

Limoncello

Sloe gin and sloe gin chocolate

Christmas gifts •

Edible gift tags

Mulled wine bags

Turkish delight

Sugar mice

Chocolate truffles

Roasted nuts

Christmas tree biscuits

Gingerbread men

Gingerbread house

Introduction

This book contains projects for you to create and give to your friends while helping you to develop your own artistic style. Lots of the recipes here are old favourites that have been reinvented to be enjoyed anew.

The beauty of making edible gifts is that you can create beautiful, unique gifts, often at a fraction of the price of anything you would find in the shops. But often the nicest gifts are those that come as a complete surprise, especially if they have been made by hand. These gifts really can be anything: jars of blackberry jam with a loaf of freshly baked bread or a tray of ready-to-plant-out tomato plants. The reason for giving is just to say ‘I’m thinking of you’ and however wobbly, unset or rock-hard crunchy, it’s a pleasure to receive anything that a friend has taken the trouble to make with you in mind.

Of course in the world we live in today there is no need to make a thing, as every conceivable item can be purchased. ‘Homemade’ doesn’t always suggest luxury or desirability. What if your carefully crafted gift turns out to be a catastrophe? Fear not. These projects are very simple and I hope that by my own experimentation I have ironed out the disaster potential.

Presents are given and received the whole year round although Christmas is the time when most people think of making delicious edible treats for their friends and family. However, anyone who loves baking and creating in the kitchen will soon find any excuse to make some of the projects in this book, whether it’s a birthday, a wedding, a moving house gift or simply a little something to cheer up a friend.

There is always a rush of excitement and delight that comes when you produce a beautiful gift for a loved one. I love the thought of going out into the countryside to pick a basket of blackberries or sloes (blackthorn fruit), coming home with them as if I am carrying unearthed treasures. Back in my kitchen I set myself up at the table. A pot of tea and the afternoon radio play are my companions. Slowly I prepare my found jewels, picking over each one to look for defects and bruising and sorting into three piles: the perfect specimen pile, the middling pile and the not-so-sure-if-it-lasted-the-journey-home pile. As I work I consider what these piles will become. Shall I make jam, or drown then in alcohol? Who can I give them to or share them with? Will I manage to get them as far as someone else before I have to just sample a little more to make sure it tastes just right?

Making personalized gifts for your friends really will give you as much pleasure as receiving a present yourself and once you have mastered a few very simple techniques, you’ll soon be hooked on handmade treats. Use the projects in this book as inspiration and you’ll begin to look at all sorts of produce and packaging in a whole new light.

Materials

I like to use the best quality materials and ingredients, as I believe they can help to make the cooking and wrapping easier. It also makes the gifts seem a bit more special. That’s not to say that secondhand bits and bobs that you find and collect on the way are unworthy. It’s more about using exactly the right grade of flour to make pasta making a bit easier, or choosing a quality pencil that will keep its point for longer. A full range of materials at your fingertips really does cut down wasted hours at the shops, so being prepared is always useful. I always keep my kitchen cupboards stocked with a range of flours, sugars, good-quality chocolate and olive oils and I’ve always got fresh butter, eggs, lemons and fresh herbs to hand – so whipping up a batch of biscuity treats is never a problem.

Materials for decorating and wrapping are probably ones that you already have lying around the home but it’s always good to be on the alert for useful finds. It’s that magpie thing. The collector in you should be able to recognize the potential in the discarded item. Think of buttons and beads which can be stitched or glued over the surface of the lid of a box to make it extra special; odd lengths of ribbon to be wound around bottles, jars and hold together bundles of just-baked breadsticks; paper that was wrapped around a gift given to you, that you have carefully unwrapped, folded and stored for another day just as your grandmother would have done. Then there are fragments of lace and cloth from a past era, which give a homely, vintage feel. These are the treasures that you can’t buy. A trove of trinkets takes a while to gather, but these odds and ends are worth their weight in gold. Being individual and different from the norm is what makes your gift unique.

Materials for wrapping and decorating

Rolls of coloured cellophane and cellophane bags

Wrapping paper

Coloured tissue paper

Coloured ribbons and fabric scraps

Balls of wool

Stencils

Paints, coloured pens and pencils

Varnish

Beads, buttons, sequins etc

The food gifter’s workshop

The food gifter’s workshop is essentially the kitchen, although if you don’t have a table in your kitchen, at some point you will have to move to an area of the house where there is one.

One of the most important things is to clear your space ready for working. Most professional kitchens churn out food like a well oiled machine, and I am sure this is down to having a well organized space. Clearing space, having everything ready and prepping your ingredients beforehand will make all the difference to how smoothly the projects run. You don’t want to boil your sugar to the right temperature and pour it into your moulds only to discover that you can’t find your string, otherwise before you know it, you’ll have sugar mice without tails. So remember, clear the decks and all will run smoothly.

Kitchen tools are worth investing in and need to be looked after. There is no end of kitchen gadgetry available these days and, let’s face it, if you love cooking you probably enjoy browsing around kitchen shops. Some of these items will make your life easier, others won’t, so think carefully before splashing out on some high-tech piece of equipment. Here are my essential pieces of equipment.

Kitchen equipment

SUGAR THERMOMETER For making jams, toffee, fudge or any other heated sugary treats.

KNIVES You can’t beat a good sharp knife when preparing food. For most of these recipes the most useful ones are a paring knife, a chef’s knife, and a pallet knife.

CUTTER SHAPES A set of circular biscuit cutters is a mainstay for any cook intent on baking and biscuit making. My advice would be to collect any shapes that take your fancy.

ICING BAG AND PIPING NOZZLES Acquire a good quality icing bag as they are really worth investing in; the cheaper ones tend to allow melted butter and cream to seep through the cloth.

ROLLING PIN The normal wooden rolling pins are great although you can also get marble ones. I have just discovered the silicone ones for rolling sugar fondants and think it’s really worth having one, as the texture of the fondant after rolling is beautifully smooth.

COOLING TRAY Cooling trays are very important for drying out fondant cream, crystallized flowers and cooling hot biscuits, shortbreads etc.

STORAGE JARS Make sure you have a good selection of different-sized storage jars that can be tightly sealed.

MOULDS Pretty moulds are a joy to collect. Get a good selection together as they are fun to use and add endless possibilities to making fondants and chocolates.

HAND BLENDER Hand blenders have a very sharp little blade that whizzes around and so purées food in half the time that it would take by hand.

FOOD PROCESSOR Food processors are useful for making a whole range of goodies. They cut down the amount of time you need to spend on the project, and you can make in bulk. Ideal for cakes, mixing pâtés and pesto.

PESTLE AND MORTAR This is a beautiful gadget if you have the time because it really is worth pounding your own herbs and spices. The heavier the base the better as it then stays still while you pound away at your mixture.

Craft equipment

Once you have made your delicious gifts, you will want to present them in your own unique packaging. Below are some of the tools that will help you to make beautiful boxes, labels and decorations.

SCISSORS You need one pair of scissors for cutting cloth and one pair for cutting paper. If you try to use the paper ones for cloth you will find the experience hard work. It is also worth investing in a range of interesting scissors. You can get really funky sets with loads of different cutting edges for paper from good craft shops.

CRAFT KNIFE AND SELF-HEALING CUTTING MAT Make sure your craft knife is as sharp and straight as possible to give you a great, crisply edged result. Cutting mats are usually marked out with a grid for accurate cutting.

BRUSHES You can buy cheap brushes but I do recommend that you invest in some good quality ones. Painting is made much easier if you have a range of heads that are either sable or synthetic sable.

PENCILS