How to make some edible Christmas gifts

Kate Ryan has come up with some lovely Edible Gift ideas - including these Hot Chocolate Pots. Picture: Kate Ryan
DOES the thought of heading into the rush of Christmas shoppers make you nervous? Are you finding it more difficult every year to find the perfect gifts for friends and family? Maybe you’re considering the environmental cost of buying yet more stuff? If so, consider creating hampers of delicious edible gifts this year.

- Clean and sterilise the jars. Set aside.
- Into a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat, add all the ingredients. Cook, stirring often, until the cranberries begin to pop – about 10 minutes.
- It will look runny, but it will thicken and set a little as it cools.
- Remove the cinnamon sticks and decant into sterilised jars and seal tight.
- Allow to cool completely. Once opened, keep in the fridge.

- Line a 20cm square cake tin with parchment and preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. To flour and cornflour, add the ground spices. Add to the butter, sugar and vanilla and mix with a wooden spoon to form a dough.
- Use your fingers to bring the dough together into a small ball, place into the cake tin and gradually press the dough into an even layer.
- Using a knife, score the dough in half and then into eighths. Prick the dough with a fork all over, place in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin for five minutes. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, in a ban-marie, melt the chocolate. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly. Recut the shortbread and break into fingers.
- Take each finger of shortbread and quickly dunk halfway into the melted chocolate. Place back on the wire rack to allow the chocolate to set.
- When all cooled and set, decorate with fondant icing pens.
- Line a 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment.
- In a saucepan, place the white chocolate and half the condensed milk. Stir until melted and combined, add half of the rum-soaked raisins. Place into the lined cake tin and press into an even layer using a spoon.
- Repeat with the milk chocolate and raisins, pour on top of the white layer, and press into a thin layer again, and trim with edible decorations.
- Chill in the fridge for an hour until set, then cut into squares.

- Mix water, salt, and yeast in a mixing bowl, then add flour. Mix with a spoon until combined.
- Loosely cover and leave for a minimum of two hours somewhere warm.
- Tip out the dough onto a floured surface and fold the four ‘edges’ into the middle.
- Clean the mixing bowl, dry thoroughly and dust with some more flour. Put the bread mixture back in the bowl, cover and leave for a minimum 30 minutes or up to two hours for the second prove – the longer the better.
- Heat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius, fan, and place a deep casserole dish with a lid into the oven to heat.
- Tip the bread mixture out onto a lightly floured surface. The mixture will feel wetter and stickier than you might expect, but this is good because a dough with higher moisture will give more rise and bubbles in the finished loaf.
- Just bring the dough together enough that you can pick it up and place it into the searing hot casserole dish, cover with the lid and cook for 15 minutes and a further 20 minutes with the lid off to allow the bread to finish rising, crisp and colour.
- Tip the bread out of the dish and tap the bottom, if it sounds hollow it’s done. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before cutting.
