You always try to distinguish yourself, so you can’t go wrong with a homemade gift perfect for spirits enthusiasts. The recipe is incredibly simple: just put pieces of pineapple and clementines in a container, and add a vanilla bean, a bit of sugar and white rum. Since the flavours of this original recipe from Réunion island improve with time, you must let the rum macerate at least two weeks before giving it away. So, make it well in advance. Present the gift in a one-litre bottle decorated with a small wreath made from a twisted sprig of rosemary.
Рубрика: Gourmet Gifts
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Elaine’s Soda Cracker Bark
Bark gets unanimous approval as a great treat. This recipe is from our colleague Elaine, executive assistant and office manager, who makes this classic once a year. Put the saltines on a baking sheet, then cover them with homemade caramel and bake them in the oven. Then just add melted chocolate and almonds for a sweet and salty treat reminiscent of childhood sweets. Put a few pieces of bark in a metal container, then wrap it in a pretty cloth.
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Brown Butter, Sage and Pecan Crackers
The real gift, of course, is the time you spend with your loved ones, so offer them crackers that will be a big hit once unwrapped. First, mix melted butter with sage and pecans, then cook it until the butter becomes nutty brown. Add it to your food processor with the other ingredients, making dough that’ll be cut into various shapes and baked. The resulting 30 crackers make lovely gift packages with a jar of rillettes or chutney, or some cheese.
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Linzer Cookies
Christmas would never be the same without pretty cookies. And if there’s a variety that perfectly represents this idea, it’s Austrian linzer cookies. Made with roasted hazelnuts and cinnamon, the bottom cookie is covered with raspberry jam, then topped with a second cookie featuring a hole in the centre cut with a cookie cutter. A sprinkling of icing sugar brings the finishing touch. Made on the day you serve them, they’ll have a shortbread texture; the next day, they’ll be chewier. In either case, they’ll taste of Christmas with every bite.
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Cranberry Vinegar
No more wasting stale cranberries that end up in the compost. Recycle all your leftovers and let their red tanginess flavour a vinegar. A good idea for a gourmet Christmas gift.
