CRAFT Challenge 187, Not a Card.

Morning all,

Another Thursday brings another challenge today at CRAFT Challenge again, the last one of 2012 already!

This time our challenge is

'Not a Card'

We hope you will enjoy playing along with this one again and hope you are looking forward to joining us again next year as well, we have some great challenges and sponsors lined up for 2013!

And here are my creations for this week, several gift tags, using images from our sponsors as well as my own papers, and marzipan filled puff pastry. Hope you like them (I know we all enjoyed the pastry at home, yum, yum!)

(using papers by Trimgym's Digistamps and Images)

and 2 marzipan filled pastries for Christmas:

Thank you for looking, I hope you had a great Christmas and would like to wish you a fantastic 2013!

Love,

Jo.

Christmas pastry wreath, a recipe.

Morning all,

Here is a recipe using the home made marzipan, the Marzipan Filled Pastry Christmas Wreath. 

This is traditionally eaten in The Netherlands at Christmas.

Christmas Pastry Wreath

You can find the recipe for the marzipan here.

For this recipe you need:

• Home made marzipan
• Puff pastry (about 350-375 grams)
• 1 egg
• Apricot jam
• Glaced cherries
• Edible decorations (like chocolate santas, marzipan figures, chocolate holly leaves, etc)

This recipe is relatively easy (provided you don’t elect to make the puff pastry yourself, which is very time consuming).

All you need to do is:

Roll out the puff pastry into a strip of around 8 cm wide. (or get ready rolled)

Roll the marzipan out in a strip which is slightly smaller in length than the pastry strip.

Place the marzipan on top of the puff pastry, lining it up to the edge of the pastry on one side and leaving a bit of room on the other end. (be prepared to lick your fingers after as this is very sticky work, yum yum)

Wet one side of the pastry with some water (to allow it to stick to the other side), roll it up around the marzipan and stick the pastry together.

Form the filled roll to meet at both ends, put the filled end in the open end (and stick pastry together) and make it into a circle. (this is why the strip of marzipan should be shorter than the strip of pastry)

Spread beaten egg over it, place the wreath on a wet (water) baking tray and leave it for 15 minutes.

Place in a preheated oven at 200 Celsius for 40 minutes.

Leave to cool, then spread warm apricot jam on top of the wreath and add decorations (the jam acts as glue).

Ready and ENJOY!

Love,

Jo.

Home made Marzipan, a recipe.

Morning all,

I am sure you are all looking forward to Christmas at the moment already. I know my kids are certainly some of those that simply can't wait. It may therefore be quite a good idea to start preparing for it already. I have therefore put the following recipe on my blog for you.

Home made Marzipan

I would certainly recommend trying this recipe out if you like marzipan. Do not expect this to be anything like the marzipan you buy in the shop, but if you are familiar with the marzipan stollen, it is quite similar to the marzipan used in that.

It is quite easy to make and is absolutely gorgeous if you like marzipan, like I do. It is ideal to use in Danish pastries, a Christmas pastry wreath and almond marzipan stollen for people who love that.

You need to prepare it at least one day in advance to give it the best possible taste.

To make it you need:

Weighing scales

A bowl

A fork

200 grams of ground almond

200 grams of caster sugar

1 medium egg

A few drops of lemon or lime juice.

Mix the ground almond, caster sugar, egg and the drops of lemon or lime juice together in a bowl using a fork.

Once nice and smooth (it is also very sticky, so a good excuse to lick your fingers, yum, yum) add the lid to the bowl and place in the fridge for later use. Leave there for at least 24 hours before using it in your recipe.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I (and my family) do.

You can find the recipe for a Christmas Pastry Wreath (the same one that forms the Inspiration Picture at CRAFT Challenge this week), here.

Love,

Jo.