It's no surprise given that John created the oak banquet table we have and together John and Emily designed the quirky interior of Food at 52 including our Christmas decorated branch, that they like to be hands-on and like hand-made crafts.
This year they not only made their own Christmas cards from scratch, they also created their own handmade Christmas gifts! Read on to see their Florentine and Bloody Mary kits with a twist!
Florentines
Emily used the Hairy biker's recipe with her own twist of using orange chocolate instead of normal chocolate giving it a more 'citrus twang.'
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 75g golden caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons flour
- 75ml crème fraîche
- 50g flaked almonds, toasted
- 2 tablespoons candied peel
- 2 tablespoons crystallised stem ginger
- 50g dried sour cherries
- 150g good quality dark orange chocolate, broken into pieces
Method
Preheat the oven to 180oC. Heat the butter, sugar and flour in a pan over a medium heat, stirring continuously, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Gradually add the crème fraîche, stirring continuously until well combined. Add the almonds, candied peel, stem ginger, and sour cherries and mix well until combined. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and place teaspoonfuls of the florentine mixture onto it. Space the teaspoonfuls out at 2.5cm/1in intervals so they don't merge together when heated.
Transfer the florentines to the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden-brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool on the tray, then transfer the florentines to a cooling rack. Bring a little water to a simmer in a pan. Suspend a heatproof bowl over the water (do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water). Add the chocolate pieces and stir until smooth and melted. Turn the florentines so that the flat base is facing upwards. Spread the melted chocolate over the florentine bases and set aside to cool and set.
Then package up neatly to present to the lucky recipients.
Cocktail kit including homemade rosemary vodka
Why not create a cute kit for your friends to make their own cocktails?
Rhonelle works in the Food at 52 team and highlighted a small change in a Bloody Mary recipe can produce a rich flavour difference. Simply by changing tomato juice for clamato juice, it adds an extra punch.
Emily created her own flavoured rosemary vodka using this recipe and added her own tiny little labelled bottles of celery salt and Lea and Perrins. They're very cute! Clamato juice can also be used to create this cocktail, the Caesar, reputedly the Canadian version of Bloody Mary.
Have fun in the kitchen this Christmas and if you have made any edible gifts yourself, share with us on our Facebook page and twitter.