Cooking and baking is both physical and mental therapy
- Mary Berry
One of my first memories of cooking was baking biscuits with my mum over Christmas Time. My mum has always had a cookbook "The Complete South African Cookbook" which she brought with her when she moved to Seychelles with my dad many moons ago. It is in this very cookbook that the simplest but best recipe for biscuits can be found. The recipe itself makes over 200 biscuits so when you set out to bake these biscuits, be prepared to spend an entire day baking. We used to bake these biscuits over Christmas Time and enjoy them throughout the festive period.
Over the last few years due to being at university or working, I have not actually found time to baked these biscuits. This year I found time to bake them not once but twice. My niece Zahara (or Zee) wanted to bake biscuits during her holidays so I offer to teach her as I knew this recipe was fully proof and easy to do.
I had recently bought a biscuit press when I was in South Africa (identical to the one we used when we were younger) which makes the biscuit making easier and quicker process then the traditional cookie cutters. I would highly recommend buying one, especially if you want to make large batches of biscuits. The Biscuit Press comes with several shapes and always seem to have a Christmas Tree in them.
I am not always the most patient went it comes to teaching others recipes or showing them how I do things in the kitchen, I generally have my ways and when I am in the kitchen I tend to enter my own little bubble. So teaching Zee to bake was an learning curve to me but I will admit it was fun and made me realise that I missed baking those biscuits every year. Once the biscuits (all 200 or so of them) were baked and cooled, my elves and I decided to decorate some.
On the islands, it is not always easy to find things for decorating so it is always exciting when you find some new available in the shops. I came across Dr. Oetker Icing Pens, which are perfect for decorating biscuits. These icing pens are fantastic as they are less messy and easier to handle than the conventional piping bags.
With Christmas around the corner and being inspired by the day spent baking with Zee, Antigone and Stephen, I decided one day to bake a batch of biscuits myself to have at home over Christmas.
I spent a day baking away in my kitchen, once the biscuits had cooled and I was exhausted without my little helpers I chose not to decorate those ones but I decided to box them up. Once they had been boxed up and sealed, I set off with some boxes in a basket and went to deliver them to friends to bring Christmas a little earlier to them.
Here's the recipe in case you do not have the Cookbook on hand:
Ingredients:
1kg Cake Flour
500g Butter/Margarine (Softened)
500g Sugar
5 Eggs
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
2 Tsp Salt
[Pre heat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius]
Firstly sift all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, except the sugar. In a separate bowl, cream the sugar and butter until lightly and fluffy. Add in the eggs to the creamed mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the dry ingredients and mix well. Fill the biscuit press with the dough and press out onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.
Once the biscuits have cooled down, it is up to you what you would like to do with them. They actually keep quite well but make sure they're stored in an air tight container or sealed in a cookie jar.