Edible Gifts For Christmas
Nora McGurrin
Hi for those of you who don’t know me…… I am Nora I am a Chef/Cookery Demonstrator /Teacher /Food Safety Consultant. For 30 years I have worked in the Catering and Hospitality industry. What still gets me up in the morning is the belief that what I do or share can and does make a difference in people’s lives. I believe food and food preparation does not need to be a stressful process and when it is organised it can actually be very a satisfying, nurturing and fun activity. It is my belief that there are few activities in life which affect every person on the planet in either a positive or negative way. Food and food preparation is one of these activities. I believe passionately in sharing knowledge and skills in order to make the world a better place. I probably have never actually had an original idea in my entire life. I have tweaked and changed and shaped ideas that I have received from others to make them sometimes better, easier or more accessible. I believe in the innate goodness of humankind I believe in the possibility of life, love and the universe being a positive experience for all.
Recipes Butterscotch Sauce Chocolate Bark Dark Chocolate Rum Truffles Chocolate Chip Cookies
Shortbread Spiced Nuts Mulled Apple Juice
Butterscotch Sauce 5 ozs/ 150 grms Golden Syrup 4 ozs/ 120 Grms Castor Sugar 4 ozs / 120 grms Cream 2 ozs / 60 Grms Butter
Method 1) Put all the ingredients into a saucepan on med heat and cook completely for approx 10 mins. This recipe is a very simple technique however in can burn very quickly once it starts to cook so it is necessary to stay with the sauce stirring continuously until the sauce is finished.
Chocolate Bark 4ozs/120 grms of Dark Chocolate 6ozs/180grms of Mixed Dried Nuts and Fruit Piece of parchement paper Method 1 Melt the chocolate in a double boiler making sure it is well melted but not too hot. 2 Pour the melted chocolate onto the piece of parchement 3 Drop the mixed fruit on to the still wet chocolate and allow to set 4 Break of in pieces and enjoy with good coffee.
Dark Chocolate Rum Truffles 4 ozs/ 120 grms Dark Chocolate 2 ozs/ 60 grms Unsalted Butter 2 ozs / 60 grms Icing Sugar 2 ozs/ 60 grms Macadamia Nuts (diced) 2 Teaspoons Vanilla 2 Tablespoons Dark Rum Method 1) Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water 2) When completely melted add in the vanilla 3) Stir in softened butter, icing sugar, rum and nuts 4) Leave the mixture to get completely cold /set 5) Divide into approx 20 even pieces and roll into balls 6) Coat the truffles in  a coating of your choice ‌ cocoa powder, chocolate vermicelli or melted chocolate
Chocolate Chip Cookies 6ozs/180 Grms Plain Flour 1 Tspn Baking Powder 3ozs/90 Grms Brown Sugar 5ozs/150 grms Soft Butter ½ Tspn Vanilla Extract 1 Med Egg 4ozs/120 Grms Dark Chocolate Chips. Method 1 Blend all ingredients together till a dough forms 2 Remove from mixer and allow to rest for 30 mins 3 Roll out the cookie dough and cut to desired size 4 Place the cookies on a baking tray 5 Bake at 180c for 10-12 mins
Shortbread 8 ozs / 240 Grms Plain Flour 4 ozs/120 Grms Corn flour 4 ozs /120 Grms Icing Sugar 8 ozs Butter Room temperatures
Method 1) Put the flour, corn flour and icing sugar into a bowl and add the butter bring together to form a dough as quickly as possible trying not to overwork the dough. 2) When the dough has formed roll out 1/8 -1/4 inch thick cut out biscuits with cookie cutter. 3) Place biscuits into a baking tray and bake for approx 12-15 mins at 150 degrees.
Spiced Nuts 10 ozs/ 300 Grms Unsalted Mixed Nuts 2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary 1 ½ ozs /45 Grms Unsalted Butter 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar ½ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper 2 Teaspoons Spanish Paprika Sea Salt Method 1) Melt the butter and sugar in a large heavy pan on low heat. Add the rosemary, paprika, cayenne, salt and the nuts 2) Stir the ingredients together until the nuts are well coated in the spice mixture. 3) Toast until the nuts are a golden brown. 4) Tip out onto a sheet of parchment paper arranging in a single layer and leave to cool.
Mulled Apple Juice
1 ltr of Good Quality Apple Juice 1 Cinnamon Stick 4 Whole Cloves ½ Teaspoon Grated Nutmeg 1 Tablespoon Honey
Method 1) Place all ingredients into a saucepan and gently heat through do not allow mixture to boil 2) Serve in warmed glasses.
Nora McGurrin
All the recipes in this book have been garnered from yesrs of tweaking and testing recipes I have been given, created and changed. There has been no attempt on my behalf to infringe any other persons work.
November 2017