Georgina Hayden

Feeding since 1982

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Its Chriiiiiistmas! (and that means BISCUITS)

12.16.2017 by georgie // 6 Comments

ITS CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN PEOPLE.

The tree went up early this year, 95% of our presents are bought and wrapped, the cake is being fed, the pudding is maturing, and jars of booze are being infused. Most of our cards have been sent – I always fall at that hurdle. What else is there? Oh the turkey is ordered – 16 on Christmas day that needed sorting early. And yes, there are mince pies (made and in the freezer) and mulled wine (already being drank) but for a lot of countries it is all about the humble biscuit. Gingerbread, amaretti, melomakarona… We are big fans of a Christmas biscuit. It just isn’t the festive season in the Socratous household (and I’m sure the same can be said for a lot of Greek families) unless my Yiayia has made hundreds of kourabiethes and melomakarona. The woman is a machine; at 76 she still works like she did when her and my bapou had the restaurant, despite having just the one gas oven now and a relatively small galley kitchen. She makes baskets of biscuits for everyone she knows and for me this is one of my favourite things about Christmas. Mounds of icing sugar coating buttery crumbly biscuits with just a hint of orange blossom, brandy or honey, and the way you can never hide if you’ve secretly eaten one because you will be sure to leave a trail of icing sugar everywhere you go. Priceless and made with love. Ok that might be a little cheesy but surely this is what Christmas is about?

And if that hadn’t sold it to you, if totally submerged in icing sugar the kourabiethes last for days, if not a week or more. They are the perfect mid morning treat with a vat of hot coffee, or later in the evening with a glass of komandaria, vin santo or sherry. So if you fancy something a little different this Christmas these are for you, I promise they won’t disappoint.

kourabiethes

 

KOURABIEDES

  • 75 g blanched almonds or walnuts
  • 250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 125 g icing sugar , plus extra for dusting
  • 2 tablespoons brandy
  • 1 large free-range egg yolk
  • 300 g plain flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 splash of orange blossom water

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/gas 2-3 and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Place the nuts on one of the trays and toast in the oven for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Cube the butter and place in a free-standing mixer and beat for 2 – 3 minutes, until very pale and creamy. Sift in the icing sugar, then add the brandy and egg yolk, and continue to beat for a few more minutes.

Finely chop the toasted nuts or blitz in a food processor (you don’t want them too fine/ ground), then add them to the butter mixture, along with the flour, baking powder and pinch of sea salt, then, using a metal spoon, fold it all together, until combined.

Roll spoonfuls of the mixture into balls, then mould each one into a traditional crescent shape – you could also make them into fingers, whatever you like. Place the biscuits on the second lined baking tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly golden. This will depend on the shape and size but be vigilant, you don’t want to overcook them.

Sift a generous amount of icing sugar to a small, deep tray. Very lightly brush the warm biscuits with orange blossom water, then pop them in the icing sugar tray and toss to coat. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Store in icing sugar, they keep happily for a few days when totally coated.

Categories // Baking & puddings, Cake decorating, Celebration, Greek and Cypriot, Vegan and Vegetarian

Supper Clubs and Sweetcorn Ice cream

09.19.2016 by georgie // 7 Comments

Bib + Tucker at Palm 2

I’ve just logged in and found 3 half written posts on here… Good intentions and all that? Hey ho, in a way, its a good thing, as it means book life has been busy. Stirring Slowly is out out and there has been all sorts of PR surrounding it – demo’s, Q+A’s, podcasts etc. It’s quite strange once you’ve written a book, for me it was anyway. I put so much love and time, sweat and tears into writing, developing and testing it, that once it got released I felt a bit lost. What do I do now? I still want to talk about it, it’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done! And more than anything I just want people to cook from it and to enjoy it (seeing peoples pics of what they’ve made must be one of the best feelings). I don’t want to start writing book 2 straight away, it would feel like I was cheating on SS, does that sound strange? Not just yet anyway…  [Read more…]

Categories // Baking & puddings, Celebration, Drinks, Events, General, Main meals Tags // Gin, Ice Cream, Party, Pork, Stirring Slowly, Supperclub, Sweetcorn

Stirring Slowly is here! Lets all eat (Strawberry Pimms) cake.

07.18.2016 by georgie // 2 Comments

British Summertime Stack

IT IS HERE! STIRRING SLOWLY IS OUT IN THE WORLD!

[Read more…]

Categories // Baking & puddings, Cake decorating, Celebration, Cookbooks, Stirring Slowly, Vegan and Vegetarian Tags // Baking, Birthday, Cake, Sweets

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Meet Me
Georgina is a food writer, stylist and illustrator from North London.
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  • This mornings breathtaking breakfast by @skyemcalpine. All recipes from Skye’s seriously stunning new book, surrounded by friends in the most glorious setting (@petershamnurseries you make me weep. And wish I had more credit cards). What a corker of a day. #atableinvenice
  • Suns out. New dress. Sunnies on. And starting the day with a stupendously gorgeous breakfast by @skyemcalpine at @petershamnurseries. What a day! Pics of breakfast to follow. Although I’ll blatantly have to steal @theboywhobakes’ because holding wriggly P + taking decent pics is near impossible. (Or I’m just a crap photographer).
  • Roasted Mespila (aka loquats or nespole). Just like on our wedding day, where we had them alongside the most perfect panna cotta.
  • Late night testing means tahinopita for breakfast. These vegan breads are filled with a sweet cinnamon tahini and are one of my all time favourite Cypriot foods. I reckon they’re going to be a hit from the next book (easy, quick, vegan ✅✅✅)

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Recent Posts

  • Slow Cooked Spiced Lamb Shoulder with Pomegranate
  • Its Chriiiiiistmas! (and that means BISCUITS)
  • Batch cooking Turmeric and Coconut Dhal
  • Hibernation, rainbows and batch cooking
  • It’s the most wonderful time of the year (Autumn)

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