CHRISTMAS BISCUITS
125g (4oz) English butter, softened50g (2oz) caster sugar
175g (6oz) flour
yellow glace icing, silver balls and ribbons to decorate stars.
red glace icing, white glace icing, brought marzipan, currants and ribbons to decorate
Santa faces.
1. Whisk the butter thoroughly in a bowl until really soft, then beat in the sugar a little at a time and finally fold in the flour. Knead lightly until smooth.
2. Roll out the dough on a floured work surface to the thickness of a 10p piece.
3. For the star: Using star cutters, cut eight 6.5-cm (2 half inch) stars and eight 2.5cm (1-inch) stars. Place a small star on top of a large one and, using a skewer, make a hole in the center of one of the outer points of each biscuit. Bake in the oven at 150 degrees C (300 degrees F) mark 2 for about 25 minutes; cool. Coat the small star with yellow glace icing and place silver balls at the smaller points. Leave to dry before threading the ribbon through the holes.
4. For the Santa faces: Knead and re-roll the dough and stamp out ten 5.5cm(2 quarter inch) rounds. Make a hole with a skewer about 0.5 cm (quarter inch) from the edge; bake and cool. Use thick red glace icing to make the hat and white to make the beard. Use marzipan for the nose and mouth and currants for the eyes. Attach these with a blob of white icing. When dry, hang up with ribbon.
Makes about 18.