A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from UK Handmade

Wow, we've come to the end of another amazing year...time flies when you're having fun! Thank you to all our readers, followers, sponsors and of course the whole UK Handmade community for all your support! 

From all of us here at UK Handmade, we wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

illustration by Askey Illustration

We'll leave you with a selection of gorgeous Christmassy products from talented members of UK Handmade and a tasty recipe for Christmas Pudding-shaped cookies by Gill Smith of Gillyflower Jewellery (originally published in the Winter 2010 issue of UK Handmade magazine)

From UK Handmade members - top left to right: Folk style Christmas Tree by Maimei Cheng; Merry Christmas Wooden Delight by Wendy Elf; Fattie Pudding by Cupcakes for Clara; Brandy Butter & Cranberry Sauce Pots by Eclectic Tea; Vintage Fabric Rudolf by Pouch Bags; Christmas Stocking Decoration by Dotty Bees; Personalised Hoop by Bella Bobbin; White Linen Christmas Pudding by Kitty Eden; Puffed Christmas Tree by Girlybunches

Make these cute Christmas pudding cookies with the kids and then hang them up on the tree - if you can resist eating them! They would be lovely to give as a gift, packaged up in cellophane and tied with a red or green ribbon.

Ingredients:

• 90g butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 free range egg
• 175g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 25g of Green & Blacks cocoa powder
• 250g white fondant icing (sugarpaste)
• Red and green food colouring (I used Sugarflair)

Special equipment/tools: 

• 2 5/8 inch / 68mm round straight edge cookie cutter
• Small sugarpaste holly leaf cutter
• Non-stick rolling pin
• Red ribbon

To make the cookies:

1. Pre-heat the oven to Gas mark 4 / 180C / 160C fan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in the food processor until fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Sift in the plain flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and mix slowly.
5. Remove the dough from the mixer and knead very gently and briefly.
6. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for about an hour.
7. Remove from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface to 5mm thickness.
8. Stamp our rounds of the cookie dough and place them on a greased baking tray.
9. If you want to be able to hang the cookies up, use a skewer to poke a hole at the top of each one.
10. Wiggle the skewer in a circular motion to make the hole wide enough to pass a ribbon through.
11. Bake for about 16 minutes until just firm to the touch.
12. Cool completely before decorating.

To decorate the cookies:

1. Break off a small amount of the fondant and colour it dark green.
2. Do the same with another piece of fondant but this time colour it red.
3. Wrap both pieces of fondant in clingfilm and set aside for later.
4. Roll out the remaining white fondant.
5. Use the round cookie cutter to stamp out a circle of fondant, but cut a wiggly line through the middle to create the effect of dripping icing.
6. Transfer the icing to the cookie and smooth into place. You can tease out the edges of the icing slightly to create the effect you want.
7. Do this for all your cookies until each one has a little white icing topping on one half.
8. If you have baked your cookies with holes, poke a skewer through the icing and wiggle to make the hole the same size as the cookie hole.
9.  Roll out the green fondant and stamp out enough holly leaves for all your cookies - you will need two per cookie.
10. Place two leaves on each cookie.
11. Form little balls from the red fondant and attach one to each cookie.
12. Tie ribbons through your cookies and hang on the Christmas tree.

We will be taking a little break over Christmas but will be back with lots of fabulous articles, ideas and projects in the New Year!!