Michelle Darmody: Snowman buns and cheesy Christmas biscuits

— this 'snowman' icing can be used to decorate your Christmas cake too

Sun, 20 Dec, 2020 - 08:30

Michelle Darmody is a baking expert and writer, as well as an award-winning author. Michelle works across food education, sustainability and food policy and has a Doctorate in Culinary Arts.

These last days before Christmas can be busy. Even if there are fewer people visiting your home this year there may still be a lot to do. The mince pies, made with puff pastry are a great alternative to the more typical variety and are much quicker to make. They are delicious especially if you eat them freshly baked.

This icing recipe that accompanies the snowman buns can be used for other Christmas treats. If you are using it for a Christmas cake you can add a half a teaspoon of glycerin to stop it from going too hard and you will have to scale the recipe up depending on the size of your Christmas cake. Readymade Christmas fondant decorations are available to buy if you prefer, but it can be fun to make your own. Marzipan is also an option for creating decorations, you can add a few drops of food colouring to either the fondant or marzipan. There have been interesting innovations in natural food colours over the past few years and they are becoming more readily available in baking shops.