I’ve written previously about my adoration for Biscuiteers and wondered about how to make them myself. I guess I just lacked the enthusiasm to have a go myself.

Upon opening an email from Biscuiteers a while ago, I discovered they were, in fact, bringing out a book called Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits! Oh the excitement! Another beautiful book to add to my overflowing bookshelf. I’ve been mega busy of late, but having had a spare day off after coming back from Edinburgh and having just bought a beautiful cupcake shaped cookie cutter from Peter Maturi (not available on their website) I decided it was high time I got my bake on and have a go at making some beautiful biscuits.

The book is extremely inspirational and gave me lots of ideas and plenty of tips on getting the best biscuit and how best to make royal icing and pipe it. I think my biscuits turned out pretty good for a first attempt! My piping skills are a little rusty since my sugarcraft course, not helped by the fact I ballsed up the piping bag by cutting too big a hole, but still for eager first try I think I did OK.

The entire process probably took about 3 hours to make 18 biscuits – the more colours you have the longer it’ll take to make up the different icings and pipe or fill all the different sections of the biscuits. It’s completely worth it though! These kinds of biscuits will make great gifts when you’re a bit broke – time and effort put in is always much more meaningful that the amount spent.

Whilst I doubt that the recipe for the Biscuits is actually the one they use (come on, they wouldn’t give away their real recipe) the biscuits were absolutely delicious even though I overcooked mine a bit due to a overly hot oven. The feedback from my colleagues was extremely encouraging although I’m not sure they are an entirely reliable source as they’ll eat anything being given away!

If you are interested in buying the Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits, Amazon is the cheapest place to get it:

One lucky winner will receive this gorgeous tea cup which I bought from an antiques shop whilst in Norfolk. I will be very sad to give it away, but I think someone else deserves this beautiful item!

To celebrate our one year anniversary, we're holding a prize draw to win this beautiful vintage tea cup. Enter you details below to be in with a chance of winning it!

I'm originally from Norfolk, but which other celebrity chef is also from here?

Sorry, the prize draw is now closed.

Kenwood kMix hand mixer

I got one of these for my birthday and was sceptical that such a beautiful thing could possibly be that good at mixing. This hand mixer is certainly a thing of beauty, I love the retro cream finish (it’s also available in other colours too) and it’s extremely quiet too. The paddles made light work of beating eggs and sugar into a light batter and it comes with a stand for the paddles and mixer, so you can leave it on the worktop for people to admire.

WMF Salt and Pepper mills

I was once a person who thought a pepper mill was just a pepper mill, but I’ve soon learnt that not all pepper mills are made the same.

I spent a long time tagging along behind Chris on his post-Christmas sales shopping, comparing and contrasting the various different options on offer. These WMF ones are not only extremely stylish sat atop your dining table, but they’ve also got a couple of design differences to those of say, Cole and Mason that make them just that little bit better. Firstly, the grinding mechanism is ceramic, so it’s much harder than the steel ones, meaning it’ll give you years of milling. Also with this design, the mill is at the top of the design, so it doesn’t leave pepper all over your table after you’ve used it. Yes, they seem pricey (Chris got his for £20 each in House of Fraser’s sale) but they are well worth the money.

Optimum baking trays

I think these are a Robert Dyas own brand as I can’t seem to find them anywhere online, not even in their own online shop. They’re currently on buy one get one free and both the oven tray and the muffin tin are outstanding quality. They’re heavy duty and come with a 10 year guarantee. At around £10.99 (and being BOGOF) it’s definitely worth popping down to your local Dyas for.

Titan peeler set

These peelers cut my peeling in time in half! There’s also a handy julienne peeler which is great for adding thin pieces of carrot to a stir fry. If you can find the set with the mandolin board, then buy that instead. I know they’ve been advertised on tv shopping channels which always makes me a bit sceptical but trust me when I say these are brilliant.

Cupcake courier

As I walk to work very often my creations were ending up like they’d been through a war zone, so I searched online for a solution. Lakeland do offer a similar style but it’s only one level high. The reviews of it weren’t great either. This one has perfect sized holes for normal fairy cakes and has three levels, enabling you to take up to 36 cakes in it. The only thing I will say of it is that it’s hard to get the cakes out of it. My colleagues offered to drill a small hole in each of the bun holes so that I can push them out with my finger underneath. I use mine almost every week!

Crockpot/Slow cooker

I originally bought a small slow cooker from ASDA for £10 because I wasn’t sure how much use I’d get out of it. However, it’s soon become a staple kitchen item for me because I have to put almost zero effort into dinner when I get home and the meat is always so deliciously tender. I’ve cooked soups, stock, stews, ham in cider and ribs in it – the possibilities are endless. Just pop all your ingredients in in the morning, switch it on, and by the time you get home the food will be done.

I recently upgrade to this crockpot from Robert Dyas which is just £20 and can serve up to 4 people. I found it much easier to cook my ribs in and the pot is dishwasher, oven and microwave safe. Did I mention it’s very low energy? Environmentally and wallet friendly! Watch out for a crockpot recipe soon on LTT…

Garlic peeler tube

I often have trouble getting the skin off garlic, but this makes it a doddle. Just cut the ends off the garlic, put it in the tube lengthways and gentle roll the tube on hard surface. Magic!

A “my egg and soldiers” egg cup set

Price: £19.50

Last year I nearly bought the equally cool soldier egg cup for my dad, but when I went to order one they’d sold out. This year they have the amazing my egg and soldiers egg cup set with this ultra cute horse so your soldiers can ride to their yolky fate! Available from Of Cabbages & Kings, who are definitely worth checking out for more Christmas gift ideas!

Spotty pudding bowl

Price: £12.50.

This gorgeous spotty pudding bowl is the ultimate addition to any kitchen. It’s kitsch, it’s retro. I would never want to put it in the cupboard. Bespoke Country has a few stores up North, the latest being their shop in York, which I bought lots of divine reindeer ribbon from.

A subscription to Waitrose Food Illustrated

Price: £30 for non partnership cardholders, cheaper if you are!

I’d love to get a subscription to Waitrose Food Illustrated! The food is always delicious with lots of seasonal ideas to inspire. The photography is always outstanding as well and gives me plenty of ideas for my own photography.

I haven’t been here yet but it’s more than promising as the head chef is former head chef of my current favourite restaurant Bistro Montparnasse. I was so excited to see he is now offering cookery lessons. Haven’t enquired as to the price yet but can’t imagine it will be more than£150 at worst. You’re guaranteed to learn some great stuff, and surely it’s the gift that keeps on giving back?

A halogen oven

Price: £39.99

This clever little oven can cook your meals up to 60% fasters and use much less energy than your regular oven. So if you want a quick roast in the evenings you could get this out and have a roast chicken in just 35 minutes! I might even be bothered to make a roast during the week with this! The halogen oven is available Amazon.

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