Festive candle centrepiece
Impress guests with this festive candle centrepiece for the Christmas table. Made with cloves, clementine, rosemary and cinnamon, it smells divine
Put the butter, sugar, flour and spices in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, and pulse again until it comes together into a dough. Will keep, well wrapped, in the fridge for up to three days, or the freezer for three months.
Roll the dough out on a dusted work surface to the thickness of £1 coin. Use biscuit cutters in the shapes of your choice to stamp out the tags, making sure they’re large enough to pipe names on, about 8-10cm wide (we used round- and star-shaped cutters). Transfer the biscuits, well spaced apart, to baking sheets lined with baking parchment, and chill for 15 mins.
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake for 12-15 mins until golden at the edges. Leave to cool for 5 mins on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Mix the icing sugar with 2-3 tsp water to make a very thick, stiff paste. Colour the icing with food colouring, if you like. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a very small round nozzle, and pipe borders around the biscuits, then the names in the centre. Leave to set for 2-3 hrs.