Better Homes and Gardens (Australia)
EASY STEPS TO YOUR STAR TREES AND STAR SANTAS
NO NEED TO MAKE A WISH – THESE CHRISSIE STARS ARE GUARANTEED TO TASTE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK!
Preparation time 1 hour plus 20 mins chilling and 45 mins setting Cooking time 30 mins
Makes 3 star trees and 8 Santas
150g unsalted butter, room
temperature, chopped
3/4 cup Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener
Baking Blend or caster sugar 1 free-range egg
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
11/2 cups plain flour, plus extra, to dust Silver edible cachous, to decorate 1 tsp cocoa
Few drops red food colouring Pink sprinkle mix, to decorate
ROYAL ICING
11/3 cups Lakanto Icing Powder, plus extra, for thickening and dusting, or icing sugar
2-3 Tbsp milk or 1 free-range egg white
STEP 1 Preheat oven to 160°C fanforced (180°C conventional). Grease and line 3 oven trays with baking paper. STEP 2 Using an electric mixer, beat butter, baking blend or sugar, egg and zest until pale and creamy. Stir in flour in 2 batches. Bring together on a lightly floured surface to form a smooth dough.
STEP 3 Roll dough between sheets of baking paper to 5mm thick. Chill for 20 minutes, until firm. Using 8, 6, 4 and 2cm star-shaped cookie cutters, cut 9 each of 8, 6 and 4cm stars and 3 x 2cm stars, re-rolling offcuts as needed. Use a 10cm star cutter to cut out 8 stars for Santa biscuits. Place large, medium and Santa stars 2cm apart on 2 trays and smaller stars on remaining tray. Bake small stars for 10-12 minutes, and the others for 12-14 minutes. Cool on trays.
STEP 4 For icing, sift icing powder or icing sugar into a bowl. If using icing powder, stir in milk until mixture is thick and holds its shape when piped. If using icing sugar, beat egg white in a bowl until frothy. Whisk in 1 tablespoon icing sugar at a time. Whisk constantly until smooth and thick enough to pipe. Place a third of icing in a snaplock bag and snip a 3mm corner off. Cover rest with plastic wrap.
STEP 5 To decorate Star trees, pipe icing dots on the tips of 8, 6 and 4cm stars and press a cachous on each tip. Set aside for 30 minutes to set. Pipe icing outlines on 2cm stars.
STEP 6 Stack three 8cm, three 6cm and three 4cm stars per tree, using a little icing between each biscuit to secure, and turning each biscuit slightly to sit at an angle to the star below. Feel free to use more or fewer stars to suit.
STEP 7 Attach outlined star to the top of the tree with icing, so it’s standing upright. Set aside for 15 minutes to firm.
STEP 8 To decorate Star Santas (see page 48), place a tablespoon of remaining icing in a small bowl and tint with cocoa. Halve remaining mixture, tint one half red and leave the other half uncoloured. Add a little extra icing powder or icing sugar to red mixture, if needed, to thicken slightly.
STEP 9 Spread red icing over biscuits and scatter with sprinkles. Set aside for 15 minutes to firm. Transfer plain icing to a snaplock bag and snip a 3mm corner off. Pipe diagonal lines at top star point for hat. Pipe upside down triangle in star middle and fill in. Let set for 15 minutes. Pipe over with up and down strokes for beard and hat base. Set for 15 minutes, then dab on red icing for nose and cocoa icing for eyes. Store for up to 1 week in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.