Two weeks……. and counting! You better be getting yourself ready for a mad Christmas rush if you haven’t done anything towards your Christmas preparations.
As promised (below) the marzipan recipe and icing recipe for your Christmas cake.
If you prefer you can buy ready-made marzipan, which is available at some Pick n Pay’s, Checkers and Mondeor Homebake.
Decorating needs
If you are staying at home this festive season and wondering whether to decorate or tile, Sipho the Painter can assist you. I can personally vouch for his work and he is very professional and great with time keeping. We had our whole house painted and the kitchen walls tiled and what an exceptional job he did. He also cleaned up after himself and we were really very impressed with his work. Sipho can be reached on 082 692 9683.
Mixing bowl
I had a query from a reader last week, asking if I knew where she could purchase one of the ‘old’ type, beige (white on the inside) pot mixing bowls. She has one but it’s cracked and she can’t find a replacement. I have one too and I love it. Do any of you know where one can be bought?
Marzipan (Almond paste)
Ingredients:
120 g ground almonds
75 ml (6 tablespoons) icing
sugar
75 ml (6 tablespoons) castor
sugar
egg yolk to mix
3 drops almond essence
Method: (Prep time 10 min.)
1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, adding just enough egg yolk to make a firm mixture. Knead thoroughly.
2. Roll out and use for the top of a 20 cm cake.
Note: If the sides as well as the top are to be covered, make three times the quantities given here.
Royal icing
Ingredients:
250 g icing sugar, sieved
1 egg white, lightly beaten
15 ml lemon juice
Method (Prep time 30 min.)
1. Combine the egg white, lemon juice and icing sugar in a bowl.
2. Beat vigorously until the mixture is very white and firm enough to stand up in points.
Note:
* Royal icing must be firm. If the icing is too soft it has not been beaten sufficiently. Beat until very smooth.
* If a less firm result is desired, beat in a few drops of glycerine once the mixture is smooth.
Bouquets of the week
P van Niekerk from Verwoerd Park, says, “Good service in the bag is not a norm nowadays for customers, so if excellent service comes your way you wish to share it with the whole world. In a nutshell my unbelievable customer experience with A-Z TREEFELLING (Bennie). I needed some trees to be cut at my residential property and phoned about 13:00 in the afternoon, the response was simply what time are you at home? I replied 16:30 and when I arrived there they were already waiting for me from 16:00, issued a reasonable quotation and promised to do the job the next morning. They arrived early the next morning and just after 08:00 everything was completed as arranged, cut trees removed and the site was left sparkling clean. Wow, is all I can say and my faith in good service delivery was renewed, as this was really service par excellence!”
*Linda Payne gives a huge bouquet to Marlene at Game Customer Service Desk at The Glen for excellent customer service. “It was a pleasure to deal with her as she explained everything to me, offered me her chair while I had to wait, and took it upon herself to make a plan to resolve the issue at hand. Her initiative, cheerfulness and willingness to go out of her way, was really appreciated. So often we are given a service but that is about all, no explanation of what is happening or where people are going and a blank disinterested expression a lot of the time. I hope Marlene’s positive attitude will rub off on her co-workers and other members of the staff. She certainly deserves to be recognised for her efforts in assisting the Game customers.”
That’s it for this week. Shop till you drop!
Julie
