{12 Days of Christmas ::: Day 1} Almond& Rosewater Shortbread and a Guava Mocktail

Well, I have had a hectic few weeks in my little world. Not much crafting or cooking or anything like that as I have finally settled into our new house. I love the kitchen and it is such a feature, will have to share a pic soon.

But now that I have found my power cord to my lap top, I am now free to start sharing some festive inspiration as we all approach my favourite time of year - the very busy season of Christmas.
We have 12 days till Christmas so, here is DAY ONE. I thought I would share 2 yummy festive treats for my first post back after the move. The first of these treats is what I Christened my new oven and my new Kitchen Aid with and it is simple and delicious ;)
Almond and Rosewater Shortbread I loved this (and so did my girlfriends I had over for a craft night recently). I also had all ingredients except for the rice flour on hand in the pantry, so adding that to my shopping list for $1.30 meant this was very economical. I doubled the batch it was so delcious. This would also make a wonderful gift for school teachers, just bag or box up nicley and done!



Oil spray to grease tray or baking paper
180g soft butter
125g (3/4 cup) icing sugar mixture, sifted
1 x 100g pkt almond meal
115g (3/4 cup) plain flour
45g (1/4 cup) white rice flour
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tbs rosewater essence
About 3/4 cup icing sugar mixture, extra, to dust (i didn't need that much, but use how much you like here).

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
   

2. Spay 2 baking trays with oil to lightly grease or lay with baking paper.
   

3. Use an electric beater to beat together the butter and icing sugar mixture in a bowl until pale and creamy.
   

4. Add the almond meal and sift over the flours and ground cloves. Stir until well combined.

5. Use your hands to roll heaped tablespoonsful of mixture into 8cm long logs. Roll them into a ball first and then roll the logs so the ends are nice and rounded. Shape into crescents and place on prepared trays. THe mixture does spread so make sure to leave a few cm between them. I did try a few different designs (hearts, logs and crescents) but the mixture doesn't hold shape very well do do hearts, but the logs and crescents worked well.
   

6. Bake in preheated oven, for 20 minutes or until cooked through and light golden. Remove from oven.

7. Lightly brush shortbreads with rosewater essence and set aside on trays for 30 minutes to cool and firm.

8. Dust shortbreads with extra icing sugar.
   

9. Set aside for a further 30 minutes or until completely cool.

Guava, passionfruit and lime mocktail
I love this drink, as you can have all ingredients on hand and they last for a while in pantry which means you can shop ahead of time for this one too. It's a delcious and festive drink that adds something special.For an extra nice touch, pre-chill champagne or martini glasses in the fridge and serve in them as your guests arrive :)

Fresh limes cut into small wedges
1 tin of passionfruit (or fresh if in season)
1 bottle of Guava nectar
1 bottle of soda water
Ice
Strawberries and mint leaves to serve (if desired)

1. Put ice cubes into glass
2. Squeeze lime wedge into glass and put the whole wedge into the glass
3. Put a teaspoon of passionfuit pulp in glass
4. Pour Guava nectar into glass till about 1/3 full
5. Top up with soda water
6. Push a fresh strawberry onto side of glass to garnish if desired. 7. If you want a minty touch to it, just rip a mint leave in half (to realease aroma) and place in glass.

Enjoy;
Lauren x