QUINTESSENTIALLY
Inspiration for seasonal pastimes and making the most of life at home starts here
MERRY & BRIGHT
FEATURE KATY MCLEAN PHOTOGRAPH © BRUNA BRANCO/UNSPLASH
A decadent, home-made Christmas cake, rich with brandy-soaked dried fruit, treacle, brown sugar and spices and lovingly fed a bit of brandy each week, deserves to be beautifully decorated. Why not combine two festive traditions with iced gingerbread to create a snowy town scene. The use of ginger and other spices at Christmas has been embraced since the Middle Ages, with the Germans creating the famed lebkuchenhaus,in the early 1800s, a custom that has been readily adopted by other countries (including England) to create a tempting winter centrepiece, combining spiced biscuits, icing and sweets. Try the National Trust’s gingerbread recipe with clementine and ginger icing for added zing. nationaltrust.org.uk/recipes/gingerbread
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