Many of us are short on cash for buying gifts, but we still want to give something special to our family and friends. In these tough times it's daunting if the list of people is more than a few. In the past when I've been in a pinch, I've gotten many thanks for giving sweets -- ones that are out of the ordinary and just a little elegant. Here are instructions (for beginners, too!) to make English toffee, biscotti, fudge, and simple chocolate truffles. Finally, there is a recipe for scented bath salts, because you might have someone on your list who does not eat sweets. I realize that scented bath salts won't be the perfect gift for just anybody...so I am greatful for any ideas you want to share in the comments section...
But if you try these suggestions, you're required to have fun! The goal is to make gifts that are full of love in spite of the fact that they're cost effective. The fun works especially well if you have a lot of people on your holiday list. The more people the merrier, I say! My hope is that with a modest cash investment and an evening (or two) of work, you can make memorable, handmade gifts for all.
Update: I've added suggestions about biscotti and fudge in the appropriate sections with thanks to mcmom and el dorado gal. And there are plenty of other great ideas in the comments, so be sure to have a look.
This diary is long because I want to include a lot of options, so please scroll to the sections that suit you. I hope the instructions are clear enough that a beginner can have great results with these goodies, even on the first day.
Variations on English Toffee
The proportions here are taken from a recipe in Charlie Trotter's Desserts.
Simple English toffee
This toffee recipe is best made in small batches, although one batch alone is enough for a single gift. I like to make 4 or 5 batches, each a different variation, and create toffee samplers for up to 6 people. This stuff packs well, and is a low maintenance. You can break it into randomly sized pieces and toss it into a tin or bag for a rustic appearance, or you can cut it into precise shapes as it sets, and box it for a more tailored effect. If you're artistic, you might think about forms (flowers, for example) you can make as the toffee hardens.
I typically use about five batches per half dozen gifts. That uses about a pound of butter, a pint of cream, and four cups of sugar. Using organic ingredients, that's about $10 for 6 gifts of simple English toffee, packaging excluded. If you use conventional ingredients, the cost is much less.
3/4 cup white, granulated sugar
6 tablespoons heavy cream
6 tablespoons butter, cut into pats
1 lightly oiled cutting board
About the ingredients: Do not substitute for the cream or the butter. For a good result, you need cow's butter and cow's cream.
About the cutting board: I prefer to use an oil that can take some heat, like canola or grapeseed (best price for these is at Trader Joes), but any vegetable oil will be fine. The board needs to be at least 10" square.
Combine the cream and sugar in a heavy saucepan, and then top with the butter pieces. I use a 2 quart pan, and the toffee mixture is about 1 inch deep when it's cooking. Over medium heat, let the mixture start to bubble -- the butter will melt and incorporate itself into the liquid. Do not stir! As the mixture starts to bubble, it will brown unevenly; try to keep the color even by swirling the liquid in the pan every once in a while. When the mixture is a medium to dark amber color, remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture onto the cutting board.
When the mixture is firm enough to cut, you can slice the toffee as you wish. I sometimes roll it into tubes or make spirals. If you want to try and cut flower petals or such, you have to work quickly and have patience -- when it cools completely, it will harden and become brittle. Usually, I just let it harden, and the break toffee into randomly sized pieces. There are no rules about presenting toffee, so use your imagination.
Beginner's Box
If you've never made toffee before, it might take a couple of tries before you get the result you want. No matter -- you'll catch on soon enough.
I am a mother, so I can't help myself but to say this: Toffee is mad dangerous stuff when it's hot. Do not make this with young children nearby, and do not spill it on anything that can't take lots of heat. And do not try to handle it until you're sure it's cool enough. Tootsies be safe.
About color: If the toffee is too light, it will be underdone and some of the sugar will still be grainy. Once you get the toffee past the grainy stage, though, the color is a matter of taste. The darker you make the toffee the more bitter it will be. While I advise against burning it, a darker toffee can be really good. Do not be discouraged if your batches aren't all exactly the same color! A little variation is good, anyway.
When you get the hang of it, you might want to try to make some nut brittle, too...
Oh -- and make sure that you wash the pan clean with hot water between batches. Depending on its condition, you might wipe and re-oil the cutting board, too.
Fun with toffee: Nut brittle
You will want to pick the density of nuts in the toffee to suit your own taste. I use 5-6 ounces of nut per batch of toffee.
Put the nuts in a large bowl, oil a cutting board, and then make a batch of toffee. When the toffee is done, pour it into the bowl over the nuts, mixing, and then quickly transfer the nut/toffee mixture to the cutting board to harden. Be sure to work quickly, and expect some of the toffee to stick to everything it touches.
This works well with peanuts, almonds, cashews, macadamia pieces, whatever. You might want to lightly sprinkle salt on the outside of the brittle as it hardens, as well.
Suggested recipe: Mock Rainforest Crunch
Anybody remember Rainforest Crunch? Here is a good knockoff...
1 batch of Simple English Toffee
3 ounces cashews
3 ounces Brazil nuts
A sprinkle of salt (optional, but recommended)
Use the above ingredients to make nut brittle as described above. This one is really good when it's lightly salted.
More fun with toffee: Covered in chocolate
Use 4 oz of chocolate for 1 batch of toffee.
Melt 3 ounces of chocolate chips in a double boiler (there is a beginner's box about this in the truffles section of this diary), and remove the pan that contains the chocolate from the heat. A the 1 ounce unmelted chocolate to the 3 ounces in the pan. Beat the chocolate with a spoon to consistency. When the chocolate is about body temperature, pour it over freshly hardened toffee.
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Variations on Biscotti
These biscotti are based on a recipe from Cook's Illustrated 6, Jan/Feb 1994.
Biscotti make great gifts, because they ship well and have a long shelf life. They are a little out of the ordinary for a homemade cookie, which makes them a great gift choice, as well. I didn't bother to quantify the cost of a batch of biscotti, but they are pretty inexpensive to make. Each batch makes 3-4 dozen small biscotti, or 1-2 dozen large.
Basic Biscotti
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white, granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.
-- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
-- Whisk sugar and eggs in a large bowl until the mixture becomes a light lemon color.
-- Stir vanilla extract into the egg and sugar mixture. (This is the point where you will add spices and flavorings to the dough when you make variations.)
-- Sift dry ingredients over the egg mixture, and the fold until the dough is combined.
First baking: Split the dough into two equal pieces. Stretch each dough half into a 13" by 2" log, and place them a few inches apart on an oiled cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees on a middle rack for about 35 minutes, or until the loaves are golden and starting to crack on the top.
Remove the loaves from the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Allow the loaves to cool for 15-20 minutes.
Second baking: Cut each loaf with a serrated knife on a diagonal into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Return the individual biscotti to a cookie sheet, and bake at 325 for 8 minutes on a side.
Beginner's Box
This dough is sticky, so it can be a little nasty to work with if you're not prepared. When you make the loaves, half the dough while it's still in the bowl, and flour your hands well. I sprinkle a little flour on each half before I pick it up, as well. If you keep a layer of flour between your hands and the dough, though, you'll have no trouble.
When you cut the biscotti before the second baking, the diagonal angle that your knife makes with the loaf determines the size -- I like to make small biscotti, so I cut mine just off-perpendicular to the loaf at an angle similar to how some people slice a baguette.
About dryness: The shelf life for biscotti is about three weeks if you dry them as above. Choose the cookies' dryness as a tactile preference, as some people like their biscotti drier than others. A lot will depend on whether or not they want to dunk. If you skip the second baking and leave the biscotti out to air overnight, they will be plenty dry, but will have a bit of chew left in the center. This is ideal for a biscotti that might not get dunked. You might find that the shelf life is shorter if you skip the second bake, but the biscotti will still keep for a couple of weeks.
Suggested recipe: Coffee-Cocoa Biscotti
Replace 1/4 cup flour in the basic recipe with 1-2 tablespoons ground coffee and 2 tablespoons cocoa. Prepare biscotti as described above.
When the biscotti are dried and cool, coat half of each cookie with a layer of chocolate. Beginners -- see the section on truffles for instructions on coating things with chocolate.
Fun with biscotti: Spicing variations
A choice of good combinations is:
-- 1 tablespoon grated, minced lemon zest and 1 tablespoon anise seed. Stir these into the egg and sugar mixture.
-- 1 teaspoon each ground cloves, ground cinnamon, and ground ginger. Sift these into the dry ingredients.
-- Reduce the sugar in the basic dough recipe by 1/3 cup and add 3 tablespoons honey, as well as 2 tablespoons grated, minced orange zest to the egg and sugar mixture.
-- Add 3/4 cup whole almonds that you've toasted and roughly chopped. When the biscotti are dried and cool, coat each with a layer of chocolate. Leave one end of the biscuit bare.
Update: el dorado gal has a great suggestion for biscotti:
I often give Christmas cookies as gifts but never dared to try biscotti until a few years ago. My SIL convinced me that I could do it, and now it is one of the favorites that I make. The recipe that I make has dried cranberries, unroasted pistachios, lemon rind and aniseseed. It really is delicious.
Sounds great, el dorado gal! Thanks...
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Variations on Chocolate Truffles
This recipe is based on trial, error, and a talent for creating excuses to sample chocolates.
This is a crude version of something you might find in a fine chocolate shop. It's is meant to be fast, easy, and cheap, but still make people feel like you've done something special for them. I highly recommend giving these at holiday time, as they are almost universally appreciated.
One batch makes about 3 dozen truffles, and costs less than $10 when using organic butter and cream with Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can economize further by using cheaper ingredients, although it might impact your result. One batch can yield a lot of gifts for $10, though...
Basic Chocolate Truffle
12 ounces chocolate chips
¾ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Another 8-10 ounces of chocolate chips for dipping.
Melt the ingredients together in a double boiler and stir until they are consistent. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a bowl and refrigerate for about two hours, stirring every once in a while. The mixture will thicken, and you will be able to scoop it out of the bowl to form balls any size up to about 1 inch in diameter. I sometimes leave the mixture in the refrigerator overnight and scoop the balls the next day.
Option 1 – Dress truffles with dry coating: After you form the balls, return them to the refrigerator and let them cool to set for an hour or so. Afterward, roll each ball in powdered cocoa, cinnamon, chopped coconut, chopped nuts, etc. This is quick, but not a great option for warm climates or for truffles that will sit at room temperature very long. Always store these in the refrigerator, and serve cold.
Option 2 (recommended for gifts) -- Dress truffles with melted chocolate: After you form the balls, chill them for 10-30 minutes so that they don't melt when you apply the coating. To make the coating, melt 5-6 ounces of the dipping chocolate in a double boiler, stirring. Once the chocolate melts, remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the remaining 3-4 ounces. Stir until all of the chips melt and the chocolate is smooth, then let the dipping chocolate cool to about body temperature. Dip the cold truffle balls in the dipping chocolate, and allow the coating to set.
If you want, you can roll the chocolate-covered truffle in a dry coating as well. Allow the chocolate covered truffle to set for a few minutes, until the chocolate coating is hard enough that you can handle it, but still tacky enough for a dry coating to stick. Roll the coated truffles in your choice of cocoa, chopped nuts, cinnamon, etc.
Fun with chocolate truffles
-- Add a tablespoon or two of liqueur to the basic truffle recipe. Frangelico, Kahlua, Grand Marnier or Cointreau, and Irish Creme are great choices if you have them laying around. Creme de Mint, too. The alcohol might affect the setting hardness. If you find that this is a problem for you, you could try boiling off the alcohol, or use a non-alcoholic syrup. I've used the liqueur straight up in the past, though, and have gotten good results.
-- You could try adding a tablespoon or two of flavored syrup in the basic recipe. I've never done it, so I can't promise a good result.
-- Make the basic recipe from white chocolate. This is not so frugal because you must use real white chocolate. Add some vanilla extract to the truffle mixture. Really extravagent version: Heat 3/4 cup cream and steep it with a vanilla bean for a few hours, strain, and use it in the white chocolate version of the basic recipe.
Beginner's Box
About a double boiler: If you try to melt chocolate on a stove top, it will get too hot and burn. The best way to melt chocolate is in a double boiler, which holds and inset pan in a water bath -- which has the benefit of never bringing the chocolate above the boiling temperature of water. If you don't have a double boiler, you can heat a saucepan filled with chocolate in a larger pan filled with hot water. This is potentially dangerous, though, because it will be easy to burn yourself. If you choose to do this, make sure that you protect yourself from the scalding (or boiling) water.
About coating things with chocolate: If the chocolate is too hot it will be too thin, and if it's too cool it will be too thick. To get the right thickness, melt 2/3 of my dipping chocolate in a double boiler and then stir in the rest. As you stir, the chocolate you added will melt and help to cool/thicken the chocolate you just took off the heat. Keep stirring until the melted chocolate is the thickness you want. You might want the coating to be a little bit thinner for biscotti, but thicker for truffles. If it gets too thick, just put it over the boiler again for a minute and repeat the stirring.
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Chocolate Fudge
This fudge is a family recipe.
Homemade fudge is great for beginners!
Basic chocolate fudge
2/3 cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa (or 2 ounces melted chocolate)
2 cups sugar
dash salt
2 tablespoons butter
1tsp vanilla
In a saucepan, heat the milk and cocoa/chocolate until mixture is smooth. Stir in the sugar and salt, and cook over medium heat -- stirring from the bottom of the pan to keep it from burning. When the mixture gets to the soft ball stage (measures to 236 degrees -- or see Beginner's Box), remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
When the butter and vanilla are combined into the fudge, transfer the mixture to a small cake pan where you will leave it set for a few hours. After it hardens, cut it into serving sized squares.
Update: mcmom makes an important point about making fudge:
Grandma Simer's applesauce cake, and her recipe for fudge, which is similar to yours, EXCEPT, cool it in the pan until it is tepid, then whip it with a wooden spoon until it is no longer glossy, at which point, get it in a buttered pan ASAP. If it sets up to quick, return to low heat with a little cream, and as soon as it is hot again, pour it into the buttered pan.
These are important details. I got carried away talking about the softball stage, and forgot this last bit. If you don't follow her instructions at the end, you'll get a glossy creature that you'll have to scrape out of the pan with a butter knife!!! Thanks, mcmom!
You can vary the fudge by using different kinds of chocolate or flavors of cocoa. Another option I might try (and haven't) is to add liqueur or flavored syrup (up to 1 tablespoon) to the mixture before it cooks.
Beginner's Box
What is the soft ball stage? I've heard cooks argue over whether or not it's a good metric for making decisions about confections. It works for basic fudge, though.
To determine when your fudge is in the softball stage, keep a glass of ice water (cold, cold, cold) next to the stove, and toss a little bit of fudge into the water once in a while. If it makes a soft ball when it hits the water, it's there.
With fudge, you have to boil and stir and boil and stir, and you might wonder if it will ever reach the right temperature. When the fudge in merely warm, it will just disintegrate into the ice water when you drizzle a little into the glass. As it gets hotter it will form flakes. A little hotter, you'll get little disks. Let it get hotter, and it will clump into balls. You're okay, so long as you're stirring and not letting it burn! You'll get there, though, I promise. It just takes a little time and patience. A lot of the water from the milk has to boil off before you can get to the softball stage. And if your fudge doesn't work the first time, try again. When you've done it right once, you'll be able to do anytime.
I didn't quantify how much a batch of fudge costs. You could almost make it from the dregs of the other gift projects in this diary...
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Basic Bath Salts
In the past, I've made these for my girlfriends who cannot eat sweets. The salt base is inexpensive, but the cost of the gift depends on how much essential oil you want to use and how you package the salts for the gift. Essential oil can get pricey, but one small bottle of oil can produce a lot of bath salts.
Bath Salts.
4 parts Epsom salts
2 parts sea salt (regular table salt is okay, too.)
1 part baking soda
essential oil
Mix the salts together in a bowl, and stir in essential oil to scent it as strongly as you want. I'll say 1 cup Epsom salt, 1/2 cup sea salt, and 1/4 cup baking soda will need 10-20 good shakes of essential oil.
I'll typically use one oil, or a mixture of up the three oils in a batch of bath salts. Just pick your favorite essential oil -- which you can find at health food stores, drug stores, and even some major groceries.
I like to use Ylang Ylang for gifts. I'm not a great aromatherapist, though, so I don't have any great advise. I'll suggest that you pick what you like. Or pick what you think your friends might like. Most essential oil displays have testers, so you can get an idea how the salts will smell.
If you want to try this and have the means, dress up quart sized canning jars and fill them with finished bath salts. If you make several different scents, you can dress up smaller jars (maybe jam sized) and make bath salts samplers. If you want, you can include some loose tea or tea bags with the gifts, as well.
On a smaller budget, you can use always use plastic bags and wrap them with ribbon and tissue paper.
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I wish you all a happy holiday season, and hope you are blessed with whatever gives you peace and comfort. I want to especially thank sarahnity for starting this great series and for letting me take part in Frugal Fridays this week. And if you're still reading, thank you so much for sticking around!
Please tell me your frugal gifts ideas in the comments section. :)