Cocktail biscuits

It was time to bake the spicy bunch of assorted biscuits that I'm planning to serve at New Year Eve, to soothe the hangover khhmm or something ;).
Spicy here really means spicy, if you prefer them milder (or want to serve it for children as well) reduce the amount of cayenne pepper and leave the black pepper out of the tomato pure.

Ingredients
375 g (3 cups) plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dry mustard
200 g - 225 g butter, (3/4 - 1 cup), depending what cheese you use, with Cheddar both work fine
125 g (1cup) grated Cheddar cheese
sour cream, 0-3 spoons, depends how many it takes for the dough to cling together
Optional: 1 egg yolk or 1 whole egg (beaten), for harder biscuits.

Makes the dough easier to work with, a bit harder the biscuits, though.. If you are baking with kids and want a less fragile dough add the whole egg.

Flavorings
1 tsp sesame seeds (white or black)
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp curry paste
2 tsp tomato pure (add pinch of minced black pepper or chilly of you like them spicy)

In a bowl mix flour, salt, cayenne and mustard, and rub in finely the butter.
Stir the cheese until clings together mixing with a fork, and kneed to form a soft dough. If it is too crumbly add sour cream
Cut the pastry into 4 pieces, each will get a different seasoning.

Add the sesame seeds to one part, poppy seeds to another, and make about 15 cm (6 in) rolls. Wrap them into plastic wrap not to dry, put them in the fridge.
Next roll the remaining 2 pieces of pastry into 20x15 cm rectangles. Spread on one piece the curry paste and the tomato puree on the other.
Roll up each from the short edge to form firm rolls (you can actually roll them whichever edge you want, I chose the short one because I like to have more layers in my roll).
You can use a clear plastic wrap to roll if you find it difficult to roll the dough on its own. Wrap them in plastic bag and chill all rolls until firm, about 1 hour in the fridge (20 min in freezer if you are in a hurry). You can even leave them overnight, so it helps you prepare for the party in advance.

Preheat oven to 180 C (360 F).
Cut each roll into thin slices and bake for 10-14 minutes on trays lined with baking parchment.
You can easily store them in airtight containers for 2 weeks.

I made another batch with Guyere cheese, which is much dryer than the Cheddar. If you are using other, not so sticky, cheese as well, add the egg yolk, it will make your life easier when rolling out, cutting, etc. And add a bit less butter, I felt that with the Guyere 200 butter would have worked better, the reason why I slightly adjusted the recipe.

White glögi - white Finnish spicy Xmas drink

The white version of the glögi is not so common, but delicious, and I like it very much as a diversity, especially served with tähtitorttu, the Finnish puff pastry, baked preferably with apricot jam and vanilla cream instead of plum marmalade. Tonight I had only piparkakku, but it was great nevertheless..

Ingredients
1 l (4 cups) apple juice
500 ml water
~30 cloves
1 star anise (if you don't have, or like, anise, you can just leave it out or replace it with cloves)
small piece of raw ginger (can be replaced with additional pinch of cloves, or left out)
2 tsp whole cardamom seeds
1 lemon peel, grated
300 ml white grape juice
for ADULTS replace the grape juice with 300 ml white wine (or just add it) and add 50 ml sugar if needed
If you like life spicy, you can add one small chilly as well :) - I added a small pinch of black pepper to my glass

Serving tips
yellow raisins
sliced almond


First of all, the kitchen is not the pharmacy. Use your eye and taste buds to be your guide when measuring the ingredients. If you have small leftovers when mixing the juices don't let them orphaned in the fridge, add them to the mix. :)
Boil on very low heat the water with the spices for 15 min. Add the non-alcoholic ingredients and bring to boil. Add the white wine and chilly.
Serve with raisins and almond. Great accompaniment for puff pastry or ginger bread.