Monday 1 January 2007

Brandy Snap Baskets

I've always loved brandy snaps. Indeed we had brandy snap baskets (filled with strawberries if the old grey matter is serving me ok) for desert on our wedding day. I've never attempted home made though, and was most impressed when my friend served home made ones for her Christmas Day party. She assured me they weren't difficult, just a bit fiddly. Twirly boy is a fellow devotee, so I thought I'd have a bash at making them for our New Year pud. MacMan wasn't too thrilled, as he's not so keen.

Brandy Snaps

4 tbsps. golden syrup
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp brandy
4 tbsps. flour
4 tbsps. brown sugar
grated rind of half a lemon
4 oz. (125g) butter
Nutmeg

  • Warm together the butter, sugar and syrup until melted then remove from heat
  • Blend in the flour, nutmeg, ginger and lemon then add the brandy (as usual, I had to make a substitution as I didn't have the correct ingredients. We didn't have any brandy, so I used a tbsp sherry instead, which worked fine.
  • Beat well together then drop spoonfuls of the mixture, well spaced apart on to greased baking sheetsBake at 180C for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown
  • Lift each snap off the baking sheet with a palette knife and roll them up over the handle of a greased wooden spoon, or for baskets shape over the bottom of an upturned glass.
  • Slip off and allow to cool.
  • Serve with whipped cream, ice-cream, fruit etc.

The brandy snaps turned out really well. I found I needed to leave plenty of space between the biscuits as the mixture spreads a lot. And it was easier to shape them if allowed to cool for just a couple of minutes. Twirly boy was really chuffed to be served one of his fav deserts. And even MacMan liked them - saying they were so much nicer than bought ones. I served them with a scrummy gingerbread ice-cream. It's apparently limited edition for Christmas time, but seems to be really popular so I'm hoping it becomes a regular flavour! Anyway, this new flavour went really well with the brandy snaps.

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