Marzipan In Blankets

Let's start a Christmas bake countdown!

If you have any Europeans in your life (especially of the German or Scandi persuasion) they will be all over this. It’s basically gingerbread wrapped around a big old chunk of marzipan.

As all good German Christmas cookie recipes go, this makes about a million little morsels and you won’t be disappointed. The spice mix is the one I return to again and again, you will recognise it from my spiced cupcake recipe. It's versatile, warming and deeply flavoured and one of my favourite ingredients in my pantry!

Ingredients for the nuggets

• 125g honey
• 75g brown sugar
• 65g butter
• 275g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp spice mix spices
• 300g marzipan

For the spice mix

• 6 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 bits of star anise
• cinnamon bark
• 6 cardamom pods

Makes loads. Like 6 dozen

Method

Combine all the spice ingredients in a bowl and mix well, you can store the excess in a glass jar and use again and again.

Put the honey, sugar, and butter in a large saucepan and melt together over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool completely.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and spice mix. Make a well and pour in the cooled honey mixture and knead together.

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Divide the marzipan into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion out to a roughly 20cm-long, 1cm width roll.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into 8 equal portions.

Roll out each portion of dough between two pieces of cling film to around a 10 x 25cm rectangle.

Remove the top piece of plastic wrap. Brush the dough very thinly with cold water.

Put one of the marzipan rolls lengthwise on the dough and press it down lightly, before rolling the marzipan in the dough..

Trim off one end of the roll at a 45-degree angle and cut the log with diagonal slices to the left and right.

Place on a lined baking tray and continue with the rest of the dough/marzipan portions.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden and set on a wire rack to cool and firm up.