Put the chocolate and coconut oil into a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over a small saucepan with a 1cm/3/8in depth of water in the bottom. Turn the heat on low and wait for the chocolate to melt. Once it starts melting, stir so that the coconut oil is evenly dispersed. Take off the heat once the chocolate is glossy and fluid. These little sweets came about one autumn when we found the ground on our usual path to school scattered with walnuts. After dropping the boys off I rushed home, scooping up as many nuts along the way as I could carry. Everyone goes on about the palaver of the turkey come December 25, but some of the best festive cooking at this time of year is actually spent in the run-up to the big day.

Advent: traditional Christmas baking recipes by Anja Dunk Advent: traditional Christmas baking recipes by Anja Dunk

But I got there in the end, made sure my little sausages of cookie dough were far enough apart on the baking tray so they didn’t spread into each other in the oven, and was pleased with the final result. In one bite-sized biscuit, they swept me directly to cold snowy cobbled streets with people’s breath hanging in clouds under the glow of street lamps. There was just something about them that seemed so old-fashioned that was hard to put my finger on – the vodka somehow brought a mysterious feeling of cold into your mouth. Cut the marzipan into 1cm/3/8in squares and, using a fork held horizontally with the tines pointing upwards to balance the marzipan on, dip each square carefully into the chocolate, Baking as a vegan is often pretty hit or miss, but this was a definite win – probably because few of the ingredients had to be changed, it was just subbing out the butter for a dairy-free alternative and using golden syrup instead of honey. The biscuits weren’t soft or crumbly like shortbread or cookie (that’s down to the rye flour) – but tasted more like gingerbread.On the principle that it’s never too early to start thinking ahead, really, and that Christmas is always on us before we know, how about Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas? Christmas is about the small things in life, much as hygge is, and establishing what you want from Christmas and then being able to say no to the excess is important. The book has hints and tips that hopefully will help you enjoy what is, too often, a frantic season.

Advent: Festive German bakes to celebrate the coming of Advent: Festive German bakes to celebrate the coming of

Heat the cream in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring from time to time to avoid it scorching on the bottom. Take it off the heat just before it comes to a boil. Add the chocolate and butter or coconut oil, and stir with a wooden spoon until both are dissolved. Mix in the Kirschwasser and beat for a minute until smooth and glossy. Refrigerate for 45 minutes so it stiffens up slightly. Goat’s cheese and honey – switch the mushrooms for 200g goat’s cheese. Drizzle 1 tbsp honey on each portion, and sprinkle with thyme and some snipped chives before serving. Cut out a round piece of paper just larger than the cake. Fold it into four and cut an intricate snowflake design out of it. Unfold the piece of paper and lay it on top of the cake. Dust the top with icing sugar before carefully removing the paper. You should be left with a beautiful delicate snowflake on top of your cake. There must be thousands of Lebkuchen recipes,” says the London-based cook, food writer and artist, whose mother is German and father is Welsh. “Just like we do in the U.K., everyone has a family Christmas pudding recipe and it’s the same (in Germany).” This is best eaten within a couple of hours after it’s baked. Or you can wrap it in foil and store in an airtight tin; it will keep for up to 3 days, after which it is still fine to toast for a further 2 days.The first stage is certainly easy. All I need to do is weigh out flour, sugar, chopped almonds and candied ginger (hopefully crystallised ginger counts as the same thing, as that’s all the supermarket had) and bung it all in a mixing bowl, along with a pinch of sea salt, a teaspoon of baking powder and some chopped dark chocolate, which I break into pieces with my fingers. I give it all a good stir before adding in three eggs and mixing into a dough.

Advent by Anja Dunk (Festive German Bakes to Book Friday: Advent by Anja Dunk (Festive German Bakes to

Available as just an ebook, and a short, sharp read, is Enjoying a Self-Care Christmas: Easy Ways to keep the Joy of Christmas, and your Sanity, intact. It’s an easy read, with ideas and hints to keep you sane through the season. The self-care advent calendar is one I’ve followed for a few years now, and it really is a small daily dose of calm in a manic month. Next, I’m meant to spoon it onto a lined tray and create a log shape. My dough is very sloppy though, so my log instantly looks like it’s been through a mangle. I sprinkle demerara sugar on top as instructed then pop it in the oven, wondering whether I’ll end up with a biscotti pancake. I chose this recipe for two reasons. I like biscotti (and especially the sound of ginger and chocolate) plus I imagined they’d be relatively simple to make.Mix all the ingredients thoroughly together in a bowl and store in an airtight jar for up to a year. Put all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon. Add the butter and mix it into the flour using your fingertips until it has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. The process was a bit fiddlier than your average biscuit – you have to roll out the dough, cut heart shapes, blob jam in the middle and cover with a slightly bigger heart on top. My efforts weren’t the most finessed – as shown by bits of jam pouring out after baking – but it still tasted delicious. Crumble the yeast (or sprinkle if using dried) into the tepid milk and stir to dissolve. Pour the yeasted milk into the flour mixture and, using your hands, bring the ingredients together into a rough dough. Tip the dough on to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until it becomes more elastic. Form it into a ball and nestle it into the bottom of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1-3 hours until almost doubled in size. (Alternatively, put the flour, sugar, salt and citrus zests into the bowl of a free-standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the butter and egg. Pour in the yeasted milk and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic. Cover the bowl and set aside, as above.) Put the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat with a hand-held electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and whisk again until combined. Add the grated marzipan, flour, ground almonds, cinnamon and baking powder, then stir until well mixed.