The 5 essential elements while waiting for Christmas

11/22/2021

December the 1st is the day when we officially enter the Advent period! This period is very important to put yourself in the mood of Christmas: it is the moment when you want to have fun, to get warm and cocoon!

To enjoy this period in the most beautiful way, discover our 5 essential elements:

1. The Advent Calendar

It is THE Advent product par excellence! It officially launches the countdown to Christmas.

Today there is one for everyone, every taste and every budget. There are of course the great classics, composed of chocolate, the refined, composed of tea, herbal tea and infusions and also the most unexpected, with selections for lovers of beer or rum.

The choice is great and everyone will inevitably find the one they like!

Advent calendar

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2. Hot Chocolate

With the arrival of winter and its low temperatures, we want sweetness, we need a good hot chocolate to cocoon!

This drink symbolizes greed and comfort. Consumed all over the world, it comes in a multitude of combinations. It is usually made with dark chocolate but more and more often we also also find it in versions with white chocolatecaramel or spicy!

And that's not all! The secret for a good hot chocolate is also in the elements we add to garnish it. Mini marshmallows, cinnamon, whipped cream: there are many ideas. In Ireland in particular, we usually add a few drops of whiskey!

Whittard Hot Chocolate

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3. Homemade Shortbreads

Nothing better to accompany your hot chocolate than delicious cookies or shortbreads that come straight out of the oven!

Shortbread is a must this season. With cookie cutters they take all the forms you want and with little imagination you give them a festive look very easily!

shortbreads

Ingredients for 24 shortbreads:

- 150g of flour
- 75g of butter
- 75g of powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 hint of salt

Preparation :

1/ Carefully mix flour, powdered sugar, salt and butter cut into small pieces, pressing and rubbing palms of hands together to make a "sandy" whole (be careful that the butter is not too soft nor too hard).

2/ Add the egg to this mixture. Make a ball.
Mash the dough with the palm of your hand several times to blend. Cover with a film of flour and let stand in a cool place for about 30 minutes, covered with a cloth.

3/ Preheat the oven to 200°. Place the dough on a floured surface and keep flour close by to flour the roll and your hands. Roll out the dough 1/2 cm thick. 

4/ Cut the dough into rounds using a cookie cutter or a glass. Place the shortbread on a buttered baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes in a hot oven, keeping an eye on the cooking: take out the shortbread when it has a golden blond colour. 

4. Winter Cocktails

No, cocktails are not only reserved for summer and the beach, they are drunk all year round! For this, it is only necessary to adapt them to the products of the season.

In winter, we ask them to warm us, they get gourmet and are more often focused on citrus and spices. The whole thing is obviously spiced with alcohol such as beer, whisky, gin, rum, etc.

You have plenty to choose from to select your best winter cocktail recipes. Of course, our heart goes out to the Irish Coffee, to be enjoyed in moderation, of course.


Irish Coffee Recipe :

Ingredients :

- 30 ml of Irish Mist
- 30 ml of Irish cream St Brendan’s
- Hot coffee

Preparation :

Prepare your coffee as you like it. Pour it into a small saucepan over low heat. Add the alcohol, then let it heat until it simmers. Transfer the mixture into your favourite cup and top it off with milk mousse or a touch of whipped cream for the gourmet ones.

Irish Coffee

Also discover our great recipe of the Irish Christmas Punch >>

5. The plaid

With all this, we are missing only one thing to be well-prepared for Christmas and the long winter evenings: the plaid! We love to bundle up!

A good novel in one hand, a hot chocolate in the other, our shortbreads out of the oven placed on a nice plate and we quietly sit in a corner of the sofa, between two cushions.

Made of mohair or lambswool, Irish plaid woven according to ancestral methods brings warmth, colour and softness to your interior. 

Plaid

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Share your photos of your homemade shortbreads or of your Irish Coffee on Instagram with the hashtag #lecomptoirirlandais so we can share it!

Article written by Manon C.

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