Sun-blushed Christmas crackers
Authentic turmeric powder turns a golden red when baked, a beautiful colour for these simple wheat crackers. Seeded and gently salty, they're a perfect gift to give with a jar of tapenade, muhammara, or ajvar, and a bottle of red wine. If they lose their crispness in the bag, they can be reheated gently until crisp again, though the best way to avoid this is by wrapping them as soon as they're cold and sealing the bag with as little air as possible.
Ingredients
200g white bread flour, plus extra for rolling
40g fine cornmeal
2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
40g sunflower or olive oil
100g cold water
seeds for the top, like wattle-seed, white or black sesame, or poppy
Method
Step 1
Put the flour, cornmeal, turmeric, baking soda bicarbonate and salt in a bowl. Add the oil and rub mixture with your fingers until evenly mixed. Add the water and knead to a dough, then wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Step 2
The easiest way to roll the dough out is with a pasta machine, using a third of the dough each time and gradually reducing taking the thickness down to its lowest setting, as you would do with pasta. Otherwise, If you're rolling them by hand, use a little flour and roll the dough (a third at a time) as far as it will stretch, then cover and leave for 5 minutes before rolling it out further. Ideally you want the dough no more than 2mm thick.
Step 3
Cut the dough into strips or circles, brush with hot water, sprinkle with seeds and bake at 200C (180C fan-forced) for 5-10 minutes until crisp and golden. If you roll them thicker, bake at 150C fan for about 20 minutes or until crisp. Pack in cellophane bags as soon as they're cold, tying each bag with a ribbon.
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