Holiday baking tips from Vancouver chef Eleanor Waterfall

Sugar and spice and everything nice — that's what holiday treats are made of.

But if the thought of baking a batch of gingerbread cookies makes you crumble, never fear! The CBC's Margaret Gallagher headed to Cadeaux Bakery to get some seasonal tips from owner and chef Eleanor Waterfall.

When it comes to holiday baking with children at home, Waterfall says she likes to keep it simple.

"I always stick to like a shortbread, which is really simple, it's three or four ingredients, the kids can help and it's super fun. Gingerbread is always fun as well, something you can decorate. And then I usually go for something chocolatey."

Waterfall has shared a shortbread recipe, which can be found below. But first, some baking tips.

1. Know your batch size

When asked what kind of mistakes people make in the kitchen, Waterfall says underestimating batch size is a common one.

"I actually was talking to a girlfriend who said yes to a cookie party before she read the fine print. She realized she had to make eight dozen cookies. Just keep in mind how much you have to make and buy accordingly so you don't have either too much or too little."

2. Be prepared before inviting kids to take part

"Make sure that you have all your ingredients already scaled. Then let them help you with mixing it. I think the fun part for them is definitely the decorating part. I use little parchment paper bags to kind of make piping bags and they just go to town. And I'll always have an assortment of candy so they can eat. 'One for me, one for the cookie, one for me, one for the cookie.' It's the best."

3. Add some extra spice to your gingerbread

"We definitely use a lot of ginger. nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves. We also use a little bit of pepper just to add a little bit more spice. Whenever I do Christmas baking I add a few extra spices just to keep it exciting… [like] cardamom, I love cardamom."

4. Make your shortbread shine

"Add ingredients that people don't necessarily add. Perhaps some lemon zest or some orange zest. Even some lime zest would make it really cool. There's also talk of lavender shortbread which we do make here."

And if you're looking for a new shortbread to make this year, Waterfall has offered up the following recipe.

Lemon-scented shortbread

Ingredients: 

• 400 g butter
• 200 g icing sugar
• ¼ t salt
• zest of one whole lemon
• 4 pc egg yolks (room temperature)
• 500 g all-purpose flour – sifted

Directions:

• Cream together butter and icing sugar on low speed just until mixed well
• Add lemon zest and incorporate
• Add egg yolk a couple at a time and fully incorporate – scrape bowl as needed
• Add salt and flour and mix just until all comes together
• Divide dough, flatten into disk, wrap in saran and refrigerate to rest for at least 30 min
• Once rested roll out to 2-3 cm thick
• Cut into bars or use shaped cutters
• Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes

Note: 

Don't over beat butter and sugar as it will incorporate too much air and cookies will become very brittle and powdery

Bake at 325 degrees Celsius

To hear more from Waterfall click the link: Holiday baking tips from Vancouver chef Eleanor Waterfall