Oh, I'm so happy.
Oh, you're the best Christmas present ever, Tills.
Aww. And look, she's got my name on.
Mmm.
Aww, baby!
[Claudia chuckles]
Hello, and welcome to day four of Christmastide – otherwise known as
day five because I got the norovirus and took a day off.
C: Is it, ‘Four French hens…’?
J: Three French hens; four calling birds.
C: Ah. Why are there so many birds?
J: This will make sense later when we unwrap our present of the day!
C: Yay! Can we do it now?
J: No.
J: I haven't wrapped yours yet.
C: Aww.
J: But thank you very much for my gift today. C: Yeah.
J: In the form of Tilly.
C: Dogs are not just for Christmas. J: They’re for every Christmas.
C: And all year through.
J: I have decided that rather than the plan of what we were gonna do for the video today, blah blah blah,
we would do something nice and easy
and bake together.
C: OK! J: In a loving way, dear wife.
C: I don't like baking.
J: No. But I do!
J: So—and it's even easier, because I got...
J: Look, it's a pre-made
J: Christmas gingerbread star tree C: Mmhm.
J: from Waitrose!
C: So it's actually just-- J: Not sponsored!
J: It's really pretty.
C: So it’s more of an assembly.
J: You say that,
but
it's a mix
and then you add water to it, and then you bake it.
J: So I guess that is baking.
C: Ooh. J: Ooh.
J: That's how today’s going.
J: I also have edible gold stars
J: so we can decorate our tree! C: Cool!
J: And it will be beautiful.
J: OK. Where's the box?
[Music]
J: The box has got the instructions on. C: Thought we didn't need that any more.
J: OK!
C: Can we not do it like [TV presenter voice], "You need two sachets of golden syrup;
one green icing
...and here's one we made earlier!"?
Da-da! End of video!
[Music]
J: OK. C: No?
J: But we didn't buy two of these.
C: Aww. J: But yeah, we can go straight to that.
C: I get that this is meant to be a fun activity.
C: Look at Tills. She's like how I feel.
C: Aww, now you're a wizard.
J: How do you think I feel? This is the first time I've got outside of bed in two days.
J: Inside, we’ve got the gingerbread mix.
C: Check.
J: Golden syrup. C: Check.
J: Royal green icing mix. C: Check.
J: Sparkly icing sugar.
C: Edible gold stars? J: No, that's different.
C: Oh. Sweet Snow, it's called.
J: Waitrose, you lied to me.
J: Piping bag
and stencil!
J: Oh, which is inside the box. [Claudia giggles]
J: Let's do it. C: Let's go!
J: Empty the two sachets of golden syrup and the 70 grams of unsalted butter into a deep saucepan.
J: Heat on the hob (only on medium heat)
until the mixture begins to boil,
then remove from the heat.
Chuck the gingerbread mix into the hot syrup and using a wooden spoon,
mix until a dough is formed.
J: Claudia! Stop eating it!
J: Empty the mixture out onto the table and knead with your hands until it’s smooth.
J: Be careful - it will be hot.
J: Using flour to dust, roll out the dough using a rolling pin
to approximately five millimetres thick.
J: Cut out three of each star size
using the stencils provided printed inside the carton,
starting with the large and trimming each one off as you go.
J: Place these onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment
and bake in the centre of a preheated oven
160 °C fan
for approximately twelve minutes.
J: Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray
C: Mmm, smells good!
J: Royal icing mix:
J: Empty the sachet of royal icing mix into a clean
[Jessica laughing loudly]
C: Is this part of the narrative?
J: I think I took too much cold medication and now I’m hysterical!
C: ...OK.
J: Empty the sachet of royal icing mix into a clean, grease-free mixing bowl.
J: Add twenty milligrams of cold water and beat using a wooden spoon
for five minutes until it's light in texture.
J: Alternatively, use a handheld or tabletop whisk.
C: Jessica got a bit distracted with hysterics.
[Jessica giggles]
[Jessica laughs]
C: She finds it very funny.
J: Consistency can be adjusted by adding either more icing sugar
or water.
J: Claudia added more icing sugar
to make it thicker
[Claudia stirring]
but she didn't sieve it,
so...
Good luck getting those lumps out.
Place into the piping bag provided once mixed.
J: I don't know that I’ve ever seen anyone do this with a ladle before. [Claudia giggles]
C: I wasn't sure what you're meant to use.
J: I had hysterics and ruined my eye make-up.
C: Yes. J: No one mention anything.
C: Right, so.
C: How do you put this tree together?
J: Using a small amount of royal icing,
stick the star biscuits together
starting with the largest first
and rotating slightly each time you add one.
C: Oh, rotating slightly? J: Like this!
J: Beautiful. C: I think it's like nice vice versa, isn't it?
C: Like, with each point. J: Sure, honey.
J: It's your tree.
J: I can't even eat it.
C: Awwww.
J: Go with whatever.
[Sad music] C: They do smell good.
J: I did make those nice cookies with Stevie that I can eat, so...
J: Also, I love how in that video I was like, 'Never! I'm never gonna bake anything from a box!'
[Claudia chuckles]
J: Next: once you have assembled the tree and it’s set, use the remaining royal icing to decorate the tree
using the image on the front as a guide.
J: Claudia? C: Let's have a look.
C: Oh, my gaawd.
C: Is there not even an image of it on the back, like a...?
C: No.
J: Right, so.
J: Now what?
C: Well...
C: You can't eat it. J: True.
C: I don't want this entire tree J: OK.
C: I'm not a big biscuit fan.
J: No. C: Um...
C: Why don't we make, like, some little, like…
gifts?
J: OK!
J: We're gonna turn this failure into something else!
C: Wait.
C: Oh!
C: It does look a little bit like a tree! J: Wooo!
C: [Inaudible] J: OK, OK!
J: We have three people we've not given presents to yet.
J: We could make three mini trees.
C: Like a Christmas bush.
J: They will be receiving a shrub now.
J: That's what's [inaudible] C: A poinsettia!
J: OK! That could work!
C: Which does look like--decorate it with red icing
C: Make it look like a poinsettia. J: Yeah, no, I'm with you! We're gonna make a Christmas poinsettia.
C: Nah!
C: Nah, let's just do some layered, like, nice little star thing
and then put a ribbon round.
C: And a label.
C: And it'll be lovely.
C: Hopefully they don't watch our videos.
C: OK, we've made Christmas poinsettias, everybody!
J: We've saved Christmas, guys!
C: Yay! J: Oh, well done!
J: Let's go.
J: We're gonna start by chopping the end off this piping bag.
I hope you made this icing thick enough
or else it's all gonna go horribly wrong.
C: Oh dear, that is quite runny.
J: Not my best work.
C: I think my friends will be very impressed, you know?
C: Considering that we had norovirus like only like two days ago.
J: Will they, or will they be like, 'Please don't give me food items!'?
J: We didn't think this through. C: True.
C: [Inaudible] got so much finesse, what is going on here?
J: Do you want me to get a knife and spread it on these ones, too?
C: I don't quite know what's happened here.
J: I'm just not having a good time.
C: Aw. J: I mean, this is fun.
J: I'm just...
C: Don’t hit yourself in the head with a knife, Christ!
J: It had butter on! Now there's butter in my hair. C: Darling...
J: Ooh. C: Look, that looks so much neater.
J: OK!
J: Now, I'm too ill and I mess everything up.
J: So...
C: Oh, yes, it is quite glittery.
J: Oh, is it? Let's see.
J: Oooo! Can I--I can...? C: All right, you do that.
J: I'll sprinkle.
C: "Can I? Can I? Can I?!"
C: Yes.
[Festive music]
J: I mean, that's full-on Christmas; if that's not Christmas, I don't know what is.
C: Nah, it's all right, let's eat them.
C: [Inaudible]
[Loud crunching]
[Jessica laughs]
J: What have we learnt from this episode of 'Not Baking
with Jessica and Claudia'?
C: That you can salvage any plan that does not go to plan if you change that plan.
J: Yeah!
J: Always have a malleable plan.
C: Have a plan B, C, D.
C: And make a-- J: Just keep moving those goal posts.
C: Until it's plan G.
C: All right, presents!
J: Wooo!
J: Thank you!
J: In today's other failure... C: I opened mine already!
C: Because I knew what it was.
J: Ahhh!
J: Because it makes a noise like a bird.
C: Yeah!
J: Aw, angel chimes! C: Originally Swedish.
J: Yeah.
C: We wait until the air heats...
[Festive music]
J: Thank you very much for joining us
on this series of misadventures.
C: I love how this one just adds to it.
C: All good things come to those who wait, my love.
J: ...Huh?
C: All good things come to those who wait.
J: Join us tomorrow...
for hopefully better results.
C: Maybe plan A.
J: Yeah.
J: Also, feel free to subscribe if you're not already
but you've somehow made it through to this part of the video.
J: It's been a day.