Christmas food gifts: Gurdeep Loyal’s recipes for Mexican-spiced brittle and savoury pinwheels

Edible Christmas gifts are a great excuse to get experimental with global flavours. For spice lovers, this moreish Mexican brittle, which is inspired by salsa macha (a delicious chilli-crunch), is sweet, salty, smoky, crunchy and has hints of anise. Then, for savoury lovers, some cheesy pinwheel cookies enlivened with XO sauce. XO is a deeply umami condiment from Hong Kong made from dried seafood, salty ham, chilli and spices. Paired with tangy manchego, it adds a funky kick to these crumbly biscuits.

Mexican pumpkin seed and salted spice brittle
Prep 5 min
Cook 25 min, plus cooling
Serves 6-8

100g pumpkin seeds
125g salted peanuts
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tsp ancho chilli powder or smoked paprika
2 tsp smoked salt, crushed to powder
70g butter
300g caster sugar

In a large, dry frying pan or skillet, toast the pumpkin seeds, stirring the whole time, for two to three minutes, until they start to pop and tint brown. Tip into a large bowl and leave to cool completely. Repeat with the peanuts, until they just tint brown, then tip into the bowl.

In the same pan, dry toast the coriander seeds, fennel seeds, caraway seeds and dried oregano for a minute or two, until they take on just a little colour and release their aromas; take care not to burn them. Pour into the nut bowl.

Finally, dry toast the sesame seeds for 30-45 seconds, until they just tint brown, then tip into the bowl. Add the chilli powder and smoked salt, mix well and set aside.

Have ready a large rectangle of nonstick baking paper or a large silicon baking mat. Heat the butter in a large pan until fully melted, then add the caster sugar and 50ml cold water. Swirl the pan gently over a medium-high heat (do not over-stir, because the mix can easily crystallise) for five or six minutes, until the mix turns a deep caramel colour and reaches 155C on a sugar thermometer – this is important, because it’s the hard crack point for the sugar.

Quickly pour in the nuts, seeds and spices, mix thoroughly, then pour evenly on to the baking paper – take care, because it will be hot. Put a sheet of greaseproof paper on top of the mix and use a rolling pin to flatten it out into an even layer about ¾cm thick. Peel off the top sheet of paper, leave to cool completely, then snap into shards and enjoy. They’ll keep for a month in an airtight container.