Melting moments and my final week in the job...

This is my final week at work for the moment*. I still have an awful lot to do (cleaning out desk, handover notes, lots of farewell lunches) but the number one thing I had to do before I leave this job is make biscuits.

Yep - you read correctly. I am the office baker and since I resigned I have had numerous requests for the melting moments I usually make for everyone around Christmas. So, never one to not produce the goods, I dragged the Kenwood Chef out for a spot of baking yesterday.

They are, for me, the perfect biscuit. Other than the fact that they don't have cinnamon in them, they are everything a biscuit should be. Buttery, crisp yet still crumbly, slightly tart with the addition of lemon zest to the icing, and above all else, entirely too moreish.

Melting Moments

Biscuit:

300 g (10 1/2 oz) plain flour

300 g (10 1/2 oz) soft butter

100 g (3 1/2 oz) icing sugar (not mixture)

100 g (3 1/2 oz) custard powder

Pinch of salt (I use Maldon)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Icing:

1 lemon – juiced and rind finely grated using a microplane, or zested and chopped finely

60 g (2 oz) melted butter

240 g (8 oz) icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180 C (160 C if fan forced). Line three baking trays with baking paper (this is what I do for my oven).

Beat together flour, butter, well sifted icing sugar, custard powder, salt and vanilla until well combined and pale. Using a teaspoon as a guide for the correct amount of mixture, roll the mix into small balls and place on a baking tray (I usually get 15 to a tray but my trays are fairly small). Press the biscuit down with the prongs of a floured fork to form a round biscuit.

Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until cooked but not coloured too much (if they are undercooked they won’t have the right crunch and will be far too soft so don’t worry if you get a little bit of colour on them). Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray before removing and then cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the lemon icing, sift the icing sugar really well, and mix with butter and lemon zest, adding lemon juice a tablespoon at a time until the icing is smooth but still quite stiff (you don’t want it too liquidy or it will run off the biscuits and not set properly). Spoon a small amount of lemon icing onto one biscuit and top with another biscuit. Makes 25 (but I usually make double quantities). Perfect for buttering up work colleagues!

Note: You can also make these with a passionfruit filling by swapping the lemon juice and rind for passionfruit pulp or vanilla icing by omitting the lemon and adding a teaspoon or two of Vanilla extact and a couple of tablespoons of water to the icing mix.

Kitty

*For the moment - not sure what will happen over the next few months but I am working on some ideas. More soon!