Custard Creams

The biscuit tin has always been my downfall. Probably the biggest one. I don't feel the need to go all avant-garde with biscuits either. Don't get me wrong I'd enjoy a Cherry Bakewell Muesli biscuits or a Pistachio & Salted Caramel biscuit as much as the next person, but can all these really beat those all time classics. No, I don't think so. Digestives, Chocolate Digestives, Bourbons, Jammie Dodgers and Custard Creams, are to my mind unbeatable.

So it was with interest and much excitement that I tried my hand and reproducing the iconic Custard Cream. The result was good in as far as they didn't last long in the biscuit tin, but they weren't quite the same as the original rectangular ones with their intricately patterned biscuit and thin layer of filling. They weren't avant-garde either. Somewhere in the middle: homemade.

Custard Creams

makes enough to fill your biscuit tin

100g unsalted butter, softened

50g caster sugar

100g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out

25g custard powder

25g cornflour

For the custard-cream filling:

150g icing sugar

45g unsalted butter, softened

20g custard powder

3tsp full-fat milk

To make the biscuits, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy: this can be done either with an electric hand whisk or in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Sift the flour, custard powder and cornflour into the bowl and mix until thoroughly combined and smooth.

Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.

Dust the work surface with flour and roll the dough out to a thickness of 3–4mm. Using a 6cm round or square cutter, stamp out biscuits and place them on the lined baking tray. Gather any dough off cuts into a ball, then re-roll and stamp out more biscuits.

Pop the baking tray into the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.

Bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until the biscuits are pale golden and firm. Leave to cool on the baking tray for a couple of minutes then transfer the biscuits to a wire rack until cold.

To make the filling, mix all the ingredients together until smooth using a hand-held whisk or in the bowl of a free-standing mixer. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm round nozzle and pipe the filling onto one half of the biscuits, then sandwich together with the remaining biscuits.

Lemon & Thyme Shortbread

I am ending the weekly marathon of cake recipes with one that is strictly not that. It's a biscuit recipe; a sophisticated, melt-in-your-mouth biscuit. The magic of these biscuits is that they work perfectly with a cup of tea as an afternoon pick-me-up, but they can take on a completely different guise as a dessert biscuit when served with berries and cream. If I haven't already convinced you to make these, I'd like to add that the dough is excellent to freeze. It's a lovely feeling to know that there's some biscuit dough in the freezer lying in wait for a warm oven.

Lemon & Thyme Shortbread Biscuits

Makes approx 48

400g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 tbsp finely chopped lemon thyme leaves (or ordinary thyme will do)

225g unsalted butter, softened

300g caster sugar

2 tbsp finely grated unwaxed lemon zest

1 free-range egg beaten

Juice of a lemon

1. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and stir in the salt and thyme.

2. Cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until pale and fluffy. Add the egg a little at a time, beating after each addition, then slowly add the dry ingredients mixing well and dribbling in a little lemon juice until the mixture comes together as a dough. Go careful with the juice as the dough shouldn't be too wet.

3. Roll the dough into two log shapes each about 5cm in diameter. This way, each log will make roughly 24 biscuits, so you could save one log for a later time should you wish to do so. Wrap each log tightly in clingfilm and place in the fridge for a couple of hours. However it will remain good like this in the fridge for up to two days.

4. When you are ready to bake the biscuits, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/GM 5. Line a couple of baking sheets with greaseproof paper.

5. Unwrap the clingfilm and slice off rounds of approx 5mm in thickness. Place these on the baking sheet making sure you leave some space between them as they will spread somewhat in the oven. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, until the edges are just tinged and golden. Carefully remove them with a palette knife and place them on a rack to cool. Enjoy.