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.