Without realising it for the last 2 Sundays’ biscuits I had returned to a type I had made before (The church biscuit: 6). The ingredients are a little different because this time I was adapting a recipe for coconut thumbprints.
I divided the mixture in two and froze half of it for the following week. The extra egg made it softer than those I made before.
I have now converted to metric measurements which are ubiquitous and permit of finer tuning than imperial weights. I hope this is acceptable.
Lemon curd thumbprints
Makes 40 not so little biscuits ( that is 2 batches of 20)
Ingredients
225 g unsalted butter
225 g golden caster sugar
finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
100 g wholemeal flour
100 g plain flour
125 g ground almonds
FOR ONE HALF MIXTURE: lemon curd
FOR 2nd HALF MIXTURE: 10 morello cherries
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/ 160 degrees fan oven/ Gas Mark 4
Line 2-3 baking trays with non-stick baking paper (for each batch)
Morello cherry thumbprints
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the lightly beaten eggs a little at a time.
Now sift the flours into the mixture (the coarse bits of the wholemeal flour will remain in the sieve after the lighter grains have been sieved but just tip these in – we’re just trying to incorporate as much air as a possible into the mixture, which is what will have been done). Now add 75 g of the ground almonds and half the lemon zest (i.e. that of one lemon). Mix to form a somewhat sticky dough. (A half hour rest in the fridge is now helpful but not absolutely necessary if you’re in a hurry.)
On a flattish bowl mix the remaining 50 g of ground almonds and the zest of the second lemon.
Take a teaspoonful of dough (the size of a small chocolate truffle – it will spread in the heat of the oven), roll in the almond + lemon zest mixture and make into a small ball which can then be put on the baking tray. (This applies to both the biscuits to be filled with lemon curd as well as those with morello cherries -the lemon zest helps cut the sweetness of the cherry). Now flatten this ball slightly and indent the centre (middle finger actually better than thumb or use the head of a wooden spoon if your nails are too long).
Now fill the indentations with the lemon curd or half a morello cherry.
Cook for 15-20 minutes or until going golden.
Remove from oven when cooked but leave to cool on the tray as they are rather soft. Lift of baking tray with a spatula and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
If you need to transport these biscuits, and I do, put them in a tin but separate the layers with grease proof paper. (Kitchen paper is not a good idea as the curd and cherries tend to stick to it a minor disaster.)
I haven’t made these look very pretty but that didn’t stop people enjoying them – mind you, they’d fall on a chocolate digestive (which takes some beating) with equal joy as long as there was a good cup of coffee.
8 Comments
I think your congregation and friends must be very spoilt with all of the delicious biscuits that you make. I think these sound wonderful.
Thank you for saying such nice things.
Your scrap quilt is beautiful – the colours are so vibrant and the differently sized squares so effective at drawing the eye in and then around the whole thing.
These look so delicious Mary! Thank you for visiting my blog- I will post the recipe for those little biscuits soon, the dough was very sticky and difficult to work with so I need to look at cooling times etc before blogging the recipe.
Well they look perfect with not a hint of hard to handle stickyness. I shall look forward to the recipe when you’re ready.
I have to agree with everyone else, your congregation are very lucky indeed! What yummy biscuits you cook.
Totally off topic but my beginners foray into crewel embroidery has been foiled by the lack of a good quality 6″ embroidery hoop – it seems the elusive hoops are no different to hen’s teeth!
Thank you, Lydia. But is suits me to make the biscuits – it’s fun to try different recipes but not such fun to have them temptingly sitting in a tin waiting to be eaten.
Can you get a bigger hoop – my smallest is about 8″ and I have several bigger than that. Or what about putting the whole thing on a frame like the one my goldwork is on? http://www.addisonembroideryatthevicarage.co.uk/2013/09/20/goldwork-embroidery-sampler/
I so enjoy your writing, and whether it’s about biscuits or embroidery it’s illuminating as well as a happy reading experience . But as we can see your responses to other’s comments, I’m intrigued now to see that quilt…
Thank you, Penny. Later this week I will try to photograph the altar frontal as it is at the moment. I have had a busy summer and this will continue for a while; others in the village have also had other commitments (lots of grandchildren being born!) so I’ve been unable to organise sewing bees.