Custard Creams

Video HERE

These are a classic biscuit made with a lighter version of the traditional shortbread. This dough is difficult to work with - and un-rollable - so it's best rolled into sausages as shown on the video and cut once chilled. This recipe should make about 28 sandwiches, but I usually end up with around 20.

Ingredients:
300g Butter (VERY SOFT)*
80g Icing Sugar
330g Plain Flour
4tbsp Custard Powder**
Nutmeg

BUTTERCREAM
160g Butter (VERY SOFT)*
150g Icing Sugar
4tbsp Custard Powder

*And I do mean VERY SOFT, don't be tempted to microwave the butter, best to leave it out at room temp, or try the cold water trick. (Chop the butter into cubes and place in a jug with enough cold water to cover. Thermodynamics will bring fridge-cold butter to ready soft in about 15-20 minutes.)
**I used an instant custard mix here, probably wasn't the right choice, but I couldn't find a small pot of the usual stuff and I didn't want an opened one to be floating around for months.

Method:

1. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and very fluffy.
2. Stir in the flour and custard powder.
3. Tip half of the dough onto a sheet of cling film and spread out evenly before wrapping and rolling to a sausage of about 4cm in diameter. Repeat with the other half, then transfer to the fridge for 30 minutes (or freeze for 15).
4. [Preheat Oven GM3/120C]
5. Unroll one dough sausage and cut into 5-8mm slices. Arrange the slices on a lined baking tray (you'll need a couple) with at least 3cm space between each piece.
6. Grate over as much nutmeg as you like, then bake for 15-20 minutes until slightly golden. Keep the rest of the dough in the fridge until ready to bake.
7. Cool on the tray for 10 minutes to harden before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
8. For the buttercream: whip the butter, sugar and custard powder until fluffy* then transfer to a piping bag.
9. Pipe a small-ish blob** of buttercream onto half of the biscuits, then gently sandwich together - don't push too hard, these are very delicate.

*This will not be a smooth frosting, the custard powder will stay pretty grainy, but you won't notice it in the biscuits.
**This recipe makes a lot of buttercream, but the biscuits aren't particularly sweet on their own... the amount you use is up to you.

These will last for about a week in an airtight container - if they survive that long!