Mother’s Day
ÀRUDOELVFXLWV
MAKES 30 BISCUITS
220g (8oz) butter, softened
200g (7oz) caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large free-range egg
435g (15oz) plain flour
gel food colouring
1 Line two or three baking trays with
baking paper, then set aside. Cream the
butter and sugar together in a bowl until
light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract
and egg, then add the flour and bring
together to form a smooth dough.
2 Lightly dust your work surface with
flour, then roll out two-thirds of the
dough to a thickness of about 5mm
(¼in). Cut into 6cm (2½in) circles using a
fluted cutter. Transfer to the baking
trays, leaving a little space between
them to allow for spreading. Lightly
press a slightly smaller fluted cutter,
centred, a little way into each biscuit to
create an imprint around the edge.
3 Divide the remaining dough into three
equal portions. Use gel food colouring to
colour one portion green, one portion
yellow and one portion orange. Knead
well to ensure the colour is even.
4 To make the roses, roll a piece of
yellow or orange dough into a sausage
shape about 1.5cm (¾in) wide and 6cm
(2½in) long. Using the length of your
forefinger, flatten and thin one long edge
of the sausage. Starting from one end,
roll up the sausage to form a rose. Snip
off the excess dough at the base of
the flower.
5 To make the leaves, roll a piece of
green dough into a small ball and
press lightly to flatten. Pinch together
one end to form the pointed tip. Use
a knife to lightly mark a vein down
the centre.
6 Arrange the flowers and leaves on theMARCHfluted biscuits, then chill for 30 minutes
until the dough is firm. Towards the end
of this time, preheat the oven to
20 0 °C /Gas Mark 6. Bake in the oven for
5-7 minutes, then carefully cover withfoil and bake for another 3 minutes until
the biscuits are a very light golden
brown. Allow to cool on the trays for
10 minutes, before transferring to a wire
rack to cool completely.