Baking Heaven April 2020

36 baking heaven APRIL WWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM

Marbled

Easter biscuits

MAKES 30-40

For the biscuits

200g (7oz) unsalted butter, softened

200g (7oz) golden caster sugar

1 medium free-range egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla powder or 2 tsp vanilla

bean paste

400g (14oz) plain flour, plus extra

for dusting

1 heaped tsp baking powder

For the glace icing

300g (11oz) icing sugar

2-4 tbsp lemon, lime or orange juice

yellow, green and orange food

colouring gels

To make the biscuits

1 Cream the butter and sugar together

in a stand mixer until light and fluffy.

2 Add the beaten egg and vanilla until

fully incorporated, then add the flour

and baking powder. Mix just until the

dough comes together. Wrap in

clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

3 Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas

Mark 4. Line a baking tray with non-

stick baking paper.

4 Knead the dough on a lightly floured

work surface, then roll out gently to a

thickness of 3-4mm (^1 / 8 in). Stamp out

shapes using Easter-shaped cutters.

Place on the prepared baking tray,

leaving a little space between

the biscuits.

5 Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly

golden brown on the edges. Remove

from the oven, leave to cool for a few

minutes, then lift onto a wire rack with

a palette knife to cool completely.

To make the glace icing

1 Mix the icing sugar with the lemon,

lime or orange juice to a free-flowing

consistency, but not too stiff or too

runny. Divide into 4 bowls and colour

3 of the bowls yellow, green and

orange, leaving one white.

To decorate the biscuits

1 Spoon the coloured icing into

4 piping bags. Place the biscuits on a

wire rack over a sheet of non-stick

baking paper.

2 Working one colour at a time, snip

the end off the piping bags and gently

swizzle icing over the biscuits. Take

the next colour and fill in more of the

biscuit. Repeat until all the colours are

used and the biscuits are covered.

3 Use a cocktail stick to gently marble

the icing and clean around the edge of

each biscuit. Leave to set. The biscuits

will keep for up to 14 days once

decorated if they are stored in a cake

box or lightly sealed container.

EVERYDAY BAKE

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With a few small tweaks, you can take your everyday bakes to the next level

with these clever recipes by Mich Turner MBE.

T

he bank holiday Easter weekend is the perfect time to begin the social

calendar – a time to invite family and friends for coffee as the first

f lowers bloom and the weather is finally a little warmer and certainly

brighter. The traditional Easter biscuit is a lightly spiced butter biscuit

with currants, dredged with sugar and eaten plain with tea or coffee. I like to make

these simple iced biscuits for added colour and f lavour.