Harts of Stur Kitchen Issue 08, Winter 2018-19 | Page 60

Cook’s Notes
Handmade Christmas
Nothing says you care like making your own delicious
gifts to give to loved ones this Christmas. Just don’t eat
too many when wrapping them up
Every Occasion Lemon Biscuits
These versatile biscuits are the perfect palette for some
festive decorating, says Frankie Unsworth
T
his simple buttery biscuit dough is so foolproof that you can multitask a million
things while making it, which is generally the situation I find myself in in the lead
up to Christmas or other big celebrations.
This is your chance to revel in a little DIY decorating. In spring or summer, go
to town with edible dried flowers, crystallised herbs and candied citrus to make
bejewelled beauties for wedding favours or a box of birthday biscuits. When Christmas
comes around, make them as edible present labels or transform them into snowflakes
to hang from the tree. You’ll need a plastic piping bag to write with the icing, or use a
normal piping bag with a tiny decorating nozzle.
Makes about 1.2kg dough, about 40 biscuits depending
on the size of your cutters.
Food colouring
Do add food colouring to the royal icing if you want to
liven things up, though I like to keep the palette quite pale
and let the other adornments do the work. Use paste or
gel food colouring rather than liquid so as not to dilute the
icing.
Freezing ahead
This dough freezes well. I’d recommend making the full
quantity, then dividing it into three batches, wrapping
them individually in cling film and freezing for up to 2
months. Defrost at room temperature until cool enough to
roll out.
Ingredients
300g unsalted butter, at room temperature
225g caster sugar
60
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3 eggs
1 tsp lemon extract
500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine sea salt
For the royal icing
Enough to decorate about one third of the
dough
1 egg white
250g icing sugar, sifted
About 2 tbsp lemon juice
Extract taken from The New
Art of Cooking by Frankie
Unsworth (Bloomsbury
Publishing, £30)
Photography © Kristin Perers