‘Biscuit by Miranda Gore Browne is published by Ebury Press, £14.99’, photo by Laura Edwards.
Inspired by hot-cross buns, these biscuits are full of spices, citrussy flavours and fruit.
MAKES ABOUT 18
125 g unsalted butter, softened
50 g caster sugar
25 g soft light brown sugar
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 egg yolk
100 g plain white flour
50 g plain wholemeal flour
25 g cornflour
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½tsp ground ginger
¼tsp ground mixed spice
40 g currants
40 g sultanas
20 g mixed peel
3 tsp apricot jam
50 g icing sugar
1 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice
YOUWILL ALSO NEED
7 cm round metal cutter
Disposable piping bag (optional)
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/Mark 6 and line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
Cream the butter, sugars and zests. Add the egg yolk and beat well.
Sift together the flours, cornflour and spices and add to the butter and egg mixture along with the dried fruit and peel and the bran left in the sieve. Mix well to combine and form a dough. Put the dough between two sheets of cling film and gently roll out to a thickness of about 5 mm.
Use a 7 cm cutter to stamp out 18 circles. Place them on the prepared trays, spacing them at least 2 cm apart, then bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, gently warm the apricot jam and 1 tablespoon water in a small pan. After 10 minutes, brush the top of the biscuits with the apricot glaze. Return them to the oven to bake for a further 5 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool on their trays for 10 minutes, then use a palette knife to transfer them carefully to a wire rack.
Once the biscuits are completely cold, mix together the icing sugar and orange juice. Spoon into a piping bag or freezer bag, snip off the corner to give a hole about 2mmwide, and pipe a cross on top of each biscuit. Leave to set.
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