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I’ve been having a bit of fun playing around with some recipes for homemade versions of some classic “ shop bought “ biscuits. My favourites were the custard creams, the inclusion of custard powder lending the biscuits a lovely crispness. Although I do object to using hard vegetable fat, I’m going to try them with all butter.Unfortunately I have no photos of these but I think the jammie dodgers look great as do the iced gems. The high percentage of coloured royal icing of the latter isn’t so good to eat, though maybe age plays a part in my preference..

CUSTARD CREAMS.
175g plain flour
3 tblsp custard powder
1 tsp baking powder
60g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
60g cookeen, cut into small cubes
3 tblsp icing sugar
1 lrge egg
1 tblsp milk
Pre-heat the oven to 190c.
Sieve the flour, custard powder and baking powder into a bowl, rub in the fats until it has the consistency of sand. ( I do this in a food processor ). Add the sugar and mix. In another bowl beat the egg and milk, pour this onto the flour, and mix well and form into a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 mins. Roll out the dough to 3mm thick. Cut the dough into strips 3 cm and then across 4 cm to give rectangles. Bake for 15 mins. Leave to cool.
FILLING.
50g unsalted butter softened
1 tblsp custard powder
100g icing sugar
few drops hot water
Cream butter, sugar and custard powder together until light and fluffy. If the mixture seems stiff add water.
Sandwich 2 biscuits together.