Lemon Surprise Biscuits

Hullo, my Pixels!

These biscuits really do have a pleasant surprise. They look so plain from the outside, but my oh my are they tasty! All of my family were very happy with the end result of these, especially considering I'm so used to baking cupcakes and nothing much else. This recipe has some ingredients which are the American names, so I've put the British versions in brackets, just in case you get a bit confused, like I did!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (plain flour)
• 1/2tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• 1/4tsp baking powder
• 1/4tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2tsps lemon zest
• 2tsps lemon juice
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup lemon curd (I just bought a whole jar so I knew I would have enough for every biscuit)

Citrus sugar:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1tsp lemon zest

Frosting:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup confectioners sugar (icing sugar)
• 1tsp lemon juice
• 1/4tsp lemon zest
• 1 to 3tsps heavy cream (double cream)

METHOD

1. Collect together all of your ingredients to make sure you have everything ready and enough of it, while also turning your oven on to preheat it to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt then set aside for now.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

4. Add the egg to the butter and sugar - mix until combined. Then stir in the lemon zest and juice, as well as the vanilla. Once everything is fully combined, sprinkle half of the flour mixture over the top and gently mix it in. Add the remaining flour mixture, mixing until no streaks of flour remain. If the dough is very sticky, feel free to add more flour, as needed, until the dough is less sticky. 2 cups of flour gave me the correct doughy consistency, so that should be alright. Cover and refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 30 minutes.

5. Once the dough is chilled, line two baking trays with parchment/greaseproof paper (cut to size).

6. Making the sugar is pretty simple. Just combine the sugar and lemon zest together until the zest is evenly distributed throughout the sugar.

7. Now for the fun bit! Roll roughly one tablespoon portions of the dough into a ball shape. Roll each ball in the citrus sugar to coat it completely, then space the cookies about 2 inches apart on the baking trays.

8. Using your thumb or anything round (I used my thumb, it was easy enough), press an indentation into each biscuit - deep enough to put a good amount of lemon curd in, but don't go all the way through to the bottom of the biscuit. Place about 1 to 2 teaspoons of the lemon curd into each biscuit.

9. Bake the biscuits for 12 - 15 minutes or until the edges turn a light golden brown color.

10. Place the biscuits on a cooling rack and leave them to cool completely before frosting.

11. To make the frosting, beat the butter in a large bowl for about 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Beat in the sugar until it's all combined, then add in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Add a teaspoon of cream and whisk until it's light and fluffy. If the frosting is too thick, add 1/2 teaspoon of cream at a time until your desired consistency is reached.

12. Spread the frosting evenly over the tops of the biscuits, covering the curd completely.

These biscuits were quite fun to make, whilst still being easy and quick-ish to make (apart from the patience wait for the dough to be chilled). The secret well of lemon curd hidden underneath the frosting really gives the biscuits such a tasty surprise for anyone else who doesn't know it's there. All of my family were pretty impressed with this recipe, even though I probably made them a bit bigger than they were meant to be - no big deal though for my piggy little belly!

15\10\14 I've recently submitted this recipe into The Great Denby Cake Off competition. You can submit your own entry here if you also have a yummy afternoon tea recipe you can enter!

Sommer

♥