Custard Creams #Fill the Cookie Jar
This is my second bake with the baking group Fill The Cookie Jar and the theme for this month is patriotic. Now I’m not American so there will be no blue, white and red cookies here. Instead I decided to bake a cookie that was typically British.
If your familiar with British biscuits then you’ll know that custard creams are the quintessential biscuits of choice when having a nice cup of tea or simply to snack on. I love them! I eat them as I do with most sandwich cookies and biscuits. Take it apart, eat one half, lick the filling out then eat the rest. So addictive. Trust me, you won’t be able to just have one, as with custard creams one is not nearly enough.
If you’ve never tasted this much-loved biscuit before, let me describe it to you. A custard infused, thick creamy filling gets sandwiched with two vanillary biscuit with a hint of custard. The custard flavour is subtle and the biscuit crumbles around the smooth filling, delicious!
I’ve always wanted to make my own and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. These sandwich cookies or biscuits are very easy to make, but you will need to chill the dough. I chilled mine over night but you can chill them for merely an hour. If the dough is bit hard when you remove it from the fridge, just leave it on the counter for 5-10 minutes to soften up.
My custard creams aren’t the traditional square shape as I didn’t have a square cutter and I didn’t want to fiddle around trying to cut them perfectly when it working in a rather warm kitchen. I like the round fluted cutter, it’s just as good as squares. I piped the filling onto the cookies, this makes for neater presentation and distributes it evenly.
If you familiar with custard creams you’ll love this recipe, they taste just the same, if not better and if you’ve never had a custard cream before, you’re in for a nice treat. Want to know how to make them, I’ll take you through the steps.
Firstly put the flour, custard powder, caster sugar and the butter into the bowl of a food processor and blitz until your mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and the milk and pulse again until the dough just comes together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead a little bring it together then separate into two discs, wrap in clingfilm and store in the fridge over night or one hour.
When your ready to bake your cookies, roll them out on a well floured surface and use your cutter to cut out the dough. Place on baking trays and bake. Re-roll the scraps and repeat the process until all the dough has been used up. For the filling, place some softened butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and sift over some icing sugar and custard powder then add vanilla extract and a little milk. Mix on medium speed and add a little milk to get a thick consistency that you’ll be spread or pipe. One the biscuits are cold, simply add the creamy custard filling and press another cookie on top.
Thick, soft with a slight crunch and custardy biscuits get filled with a smooth and luscious filling this will make your cup of tea even more exciting with a couple of custard creams.
Yields – 28 Sandwich cookies
Ingredients
{biscuits}
- 200 grams (2 cups 2 tablespoons) Self-raising flour
- 50 grams (5 tablespoons) Bird’s custard powder
- 75 grams (1/3 cup 1 tablespoon) Caster sugar
- 125 grams (1 stick 1 tablespoon) Unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 Large egg
- 1-3 teaspoons Milk
{filling}
- 75 grams (1/3 cup) Unsalted butter at room temperature
- 125 grams (1 cup 1 tablespoon) Icing sugar
- 2 tablespoons Birds custard powder
- 1 teaspoon Nielsen Massey Pure vanilla extract
- Milk
Method
- Place the flour, custard powder, sugar and the cubed butter In the bowl of a food processor and pulse until your mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add the egg and as much as you need to make the dough just come together. Transfer to a clean work surface and knead lightly to bring it together. Separate into two discs and wrap in clingfilm. Stash for at least 1 hour in the fridge. I left mine over night.
- Pre-heat the oven to 160C, 320F and line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out your pastry quite thin. Using a 2 1/2 inch, round fluted cutter cut out pieces of dough and place them on your baking tray. Re-roll your scraps and continue. Bake for 12-15 minutes until firm and edges are just starting to brown.
- Leave the biscuits on the baking tray on a wire rack for 10 minutes before transferring the wire rack to cool completely. When cold, you can make the filling.
- For the filling place the butter In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and sift over the icing sugar and custard powder. Add the vanilla extract and a drop of milk and mix on high until you’ve got a smooth, thick, spreadable mixture.
- Grab one of your biscuits and spread or pipe some of the filling on the bottom, then gently press another of the cookies on top, bottom side so that both of the tops of the biscuits end up being visible.
Notes
* Recipe adapted from Good Housekeeping
* These are best eaten the day they are made as they tend to go a bit soft the next day but will last for up to three days stored in a cake tin with a tight-fitting lid.
* Keep in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.
Check out what the other cookie jar bakers have made for July’s patriotic theme.
