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Makes about 25Difficulty:
Intermediate
I call these my Valentine’s biscuits. Mr P is not a very romantic sort of bloke, but we share something very special and that is a passion for food. Actually, thinking about it, he is a bit of a soppy character after all. One year for Valentine’s Day, he bought me a kilo of new season forced rhubarb wrapped in pretty pink tissue paper. I was overwhelmed with this lovely gift and I felt the need to make something that we would both enjoy. So, I made some fantastic Forced Rhubarb Jam that is bright pink in colour. These biscuits followed shortly afterwards and yes, they are rather pretty and perfect for that special person in your life.
You may also like to try this recipe using other seasonal jams made throughout the year such as raspberry jam, mulberry jam or strawberry and redcurrant jam.
Ingredients & Method
For the biscuits
- 350g unsalted butter, softened
- 80g icing sugar
- ½ vanilla pod, split in half lengthways and seeds scraped out
- 300g plain flour
- 50g cornflour
For the lemon butter cream
- 125g unsalted butter, softened
- 250g icing sugar, sifted
- 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon
To assemble
- icing sugar, for dusting
- 125g Forced Rhubarb Jam
Make the biscuits. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper and set aside.
Cream the butter, icing sugar and vanilla seeds together in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Sift the flour and cornflour together, then fold into the creamed mixture to make a dough. The dough will be fairly firm – the softer the butter (not melted though) the easier it will be to work with.
Transfer the biscuit dough to a piping bag fitted with a medium star nozzle. Pipe about 25 rounds (each about 3cm in diameter) onto one of the prepared baking trays to make the round biscuit bases. Pipe about 25 circles (each about 3cm in diameter, with a hole in the centre of each one) onto the second baking tray to make the biscuit tops. Leave enough space between each one as they will spread a little during baking.
Bake in the oven for 18–20 minutes or until pale golden in colour. Carefully transfer the biscuits to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before decorating.
Meanwhile, make the lemon butter cream. Cream the butter in a bowl until it is pale in colour. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice and beat together until the mixture becomes fluffy. Fold in the lemon zest. Transfer the butter cream to a piping bag fitted with a small star nozzle.
To assemble the melting moments, pair up the bases and tops, so you have about 25 pairs of biscuits (each pair consisting of a round base and a round top with a hole in the centre). For each melting moment, place the biscuit top (with the hole in the centre), flat-side down, on the work surface and dust with icing sugar. Turn the biscuit base over so that the flat side is facing upwards and place on the work surface. Pipe a circle of lemon butter cream onto this base, leaving a whole in the centre, then place a teaspoonful of jam into the centre. Place the sugar-dusted biscuit top on top (flat-side down), and now you have a complete melting moment ‘sandwich’! Repeat with the remaining biscuit bases and tops, icing sugar, butter cream and jam to make about 25 melting moments.
The melting moments are now ready to eat! They will remain crisp and good for about 2–3 hours, but they will go soggy if you leave them overnight, so I recommend that you do not assemble them until required.
Cook’s Note
The biscuits and butter cream can be made in advance. Store the biscuits in an airtight container in a cool, dry cupboard for up to 1 week, and store the butter cream in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Soften the butter cream at room temperature for about 1 hour before use.