Ginger creams

These lovely, short biscuits have just enough spice to add some sparkle to your day. The white pepper in the icing – strange as it sounds – brings out a more robust gingery flavour.

• makes

  10

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 200 g salted butter, softened
• 55 g (¼ cup) brown sugar, sifted
• ¾ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 200 g plain flour
• 50 g cornflour

Ginger icing

• 50 g salted butter, softened
• 100 g icing sugar, sifted
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Cooling time: 45 minutes

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, ginger and nutmeg until pale and fluffy. Sift in the flours and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Roll large teaspoonfuls of the mixture into 20 even-sized balls.
2. Place the biscuits on a lined baking tray about 4 cm apart. Using two fingers, flatten them to a little less than 1cm high. Bake in the centre of the oven, turning halfway, for 15 minutes or until they start to brown on the bottom and just begin to colour on top. Cool on the tray until firm, then transfer biscuits to a wire rack to cool completely.
3. Meanwhile, to make ginger icing, beat the butter with the icing sugar for 2 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Beat in the ginger, ground white pepper and lemon juice until well combined. Top half the biscuits with 2 tsp of icing and sandwich with the other halves while the icing is still soft. Store the biscuits in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Alternatively, freeze un-iced biscuits in an airtight container arranged in single layers separated by baking paper for up to 1 month.

As seen in Feast magazine, Issue 8, pg42. Photography by Alan Benson.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.