makes
20
prep
25 minutes
cook
15 minutes
difficulty
Easy
makes
20
serves
preparation
25
minutes
cooking
15
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
Biscuits
- 250 g (9 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 80 g (2¾ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar mixture
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 lime or ½ orange
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 225 g (8 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 100 g (3½ oz) custard powder
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
Passionfruit buttercream
- 100 g (3½ oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 200 g (7 oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar mixture
- 1½ tbsp fresh passionfruit pulp
- 1 tsp lemon, lime or orange juice
Makes 20 filled biscuits.
Resting time: 15-30 minutes.
Cooling time: at least 1 hour.
Instructions
- For the biscuits, place the butter, sugar, zest and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and beat until light and fluffy.
- In a separate mixing bowl, place the flour, baking powder, custard powder and salt and use a hand whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar, mixing briefly to a soft dough. Set the dough aside in the bowl for 15–30 minutes somewhere cool (in the fridge if it is hot) to firm up a little before shaping.
- While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F) fan-forced (adjust if using a non-fan-forced oven) and line two baking sheets with baking paper.
- When the dough has rested, use your hands to roll it into balls (about 2 teaspoons of dough per ball). Place the balls on the trays, spaced out a little as they will spread while cooking, and flatten them slightly with the back of a fork.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 14–18 minutes or until the biscuits are cooked and just starting to colour. Allow the biscuits to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.
- While the biscuits are cooling, make the passionfruit buttercream by placing all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and beating until light and fluffy. Sandwich the biscuits together generously with passionfruit buttercream. Allow the filling to firm slightly before serving, or eat straightaway, buttercream squidging gleefully out the sides!
- Store for 4–5 days in an airtight container.
Note
Melting moments, and the passionfruit variety in particular, have long been my biscuit of choice. Good ones are hard to come by but, when you do, they are like gold. I have exceptionally fond memories of the care packages my mum sent me after I had my first child, as they invariably included a bundle or two of bite-sized melting moments. I will always remember that special, tired time – cup of tea and melting moment in hand, and Olive with a sprinkling of biscuit crumbs on her dear little head.
Recipe and image from Handfuls of Sunshine by Tilly Pamment, photography by Tilly Pamment (Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99).
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.
