Homemade Custard Creams

Crunchy!

The beloved custard cream - a very typically British biscuit that is an all time favourite, with its identifiable ornate design and shape. Apparently this biscuit is so adored, it was voted Britain's favourite biscuit in a recent poll, I can't remember but I probably voted for them at the time.

I did some investigating just to find out about the history of the custard cream - but there really wasn't anything much on the internet. Isn't that just so sad, I mean this biscuit looks posh, admit it, its been around for a long time and it must have been created for some purpose. I can just imagine a Victorian tea party with a few of these biscuits on the side of a rather elegant gold rimmed teacup saucer. I've always wanted to recreate these and I don't know why it took me so long, they're quick and easy and absolutely delicicous, with just the right amount of crunch. Addition of baroque pattern optional!

Ingredients for the biscuits:-

115g unsalted butter
75g castor sugar
175g all-purpose flour
8 tblsp custard powder
1tsp vanilla extract

Filling:-

75g unsalted butter
1tsp vanilla extract
150g icing sugar
3 tblsp custard powder
2 tblsp milk

Method:-

Preheat the oven to 180C Gas Mark 4.

Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Fold in the flour, custard powder and vanilla essence until you have a dough that you can roll out. You will need to get stuck in and use your hands for this!

Flour a worktop surface and roll out your dough to a thickness of 1/2cm. Cut the dough into whatever shapes you want ensuring that you have an even number of each shapes. Custard creams are traditionally square but I just used a round cutter - it was either that or a heart shape, which probably isn't that appropriate!

Other brand baking trays are available..

Place your biscuits on a baking tray, I just greased the tray with butter and flour and then bake for 10 minutes until just before golden brown. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes before transfering to a cooling rack.

To make the filling, cream the butter and vanilla together and gradually add the sugar and custard powder until you have something with the consistency of buttercream icing or frosting. Add milk and transfer to a piping bag, this is so much easier to make the sandwiches filling. When the biscuits are cool, gently sandwich them together, I started on the outside and worked in a swirl with the filling. This makes them neater when joined with the other half - presentation and all that!

Ready for my close-up..

Best enjoyed with a strong cup of tea! These absolutely went down a treat at work and I am rather pleased with them. I will definitely be making these again, I'm just not so sure I can actually eat the real custard creams now!

Why yes, I do like this plate thank you!