Lime Curd Sugar Cookies

Much too much filling...never mind

These are cookies for end of a busy and happy weekend.

You've been to the pub, you've had a long and lazy Saturday morning with french toast, bacon and sausage for breakfast, but you've also done your fair share of work. This is a small and simple treat for the end of the weekend, if you, like me, use baking to unwind, because we all know that in the forthcoming busy week of hard work, you'll need plenty of small treats to keep you going, like these little biscuits, which should last you until the next lovely, lovely weekend.

Here comes the recipe...

For the sugar cookies (from the Hummingbird bakery cookbook)

200g unsalted butter
280g caster sugar
1/2 a vanilla pod
1 egg
400g flour
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1.Cream together the butter and sugar until light a fluffy
2.Add the egg and mix well
3. Slowing mix in the flour, cream of tartar, salt and vanilla pod. It is easy to overwork this dough, but it's important that you don't.
4. Roll out onto a floured surface with a floured rolling pin to slightly less than a £1 coin thickness and cut with a 58mm cookie cutter,and place on a large tray on some greaseproof paper
5. Place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius and cook for 10-11, until the edges of the cookies start to go slightly brown.
6. When the cookies come out of the oven, immediately sprinkle with a little caster sugar.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

I did a slightly stupid thing, I made perhaps 5 times too much cream cheese frosting. However, to make enough the measurements start to get awkward and silly, so I will give you the full recipe. I froze the rest of the frosting and will defrost it for a carrot cake sometime soon( if you freeze it, make sure to mix it once defrosted before spreading).

1/cup butter
3/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scrapped out
4 cups icing sugar, sifted

1. Cream together the butter, cream cheese and vanilla
2. Add the icing sugar and mix well


For the Lime Curd

1. You will need about a quarter to a half of the curd. 

Once the cookies are cooled, add a small dollop of both the curd and cream cheese on each cookie and sandwich together with another cookie. Make sure there is not too much filling, or it will spill out when you bite into it.

These cookies are best eaten a day after making,when they are little softer.

And here's a nice little tune to send you into the week....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wzf4jFgHwU&noredirect=1


Christa x

Next recipe: Lemon and Rosemary sticky buns!

Valentines?

Nothing baked for Valentines today- who needs an occasion to make your loved one something delicious, do it everyday! But here's a good un', Happy Valentines day!

Lime Curd

                                              Lime Curd

Beautiful curd, thanks to my mums lovely editing

It turns out I’m a shouty baker. I wish it wasn’t true, and that I was one of those bakers who’s pies never burnt and who’s dishes washed themselves, the kind that exist only on television. These curds are dedicated to my boyfriend who has to tolerate my shouting and faffing in the kitchen. Jake, I’m sorry for yelling, I was not angry at you, it was only the stress. Despite all this, I do love baking, but I think I need to be alone, my kitchen is very small and I have big elbows.

I only recently discovered curd when a friend and I bought someone for lunch and ate it out of the jar with potato cake. Delicious! But before that I never really got it but now I totally get it.

This is a twist on a recipe by Joy The Baker . I want to try 3 different curds, (grapefruit, orange and lime) and if I’m honest, lime was by far the best, so, since I want only the best for you, I will spare you the recipes for the other too, though if you were interested, I’m happy to send you the recipe.

This is a really simple, really delicious curd, that is slightly tangy but still sweet, delicious on crumpets but also good in lime curd cream cheese biscuits (recipe to follow).

 Ingredients

(Makes about 3/4 of a cup)

2 limes

2 large egg yolks

1 large egg

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 teaspoons lime zest

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons lime juice

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

pinch of salt

What to do…

1.Combine the lime zest and sugar on a chopping board, scrapping the two into each other with the back of a large knife until the zest is evenly distributed within the sugar.

2. In a saucepan over a low heat whisk together all of the ingredients for about 5 minutes. You will see the mixture start to thicken considerably and it should coat the back of a spoon.

3. Remove from the heat and pass through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl and leave to cool, then decant into small jars or one large jar. Curd is best refrigerated and eaten within a week.

A gift for my boyfriends parents, to replace the terrible chutney I made them for Christmas

Happy eating,

Christa x