Belgium Biscuits in the blink of an eye!

Okay my chickens, maybe a few blinks, but they are not the palava I assumed them to be, why I haven’t attempted them sooner I can’t understand!

Belgium (or Belgian) biscuits are named because of their visual similarity to the Belgian bun, with their icing sugar / water icing and a wee cherry in the middle.  But they are also known in other parts of the world as Empire biscuits.  Our kiwi version goes down a more spicy line than, say Scotland’s version.  And it appears we seem to have lost the glace cherry along the way (thank the lord, can’t stand the things!). If you buy them in a packet here in NZ, you’ll find the icing in the middle of the biscuit, but I have a feeling this is more for easy packing reasons!

So, shall we get on with it?

First thing you need to know, is there is no chilling of the dough – lets all do a wee happy dance about that shall we…

Right, come back now, because there are other things you will need before you get to bake your way to Belgium heaven!

Lets start with the list of ingredients.  I used the Edmonds Cook Book recipe.  I’ve seen other recipes with golden syrup and more sugar and what-not, but to be honest, these ones turned out so lovely, I don’t think I’d make too many changes!

So to get you started, you will need:

125g butter, softened
¼ cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 to 1/2 tsp mixed spice (depending on taste). Okay, so the recipe says 1 teaspoon, but I find it can get a bit too spicy and like to go a bit easy on it.  You do what you feel comfortable with!

You will also need icing sugar, vanilla or raspberry essence and water for the icing, and approximately half a cup of raspberry jam for squashing the bikkies together!

Step 1

Put your oven on to 180 degrees and line your tray or trays with baking paper.

Step 2

Cream your butter and sugar for approx 3 minutes.  Add the egg and give it another good beating till combined.

Step 3

Sift in all your dry ingredients and mix it all together into a strong dough.

Step 4

Take half the dough and roll it out between two sheets of baking paper.  Get your ruler out and stop when you get to about 3mm thickness, stop!

I used a 6cm biscuit shape to cut out circles.  You could do hearts or butterflies or what ever takes your fancy!

Ready to bake

Step 5

Bake for approx 10 to 15 minutes, depending on your oven.  Remember biscuits keep baking a wee bit after they come out, so when they start to colour, keep a close watch!

Leave to cool completely on a baking rack. It doesn’t take too long!

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Step 6

Mix together your icing sugar, essence and water into a nice paste.  Pop a few drops of colouring in if you want the icing pink.  Or you could do what I did, and use a bit of raspberry juice if you don’t have essence, or you could use that Chelsea berry icing that comes ready to go, at the supermarket.  What ever makes you happy!

Start assembling!  I suggest icing before jam, simply because once you start with the jam, it all gets a bit squishy!!

If you’re feeling artistic, you can sprinkle a few wee pretty things on top…

and you’re done!

Didn’t i tell you it was easy!

 

Tagged: baking, Belgium, Biscuit