Custard Creams
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 14 biscuits 1x
Description
Custard creams are one of those biscuits that are so often overlooked, elbowed out in a cloud of crumbs by the other more extrovert biscuits that litter the everyday treat plate.
Ingredients
For the biscuits
- 175g plain flour
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) custard powder
- 1tsp baking powder
- 100g butter
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) milk
For the custard buttercream
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) custard powder
- 100g icing sugar
- 50g soft unsalted butter
- 1 tsp boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°c.
- To make the biscuits, put the flour, custard powder and baking powder into a processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter, cut into smallish cubes and pulse to cut into the flour to create a crumbly mixture. Tip in the sugar and pulse again. Beat the egg and milk together. Pour down the funnel of the processor with the engine running until it clumps into a ball. Form the dough into a ball and press down into a fat disc, wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 4mm. Dip a 5cm cutter (whatever shape you like) in flour and cut out your shapes. You need an even number of shapes to sandwich together. Prick the outside edge of each shape all the way around on one side with a skewer. Cook on a lined baking sheet for 15 minutes, and then leave to cool before sandwiching them together.
- To make the custard cream, put the custard powder and icing sugar into the processor and pulse briefly to combine and de-lump. Add the butter and blitz together until you get a smooth cream. Add the tsp of boiling water and pulse again. Sandwich each biscuit with about 1tsp of custard cream by gently spreading a layer of cream over the unpricked side of a biscuit and then squishing a matching biscuit on top of it.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 biscuits
- Calories: 200
Find it online: https://honestcooking.com/custard-creams-recipe/
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is custard powder and can I substitute something else?
Custard powder is a British pantry staple — a cornflour-based powder flavored with vanilla — used here both in the biscuit dough (3 tbsp) and the buttercream filling (1 tbsp) to give custard creams their distinctive pale yellow color and flavor. It is available in British import shops and many supermarkets; in a pinch, a mix of cornstarch and vanilla pudding powder is the closest substitute.
Why does the dough need to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes?
Chilling the dough for 20 minutes firms up the butter, making the pressed-flat disc easier to roll out to an even 4mm thickness without tearing. It also relaxes the gluten so the biscuits keep their cut shape during baking at 180°C for 15 minutes.
What is the purpose of pricking the edge of each biscuit with a skewer?
The recipe instructs you to prick the outside edge of each shape on one side before baking. This decorative technique is traditional to custard creams and also helps the biscuit bake evenly without puffing up unevenly at the edges. 
