This year's valentine's bake definitely is the most entertaining bake I've ever made, and one that saw me use a hammer in the kitchen. I love trying out new stuff, and valentine's is an excuse to make it all a bit overly sweet. This bake sees the combination of biscuit, hard candy, and royal icing.
Below recipe will make around 34 heart shakers.
Final photography done by: Rowben Lantion
Final styling done by: Hayley Lai
Ingredients
Biscuits
200gr golden syrup
200gr brown sugar
40gr butter
320gr plain flour
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tbsp water
1tsp vanilla paste (or 2tsp vanilla essence)
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp nutmeg
3/4tsp almond essence
250gr coloured hard candy
Sprinkles of choice
Royal Icing
250gr icing sugar
1 egg white
1tbsp lemon juice
Method
1. Making the biscuits. Sort your hard candy by colour and place each colour in a separate ziplock bag. Wrap in a tea towel and bash with a rolling pin or hammer until crushed into small bits and powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl mix together the golden syrup and brown sugar until a thick paste forms. Add in the butter and whisk using a hand mixer. Add in the flour in 4 batches, using the hand mixer for the first two, and then knead by hand. Add the bicarbonate of soda and all the flavourings. Knead until the dough is soft and smooth. Cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius, fan. Flour your surface generously and start rolling out your dough until around 2-4mm thick. Cut out large hearts, and then cut out smaller hearts in the middle. Freeze again for around 10 minutes. (I personally froze 1 tray whilst I baked another).
4. Line your baking sheet (crucial) with baking paper. Place the hearts on the baking sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and fill in the heart shaped hole with the crushed hard candy. Be generous with the filling. Bake for a further 4 minutes. Allow the hard candy centre to completely harden before removing from the baking sheet. Repeat until all the hearts are baked.
7. Making the royal icing. Whip the egg white until stiff peaks form. Add the royal icing and lemon juice and whisk until nice and thick. Set aside.
6. Putting the shakers together. Pair up your hearts depending on colour and best matches. Keep all the hearts face up (so as they came out of the oven). Fill one half with around 1/2-3/4tsp of sprinkles of choice. Smear some royal icing on the sprinkle filled biscuit edges, and place another biscuit on top, again, keeping it face up. Pipe some icing sugar on the edges and allow to dry overnight.
Recreating this recipe? Tag me on instagram @juliawgr!
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