LEMON STARS

Lemon stars image

Fill up the biscuit tin for the Christmas holidays with these gorgeous lemon star biscuits with a lemon curd filling. They make a lovely mid-morning treat

Provided by Good Food team

Categories Afternoon tea, Dessert, Treat

Time 35m

Yield Makes about 25

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

120g softened butter
120g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour , plus extra for dusting
150g ground almonds
icing sugar , to decorate
1 lemon , zested and juiced
90g caster sugar
1 egg
60g unsalted butter , chopped
¼ tsp ground turmeric
star-shaped biscuit cutters (approx. 5cm and a small one for the centre)

Steps:

Put all the curd ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5 mins. To check if it's ready, dip a wooden spoon in and blow on it gently. If a wave-like pattern forms, remove from the heat and sieve into a bowl. It will thicken more as it cools. Tip into a sterilised jar and leave to cool completely.
Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Mix in the egg yolks and the vanilla extract, then add the flour, almonds and a pinch of salt. Work everything into a smooth dough with your hands, then wrap and put in the fridge for 1 hr.
Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/ gas 3. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 4mm. Press out stars using the larger cutter, then make a hole in the middle of half of the biscuits with the smaller star cutter. Re-roll the excess, making sure you don't overwork the pastry, and stamp out more biscuits. Put the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, and bake for 10 mins until golden. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.
Spread the lemon curd on the biscuits without a hole, and put a biscuit with a hole on top of each one. Dust the biscuits with icing sugar. Will keep in an airtight container for up to three days. Recipe adapted from Let it Snow by Agnes Prus (£7.99, Hardie Grant). Photographs © Frauke Antholz.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 158 calories, Fat 10 grams fat, SaturatedFat 4 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 13 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 9 grams sugar, Protein 3 grams protein, Sodium 0.1 milligram of sodium