COCONUT AND LIME SHORTBREAD
Decorating Easter biscuits is a great way to spend the holidays with the kids or just to brush up on your own skills. Simply stock up on piping bags and get messy! Hands-on time 20min, plus chilling. Cooking time about 10-12min. Makes 10
75g (3oz) desiccated coconut 125g (4oz) plain flour 125g (4oz) unsalted butter, chilled and chopped 50g (2oz) caster sugar 30g (1¼oz) cornflour Finely grated zest 2 limes Icing sugar, to dust to decorate 2 medium egg whites 500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar Food colouring in pink, yellow and blue Sugared edible flowers (see page 138 for method)
1 In a large frying pan, toast the coconut over a medium heat for about 2min, or until just fragrant. Set aside to cool.
2 In a food processor, whizz the flour, butter, caster sugar, cornflour, lime zest and toasted desiccated coconut until the mixture just comes together into a dough. Shape into a disc and wrap in clingfilm. Chill for 30min.
3 Line 2 large baking trays with baking parchment. Dust your work surface with a little icing sugar and roll out the chilled dough to the thickness of a £1 coin (about 5mm/¼in). Cut out 10 biscuits using an egg-shaped cutter, about 8cm (3in). Put the biscuits on to the lined baking trays and chill for 30min.
4 Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Bake the biscuits for 10-12min, until just golden at the edges and sandy to the touch. Cool on the trays for 5min before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
5 Make the icing: in a large clean bowl, beat the egg whites with a handheld electric whisk to form stiff peaks. Sift over the icing sugar and whisk until the mixture is thick and glossy.
6 Divide the icing among 3 bowls and colour each, adding food colouring 1 drop at a time to create pastel shades. Spoon a third of each into a piping bag and cut a small hole in the end (about 1mm/ 1/16in) and pipe around the outline of each egg. Gradually add 1-2tbsp of water to each bowl of icing to loosen. Spoon into new piping bags, cut a small hole in each (about 1mm/ 1/16in) and ice the centre of each biscuit. Decorate with edible flowers and contrasting coloured icings, if you like.
PER BISCUIT 421cals, 3g protein, 15g fat (11g saturates), 68g carbs (55g total sugars), 2g fibre
GET AHEAD Make biscuit dough up to the end of step 2 up to 1 day ahead; leave in the fridge. Remove from the fridge at least 2hr before you plan to bake, so that it is not too hard to roll. Keep, stored in an airtight container, for up to 2 days.