Spiced Easter biscuits
Makes 8
150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1½ tsp mixed spice
20g cornflour
80g unsalted butter, cubed, plus 20g cold unsalted butter 145g caster sugar
1 large egg, plus 2 yolks zest and juice of 1 orange icing sugar, for dusting
8cm tall Easter egg cookie cutter 3cm round cookie cutter baking paper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4 and line a large oven tray with baking paper. In a mixing bowl, combine the plain flour, mixed spice and cornflour. Add the cubed butter and 75g of the sugar, then rub together using the fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. In a separate bowl, beat the egg, then gradually incorporate it into the dry ingredients, mixing together until a dough forms. Wrap in an airtight material and leave to chill for 30 mins.
In the meantime, to make the orange curd, whisk the egg yolks and remaining caster sugar in a bowl until smooth. Add the orange zest and juice, then whisk to combine. Transfer to a saucepan set on a low to medium heat and cook slowly, stirring continuously until the curd is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cold butter, a little at a time, until smooth and glossy. Leave to cool in the saucepan.
Dust a clean kitchen surface with flour, then roll out the dough to approximately the thickness of a coin. Using the egg-shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many biscuits as possible. Bring together the off-cuts of dough, then roll out and cut more biscuits. There should be 16 in total. Using the round cookie cutter, cut out a circle in eight of the biscuits, discarding the excess. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared tray, spaced out from each other, and bake for 10 mins until they are firm to touch. They may need to be cooked in batches. Allow the biscuits to cool completely.
Lightly dust the biscuits with the yolk holes with icing sugar to turn them white. Spread 1 heaped tsp of the cooled orange curd onto a whole egg biscuit and carefully place the dusted biscuit on top, pushing down to sandwich the curd filling. Repeat with the other biscuits. Allow to set, then serve.