EARL GREY & ORANGE SUGAR COOKIES

MAKES 24 / PREPARATION 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES PLUS FREEZING TIME / COOKING 12 MINUTES

290g plain flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1½ teaspoons ground Earl Grey tea leaves

¼ teaspoon fine salt

170g unsalted butter, softened

150g caster sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of 1 orange

TO DECORATE

1 egg white

250g icing sugar

liquid/gel colouring

edible liquid gold paint In a small bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder, Earl Grey tea and salt. Set aside. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla extract and orange zest and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix only until combined and a dough forms.

Roll out the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper, to a thickness of 6mm. Freeze for 30 minutes or overnight. Heat the oven to 160℃.

Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out cookies and place onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden then remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.

To decorate, beat together the egg white and icing sugar in a mixer, until thick and smooth. Pour this royal icing into a medium-sized bowl and drop 2-3 drops of colouring into the icing randomly. Using a toothpick, lightly swirl the colouring into the icing, but do not fully mix the colours. Dip the flat surface of the cooled cookies into the icing, gently raise from the bowl and shake off any excess then flip the cookie so the royal icing is facing up. Gently tap the base of the cookies with your palm to flatten the icing and use a toothpick to pop any bubbles that may surface. Once dried the icing will turn matte. Splash edible gold paint onto the cookies.