Rosaline’s Other Cream Liqueurs Are Available Shortbreads
Recipe excerpted from Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall
These are my latest version of the biscuits I made on the show. They don’t have much of a kick to them, but they’re rich and buttery and go down well at viewing parties.
Makes about 15
Mummy said I could help write this recipe because I might want to be a baker when I grow up. My bits are in italics because italics are what you use to write things that are important.
For the shortbread:
1 cup butter
½ cup light brown sugar
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
For the filling:
½ cup butter
1½ cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur—This is the bit that makes it not-for-Amelie biscuits, which is discrimination
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350oF/180oC (320°F/160oC for a fan oven) and prepare one or two baking trays lined with wax paper.
I can do this bit because I can reach the knobs but once I put it on 220 to see if mummy would notice and she didn’t and then the biscuits were burned.
Cream the butter and brown sugar together. You can do this in a bowl, a food processor or a stand mixer depending on what you have in your kitchen.
Sometimes mummy does this by hand and I help but it’s really hard because the butter is really thick and then we put it in the mixer and it does it for us.
Add the flour, baking powder, and pinch of salt to the mixture and mix until smooth. Then get your hands in and squeeze it into a ball.
This is the best bit because you get dough all over your hands but if you lick your fingers you have to wash your hands again because it’s unhygienic, which means it can make you ill.
Roll the dough out to ¼ of an inch (or 1 centimetre) thick on a floured surface and cut out your biscuits using a small round cutter. Although, actually, I use a champagne flute which probably says bad things about my lifestyle.
I can’t help with this bit unless I stand on a stool.
Transfer the biscuits to the baking tray and bake until golden brown. This should take about 15 minutes, but it’s worth checking after twelve. It’s also worth checking your daughter hasn’t changed the settings on the oven.
I only did that once.
Once the biscuits are ready, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
If you’re very good you can eat one of the biscuits now before the not-for-Amelie filling goes in.
While you’re waiting for the biscuits to cool, beat the butter and icing sugar together until smooth. Then add the cream liqueur and the vanilla extract and beat the whole thing together.
I tried a bit of this when mummy wasn’t looking and it was okay but a bit funny tasting.
Spread a generous helping of the cream liqueur buttercream on half the shortbreads, and sandwich them with the other half. The filling can sometimes be a bit squishy, so you might want to pop them in the fridge to firm up. Alternatively, you might want to pop them on a high shelf so your daughter can’t steal them.
And that’s how you make the discrimination biscuits! I helped even though I’m not allowed to eat the biscuits because I have a generous hearty nature and a sympathy with all poor men, like the spirit of Christmas present.
Goodbye! Enjoy the biscuits!