Empire Biscuits

Preparation

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  1.
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  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, 160 degrees fan oven.
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  2. Line 2 or 3 baking trays with baking parchment.
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  3. Cut the slightly softened butter into small pieces and place in a large bowl with the caster sugar, then cream them together until smooth.
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  4. Sift in a little of the flour and stir it in, and continue until it is all incorporated. Add the custard powder and mix in well. Use your hands to bring everything into a dough, place it in a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
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  5. Roll out the dough fairly thinly on a lightly floured surface, then cut out the biscuits using a floured small round cutter
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  I used one measuring 5.5 cm. Place them on the prepared trays and bake for about 10 minutes, until the biscuits are just beginning to colour around the edges. Allow to cool for a few minutes before peeling them off the baking parchment and cooling on a rack.
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  6. When the biscuits are completely cool, warm the jam gently in a small saucepan
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  seedless jam is best, but any raspberry jam will do. Turn a biscuit upside down to get a flat surface then spoon on and spread enough jam to sandwich another biscuit to it. Repeat until all the biscuits have been used up.
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  7. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add just enough milk to make a fairly stiff icing
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  be careful, it’s surprising how quickly it can become too runny, so add just a few drops of milk at a time and mix it well. Cut enough cherries in half to allow one piece for each biscuit. Spread the icing onto each biscuit right up to the edge, and, while the icing is still wet, pop half a cherry in the centre.