Sugared Flower Shortbreads

Ingredients:

For the shortbread:
250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
140g cold, lightly-salted butter, cut into small cubes
85g white caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
½ tsp rosewater (see above for other options)

For the sugared flowers:
assortment of 15-20 edible flowers, unsprayed, (eg pansies, violas, primroses, cherry blossoms and rose petals)
50g caster sugar
1 egg white, beaten
300g royal icing sugar food colouring pastes (eg yellow, purple and pink)

Method:

Take your flowers and remove any stalks, stems and leaves. For flowers like roses, poppies, etc separate the petals from the main body of the flower. Arrange a sheet of greaseproof (waxed) paper on your work surface.

Sprinkle caster sugar over a saucer then lightly-whisk the egg white in a bowl. Hold a whole flower or flower petals with tweezers use a small, clean, paint brush to paint both sides with the egg white. Spoon the sugar over, then shake off the excess and place on the parchment. Repeat with the remaining petals or whole flowers. Once complete, set aside to to dry for 3 hrs (or overnight if possible). These sugared flowers will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 month, but their colour may start to fade after a few weeks.

Turn the flour into a large bowl and add the butter. Using your fingertips rub the butter into the flour until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add in the sugar and gently mix in with your fingertips. Whisk the vanilla, rosewater and egg yolks together in a small bowl with a fork, then drizzle the mixture over the buttery flour. Mix again, squashing the crumbs together to form a dough. If the mixture is a little crumbly, drizzle over 1-2 tsp cold water, then mix again.

Turn the resultant dough out onto your work surface and knead very briefly until the dough looks even, with no streaks of egg. Wrap in clingfilm, pat into a round disc and chill in your refrigerator for 30 minutes. In the meantime, pre-heat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan/gas mark 4) and line two large baking trays with baking parchment.

Remove the dough from the fridge — if it’s very firm, leave it at room temperature for 15 mins to soften. Lightly dust your work surface with flour, unwrap the dough and roll it to the thickness of a £1 coin. Stamp out 8cm disks with the fluted side of a biscuit cutter and transfer them to the baking trays.

Place in the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake for 10-12 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through cooking. Once lightly golden and firm, remove the biscuits from the oven. Leave to cool on the trays for 10 mins or until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a thick icing. Divide the icing between as many bowls as the number of colours you’d like to use, and dye each one a pastel shade with a drop of food colouring. Transfer half of one of the icings to a disposable piping bag fitted with a fine writing nozzle. Pipe a ring around the outside of the biscuit and set aside to dry. Continue until you’ve iced a third of the biscuits (if you’re using three colours), then move on to the next colour, transferring any leftover icing back to its original bowl. Leave the biscuits to dry for 10-15 mins.

Add 2-3 tsp water to each icing to make it a little runnier. Spoon the icing onto the biscuits, matching the colour to the rings. Encourage the icing to flood the surface by easing it to the edges with the back of a teaspoon — don’t be too generous with the icing as it may overspill when you add the flowers and petals. You can now top with the flowers. Leave the biscuits to set for at least 1 hr before wrapping in tissue paper and storing in a pretty box.

They will keep for up to a week.