stem ginger and lemon iced biscuits

Am I feeling summery yet?.....

hhhhhm.... I'm not too sure if I am just yet, spring never did come. If you didn't know already here in the UK has been the coldest spring for 50 years! And am I feeling optimistic for summer? No. OF COURSE! So while I wait for it to get going I thought I'd make some delicious biscuits for all the seasons. I used one of my many new cookie cutters I got for my birthday from my amaaazing Scottish cousins, the button cutter! (I do love a button!)

So to make them suitable for both cold mild and hot weather I thought I'd use some lemon because it's zingy and refreshing but also reminds me of lemonade on baking hot summer days (I don't get many). I also found 2 jars of unopened stem ginger in our cupboards, one had the sell by date of 2010 but I didn't see how they could go off when preserved in syrup (well no one who has eaten one has fallen ill yet). Ginger has a fiery bite to it which warm you up in the chillier months of the year, plus it's just tastes so darn good in just about anything and everything!

Stem Ginger and Lemon Button Biscuits(makes 20 biscuits)

biscuits

• 125 grams of butter
• 75 grams of sugar
• 3 balls of stem ginger
• zest of 1 and a half lemons
• 175 grams of self raising flour

1. cream together the sugar and butter until pale
2. finely chop the stem ginger and fold into the mix with the lemon zest
3. fold in the self raising flour and form a ball of dough
4. wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill fro 1/2 an hour
5. preheat the oven to 180oC/ 350oF/ gas mark 4
6. roll the dough out to about 1-2 cm thick and place on lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until slightly gold, it doesn't matter if they're still a little soft because they carry on cooking out of the oven
7. leave to cool and you can leave them uniced if you're feeling a bit lazy but they taste even better when iced!

Lemon icing

• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 100 grams of icing sugar

1. sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the lemon juice
2. stir the mix until smooth, if you get lumps it might be better to use a whisk
3. drizzle or cover the cooled biscuits before leaving to set for about 15 minutes
4. EAAT! These are really nice served with earl grey tea with a slice or two of lemon