Melting Moments
This Melting Moments recipe makes buttery little sandwich biscuits with a delicate crumb and a lemon buttercream filling. The secret is a generous helping of cornflour, which keeps the biscuits tender rather than crisp and snappy. There are no eggs, and the dough comes together with ordinary cupboard ingredients.
For a hot South African Christmas, bake them in the cool of the morning and put the kettle on when everyone needs a break from the sunshine. They are small enough to enjoy after a generous lunch, and the lemon brings a welcome tang to the sweet filling. Keep the finished biscuits somewhere cool until serving; buttercream softens quickly on a warm patio.
Ingredients
Biscuits
Lemon buttercream
Instructions
Make and bake the biscuits
- 1Line two baking trays with baking paper. Beat the 250 g butter and 60 g icing sugar for about 2 minutes, until smooth and slightly lighter in colour. Beat in the vanilla.
- 2Sift together the cake wheat flour, cornflour and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix on low speed, or with a wooden spoon, just until a soft dough forms. Do not knead.
- 3Divide into 40 portions of roughly 15 g each. Roll gently into balls and place on the trays, leaving about 4 cm between them. Press each ball lightly with a fork dipped in cornflour, flattening it to about 1 cm thick.
- 4Refrigerate the shaped biscuits for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C conventional or 150°C fan.
- 5Bake one tray at a time on the middle shelf for 13–15 minutes per tray, keeping the second tray chilled. The biscuits should look dry on top with only a faint golden colour around their bottom edges; do not wait for the tops to brown.
- 6Leave on the trays for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before filling, as warm biscuits will melt the buttercream.
Fill and sandwich
- 1Beat the 80 g butter until smooth. Gradually beat in the 120 g icing sugar, then add the lemon zest. Add the lemon juice a little at a time, beating until the filling is smooth and spreadable. If it becomes too soft in the heat, refrigerate for 10 minutes before using.
- 2Match the cooled biscuits into pairs of similar size. Spread or pipe a small teaspoonful of filling onto the flat side of one biscuit in each pair, dividing it evenly among all 20 pairs.
- 3Top with the remaining biscuits and press together very gently. Keep in an airtight container in a cool place, or refrigerate if the kitchen is warm. Let chilled biscuits stand for about 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
- Calories
- 205 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 20.5 g
- Protein
- 1.2 g
- Fat
- 13.5 g
- Saturated fat
- 8.5 g
- Sugar
- 8.9 g
- Fibre
- 0.3 g
- Sodium
- 24 mg
- Cholesterol
- 35 mg
Estimated values based on the ingredients used.
Notes
Christmas tips
- Bake the unfilled biscuits up to 5 days ahead and store airtight in a cool, dry cupboard. Fill the day before serving for less work on Christmas morning.
- In hot weather, refrigerate the filled biscuits in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Set out small batches rather than leaving the whole plate in the sun.
- Freeze unfilled biscuits for up to 2 months, with baking paper between layers. Thaw in their closed container before filling.
- For a festive variation, replace the lemon zest and juice with the same quantities of orange zest and juice. Add the juice gradually so the filling stays firm enough to hold its shape.
Frequently asked questions
Is cornflour the same as maize meal?
No. Use the fine white starch sold as cornflour, such as Maizena, not maize meal or polenta. It gives these biscuits their delicate, melt-away texture.
Why did my biscuits spread?
The butter or dough may have been too warm. Use softened butter that still holds its shape, chill the formed biscuits, and always place dough on a cool baking tray. Weigh the flour and cornflour for consistent results.
Can I serve them without the filling?
Yes. They make lovely plain butter biscuits, with a light dusting of icing sugar if you like. This batch makes 40 individual biscuits or 20 filled sandwiches. Allow about 30 minutes of cooling time in addition to the listed preparation and baking times; preparation time includes the 20-minute chill.
