When I began my Biscuit Challenge here on the blog, a long time ago, I constantly refrained from attempting the infamous custard cream. Bourbons, digestives, snickerdoodles and most recently ricciarelli, amongst others, have all been made as part of the Biscuit Challenge and have all been tasty. They haven’t been exact replicas of the shop bought original, but when baked with regular ingredients and care – plus with delicious results – does this really matter? When I finally attempted custard creams, I decided to step a little bit further away from the original.
Marcus Wareing, a Gordon Ramsay trained and Michelin-starred top chef, is renowned for his nutmeg custard tart, which has been served to the Queen. Taking this success and running with it, he’s adapted his recipe to create what he calls Nutmeg Custard Cream Yo-yo’s. The biscuits were easy to make, and the final product was ultra rewarding. The nutmeg makes the final cookies spicier and warmer than your standard custard cream and when I make these next (which I definitely shall do) I think I’ll add even more. The biscuit itself had the best texture – sandy yet crisp and very moreish. When I made bourbons I missed the firm square of chocolate cream filling – which I think now you can only properly get with shop bought biscuits which can use preservatives and E-numbers – but with these the soft and creamy custard filling was delicious and perfectly flavoured. Mmm. Just right to fill that 4pm biscuit craving :)
The only change I made to the recipe was that instead of forming a log of cookie dough and slicing it up, I found the dough much easier to roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. I also added more custard powder to the biscuit dough, as I wanted to be sure the flavour would clearly some through which, happily, it did. You can find the recipe here, and I hope you do attempt the British biscuit tin favourite – and enjoy!
