HOMEMADE CUSTARD CREAMS ARE DELIGHTFUL SUGAR COOKIES FILLED WITH A CUSTARD FLAVOURED BUTTERCREAM.
These custard creams are a recreation of a favourite sweet biscuit and a favouite childhood treat.
Ingredients
For the sugar cookies
390 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup caster sugar
115 g butter, room temp
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup icing sugar
For the custard cream
1 ½ tablespoons custard powder
½ cup milk
½ cup sugar
115 g 1/2 cup / 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cream or milk
Instructions
For the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 160C (320F) and line 2-3 large cookie sheets with baking paper.
Sift together flour & baking powder.
Beat the butter and sugar until lightened. Scrape sides of bowl. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat well, scraping down the bowl a couple of times until well mixed. Add flour in 3 parts. Keep mixer on low and mix until it comes together as a dough. If it looks too crumbly and isn't coming together, add 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of water until it starts to form big clumps of dough. Be patient. Don't add more water than necessary.
Bring the dough into a smooth ball and roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper (I cut the dough in half as I find it more manageable to do half at a time). Roll it to about 2-3mm thick. Use a 4cm fluted cookie cutter (or cutter of choice) to cut cookies. Reroll the dough as required but get as many out of each rolled batch of dough as possible.
Space the uncooked cookies at least an inch (2.5cm) apart and bake for 8 minutes until just starting to turn gold on edges. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer to a cooling rack to cool.
For the custard buttercream:
In a small saucepan, stir together the custard powder and a little milk until you have a paste. Add the rest of the milk and whisk well until smooth. Add ½ of the sugar and mix well.
Heat over low heat while stirring constantly to prevent lumps, for around 7 minutes until you have a very thick custard (it should drop off the spoon in dollops). Transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap pressed right onto the surface to stop a skin forming and place in the fridge until cool.
Once the custard is cool, place the butter and the remaining ¼ cup of sugar in a bowl and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary until very light and creamy. Add the salt and the cold custard (which should be like a big blob of firm custard) and beat well. Add half the milk or cream and beat until the buttercream is smooth and there are no more sugar grains (this may take around 5 minutes). Add a little more milk or cream as needed to loosen the mix up a little so that you can pipe it.
Pipe about a teaspoon of buttercream onto the back of one cookie, then sandwich with a second cookie, pressing lightly to spread the buttercream to the edges. Repeat for remaining cookies.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.