Lemon Myrtle and Ginger Biscuits

This is, by far, the most requested bake from my time on the Great Australian Bake Off. I created these biscuits for the Grand Finale high tea, and they were an absolute zingy, spicy hit!

The biscuit has a delightfully short, sandy texture thanks to the inclusion of rice flour, and the zingy-ness of the curd filling is dialled up to maximum with the addition of lemon myrtle.  All the judges loved these biscuits, and they were my favourite creation from the high tea.

A couple of things to note:

• This biscuit dough is quite fragile because of the rice flour. When you start rolling it after its rested you’ll find that it can be quite crumbly and break apart. If that happens, just bring the dough back together and roll again. With patience and a generously floured bench the dough will come together beautifully. And you’ll be rewarded with a beautifully textured biscuit.

• Lemon myrtle is a native Australian ingredient that has an intense hit of citrus flavour and fragrance, which has long been used in Aboriginal cuisine. It’s pretty easy to find in Australia (in store or online), and there are several companies that ship lemon myrtle tea overseas. It is definitely worth trying to find this product, but the recipe works well without it. Albeit just not quite as bright and fresh.  

Watch my how-to video on Instagram

INGREDIENTS

Lemon myrtle and ginger curd

• Zest and juice of 4 lemons

• 235g caster sugar

• 125g butter, room temperature, cubed

• 15g Lemon Myrtle leaves

• 50g piece of ginger, grated

• 3 whole eggs

• 3 egg yolks

Lemon myrtle biscuits

• 200g butter, room temperature, cubed

• 75g caster sugar

• 3 tsp lemon myrtle leaves, ground in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle

• 250g plain flour

• 90g rice flour

• ½ tsp sea salt flakes

Ginger drizzle

• 50g piece of ginger, finely grated

• 60g Icing mixture (approximately)

• Yellow or orange food gel (optional)

Equipment

• Two large baking trays

• 5cm and 2.5cm round cookie cutters

• Spice grinder or mortar and pestle

METHOD

Lemon myrtle and ginger curd

• Crack three whole eggs into a large jug. Separate the remaining three eggs and add the yolks to the jug. Whisk to combine and set aside. (Reserve the egg whites for some meringue, or freeze for up to 2 months)

• Zest and juice your lemons and grate your ginger.

• Place the lemon zest, lemon juice, grated ginger, lemon myrtle tea leaves, sugar and butter in a large saucepan. Place on the stove, turn the heat to medium/low and stir until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved. Turn off the heat, place the lid on the saucepan and let the mixture steep for 5-10 minutes.

• Add the whisked eggs to the saucepan and whisk over a medium/low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon - about 10-15 minutes. Be sure to keep whisking so the egg doesn't scramble. Don't be tempted to turn the heat too high - the key to a good curd is cooking it low and slow. I like to alternate between a whisk and a spatula to ensure I scrape the corners of the pot the whisk can't get into.

• Once the curd is at the desired thickness, remove from the heat and pour into a sieve over a large bowl. Use your whisk to push the curd through the sieve, leaving the tea leaves and any zest and cooked egg caught in the sieve. (If you’re in a hurry, you can sieve the curd onto a lipped baking tray lined with plastic wrap.)

• Cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight to fully chill and set. If you’re chilling the curd on a tray, it should be set in an hour.

Lemon myrtle biscuits

• Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and line two baking trays with baking paper.

• Grind the lemon myrtle tea leaves with a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to a fine powder and set aside.

• Place the cubed butter and sugar in s a food processor and blitz on low until combined. Scrape the butter from the sides and base of the bowl, and then add the remaining ingredients and blitz on low until the down starts to clump together.

• Pour the dough onto a lightly floured bench and gently knead to bring the dough together. Divide the dough into two flat discs, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

• Take one disc and gently roll out to 5mm thick. Use a 5cm round cookie cutter to cut out the biscuits and place on the lined baking trays. Re-roll the dough until you’ve used it all and then repeat with the second disc.

• Use a 3cm cookie cutter to cut the centre of half of the biscuits, creating a donut shape for the top of the sandwiched biscuits.

• Place the trays in the freezer for 10 minutes, and then bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly golden brown.

• Let the baked biscuits cook on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to come to room temperature.

Ginger drizzle

• Grate the ginger using a microplane and place into a small, fine sieve. Use a teaspoon to press out the ginger juice into a small bowl.

• Whisk in the icing sugar a tablespoon at a time until you have a consistency that will hold tis shape when piped.

• Place in a small piping bag and set aside.

Assemble

• Place all the donut shaped biscuits on one tray and the bottoms on another.

• For the tops (the donut shaped biscuits) cut a 2mm opening into piping bag (2mm) filled with ginger drizzle and pipe over the biscuits in a joyful zig-zag pattern.

• For the bottoms (the whole biscuits), place half the curd in a small piping bag and cut a 3-4mm opening. Pipe a 4mm dollop of curd into the centre of each biscuit.

• Gently place the top donut shaped biscuit on the bottom. Chill the biscuits in a sealed container for an hour before serving.

• Enjoy!

These biscuits will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 5 days.