Melting Moments

As all overindulgence in the last two weeks of December is now a hazy but delightful memory and after a month of clean eating, morphing into a gym bunny and drinking enough water to sink a battleship, January - the month that makes the world feel guilty for enjoying Christmas - has finally come to an end. At this stage you either need congratulating for spending four weeks focussed and sticking to your New Year's resolutions, or congratulating for pretending so convincingly that you've spent the last 31 days being super well behaved when actually you've still been sneaking the odd chocolate bar and haven't actually broken that Diet Coke habit like you promised.

Either way, and no matter how you approached January, the most depressing month of the year is over - yay! - and there seems only one way to celebrate properly: baked goods. If you've been good, then you deserve it; and if not, who cares anyway? Treat yo' self!

These Melting Moments look beautiful, are the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea, and taste wonderfully light, making them feel like a huge indulgence when they're really not.

The original recipe can be found in the Great British Bake Off book, How to Bake, but it's also below with my notes and photographs.

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:
250g unsalted butter, softened
60g icing sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste)
250g plain flour
60g cornflour
Red food colouring (the gel type works best)
Icing sugar, for dusting

For the filling:
125ml full-fat or semi-skimmed milk
2 tablespoons plain flour
125g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Roughly 2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

Method:

Using a wooden spoon or an electric mixer, beat the butter with the icing sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add the vanilla and beat for a few seconds.

Sift the flour and cornflour together into the bowl and mix until a smooth paste.

Paint a straight line of red food colouring on the inside of a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle, from the tube to the opening of the bag. Carefully spoon the mixture into the piping bag.

Pipe at least 32 swirls onto baking sheets lined with baking paper. Each swirl should be about 5cm across and 2.5cm high (mine weren't high enough). This recipe makes 16 pairs. Chill in the fridge or freezer for 15 minutes to firm up.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Bake the biscuits for about 12 minutes or until they are a pale golden brown. Leave for a few minutes to cool on the baking sheet to set slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

To make the filling, heat the milk with the flour in a small pan, whisking constantly until the mixture boils and thickens.

  
Whisk over very low heat for a minute to cook out the taste of the flour, then pour the mixture onto a plate.

Cover closely with cling film to prevent a skin from forming, and leave until completely cold.

Beat together the sugar and butter until very pale and fluffy - this will take about 10 minutes by hand or 4 minutes with an electric mixer.

Add the thickened milk mixture and beat until light, creamy and almost white. Add the vanilla. If the mixture is very soft, cover and chill until it is firm enough to pipe.

To assemble, start by matching up the biscuits into equally sized pairs. Spread a little jam on the bases of half of the biscuits. Pipe small swirls of filling onto the bases of the other halves, and then sandwich the pairs together.

Serve and enjoy!

They're deliciously light and buttery, and just melt in the mouth. It's rather a different buttercream filling than the ones I've made in the past, but it luckily accompanies the delicate biscuits perfectly as it's not overpowering at all. If you're not a fan of raspberry jam then I'd imagine strawberry would work just as well, but it's worth noting that the tartness of the raspberry cuts through the buttery biscuits wonderfully.

If you're in need of something home made after a dry and miserable January then these are guaranteed to hit the spot. They look adorable and if you're hibernating from the flurries of snow like I am, then hiding in the kitchen to make these would be a pretty good use of your time if you ask me!

So what do you think of these Melting Moments? Is there a type of biscuit you like to make when it's horrible outside and you just want to hide in the kitchen baking? Do let me know of any recipe recommendations in the comments below!