Ingredients

Method

• 1 ½ cup cake flour
• ½ t baking powder 
• a pinch of fine salt 
• 1 t ground ginger 
• ½ t heaped ground cinnamon  
• ½ t heaped ground mixed spice
• ½ t heaped ground nutmeg
• 4 T caster sugar 
• 4 T Muscovado sugar  
• 140 g cold salted butter, diced 
• 1 T cold water, optional 
For the royal icing:
• 3  large free-range egg whites
• 450 g  icing sugar, sifted

Method

Ingredients

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the flour, baking powder, salt, spices and sugar in a large bowl and mix well.

2. Add the butter and work together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, adding a little water if necessary. Gather the dough together and flatten slightly, taking care not to overwork it. Cover the dough and chill for 1 hour.

3. Remove the dough from the fridge and knead until rollable – it should still be firm. Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour.

4. Roll out the dough and cut out circles. Place on the baking tray and bake for 10–12 minutes, or until slightly golden. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

5. To make the icing, whisk the egg whites until almost at soft-peak stage. Add the icing sugar and mix until paste-like in consistency, then whisk until smooth.

6. Pour into a piping bag and secure the top. Cut a very small hole into the tip of the piping bag to allow for a thin flow of icing.  Decorate the biscuits as desired.

Siba’s tips: 

• You can easily double this recipe for a bigger yield.
• This dough freezes very well and it’s a great made in a big batch. Roll into a cylinder so you can slice and bake from frozen.
• I prefer not to add vanilla extract to the icing to keep the colour white and bright.

Find more biscuit recipes here

Photographs: Jan Ras
Production: Amy Ebedes-Murray
Food assistant: Bianca Jones