Recipe details
Ingredients
- 100g plain flour, sifted
- 75g softened butter
- 30g caster sugar
- 200g Royal Icing Sugar (+ 35-40ml water)
- Food colourings of your choice (or you can leave them white) I used gels as they have always been my preference
Instructions
- In a medium bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Next stir in the flour and bring together with a wooden spoon, before rolling into a neat ball.
- Lay the dough ball between two larges sheets of greaseproof paper and roll out until it's about the thickness.of a pound coin. Pop in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up.
- Take a small cookie cutter or cupcake corer and stamp out as many biscuit shapes as you can, re-rolling the excess dough to ensure nothing goes to waste.
- Transfer the biscuits to a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper and bake in the oven at 180c for 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them towards the end as they can turn quickly. Leave to cool completely.
- Pour the Royal Icing into a bowl and add the water. Use a hand mixer or standing mixer to whisk until it thickens. Divide the icing between as many bowls as you have colours, and add a small amount of food gel in each. Mix well and pour each one into either a piping bag, or freezer bag, lined with a small star nozzle (you can do this one at a time if you only have one nozzle)
- Pipe the icing onto the cooled biscuits with a small amount of pressure as you pipe, release, and drag up to a point. Repeat for all the biscuits and leave them to set (or eat straight away - I won't judge!)
What are Iced Gems?
Here in the UK Iced Gems are bite-sized, colorful biscuits topped with a burst of icing, creating a tasty treat at tea-time . . . or anytime! They hold some great memories for me as I grew up on them!
How to stop your biscuit dough from spreading?
By chilling the dough briefly before cutting the shapes you get a neater and firmer shape, and by transferring them straight to the oven they are chilled enough to hold their shape better too.
What else can I use to stamp the shape?
If you don't have a cupcake corer or cookie cutter small enough, the large circular end of a piping nozzle also works well. You may need to help the shape out slightly by pressing on the back with something blunt
To start, it's easier to make sure you have everything prepped and ready, so begin by weighing out your ingredients, preparing the baking trays and having any equipment you will need to hand.
Beat the butter and cream together with either a hand mixer or standing mixer. Around 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy should be fine. Add in the flour and bring together with a wooden spoon, until it is combined enough to handle without being a sticky mess. Shape into a flat disc and lay between two sheets of greaseproof paper. This helps to roll it evenly without the dough getting stuck to the rolling pin. Roll and flatten until it is the thickness of a pound coin, and leave to chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes, or the freezer for around 15 minutes. This helps to get a neater shape when cutting your biscuits, and also helps them not to spread in the oven.
Whilst your dough is chilling, pre heat your oven to 180c and line a tray with greaseproof paper. Remove your dough from the fridge or freezer and using your chosen cutter, cut as many biscuits as you can. Ensure you cut them as close together as possible to get as much as you can out of your dough. You can re roll any scraps and repeat the chill process to avoid wasting dough. Once your biscuits are ready to cook, bake them in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on them towards the end as they can start to burn quickly as they are small. Leave to cool.
Now to prepare your icing. Firstly, decide whether you want to leave your iced gems white, or decide on which, and how many colours you want to use. Once you know how many colours you are using, prepare as many bowls as you need colours. In the first bowl add the Royal Icing sugar and water. Carefully mix until you have a smooth, yet thick icing. You need to make sure it is not too thick to pipe, but thick enough to hold its shape when you do. You can add more water or icing sugar to adjust it. Once you are happy with the consistency, divide between the bowls and add a tiny amount of food gel / powder to each. Mix each one until you are happy with the shade, and they are fully blended with no streaks. Add a piping nozzle to a piping bag and fill with one colour. If you only have one nozzle do each colour one at a time, but if you are using several nozzles prepare each colour in a piping bag ready to go.
Take each biscuit and pushing down, pipe a large star, covering the majority of the surface of each biscuit, then pull up quickly and release for the tapered top. You may need to practice with the first one or two, but they are very easy to do. Repeat with each colour until all of your biscuits are iced. Leave to stand at room temperature until the icing dries.
Store in an airtight tub for around 5 days . . . but good luck making them last that long!
