Lemon Puff Biscuits

 

One of my favourite things to eat has always been the Lemon Puff Biscuits/Cookies that you can get in the shops.  I love lemon anything anyways, but  . . .  

 

there is just something totally irresistable and moreish about these treats . . . with their flaky cookie/cracker-like pastry . . .  and that yummy lemon filling.  I could eat a whole pack of them myself.  Trust me, I don't, but I could!  I just find them that yummy!

 

I found myself craving them today.  You know how that goes.  Sometimes you just crave something that you haven't had for a while.  I haven't seen any in the shops the last while to be honest.

 

I did have a packet of ready rolled all butter Puff Pastry in the freezer though, and I got to thinking to myself today, why couldn't I just use that?  Why indeed!

  

I cut it into 1 by 3 inch rectangles . . . I can't tell you how many I got exactly because I didn't count them and some have um . . .  disappeared in the interim between my baking and filling them, and my sitting down to write this. 

 

Both Todd and myself have been picking at them. So much for him saying he doesn't like lemon.  Pah!  Methinks he likes it well enough!

 

The ones you buy in the shops are glazed with something and so I glazed mine with a mix of egg white, caster (fine) sugar and lemon juice, prior to sprinkling them with a touch of demerara sugar for crunch, and then baking them in a hot oven.  This worked beautifully.  

 

They came out lovely and light and perfectly golden brown with a lovely crunchy sheen/topping.

  

It was very easy to split them in half and fill them with a lush lemon flavoured buttercream.  Do wait for them to cool completely before you do this.  You don't want the butter cream to melt.

 

I wanted to be a bit generous with the filling. You almost can't see it here because it is quite a pale buttery colour, but believe me when I say that it is there . . . .

 

Oh boy  . . .  that combination of crisp  sweetly crunchy puff pastry and that rich lemon buttercream are a beautiful combination.  Simply beautiful  . . .

 

Such a beautiful thing to enjoy on a day such as this when you just want to put all that is happening in the world out of your mind  . . .  you just want to sit back with a hot cuppa and a breath of something slightly indulgent and sweet . . .

 

And these do fit the bill perfectly!  Just look at all of those flakey layers  . . . .

 

And that wonderfully rich and indulgent buttercream filling . . .  it just melts in your mouth.

 

They went perfectly with my cup of herbal tea . . .  today it was mint . . . a lovely pick-me-up.

  

Of course days like this call for even more of an indulgence so I enjoyed my tea in my Susan Branch Bluebird Mug.  I hardly ever use the mug.  Its so beautiful and I am afraid of  breaking it, but then again what is the point of having something beautiful and never using it.  Why indeed!

Lemon Puff Biscuits

Yield: Makes quite a few

Author: Marie Rayner

I was craving my old favourite Lemon Puffs, and decided to make my own. If anything I think these are even better.

Ingredients:

For the pastry

• 1 sheet of ready roll all butter puff pastry
• 1 large free range egg white
• 2 tsp caster sugar (fine granulated)
• the juice of 1/2 lemon
• demerara sugar for sprinkling (turbinado)

For the filling:

• 100g butter, softened (8 TBS)
• 200g icing sugar, sifted (1 1/2 cups)
• the finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
• the juice of 1/2 lemon

Instructions:

How to cook Lemon Puff Biscuits

1. Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Line several baking sheets with baking paper.  Set aside.
2. Unroll your puff pastry. Cut it into rectangles roughly 1 inch by 3 inches in size. Place them onto the baking sheets, leaving some space in between each.
3. Lightly whisk together the egg white,  sugar and lemon juice. You don't want it to turn foamy.  Using a pastry brush, brush some of this on top of each piece of pastry.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Don't let it burn, so keep an eye on it.
5. Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool completely.
6. To make the filling, beat together all of the ingredients until smooth.  Take care not to add too much lemon juice, you want a thick spreadable mixture.
7. Split the baked pastries in half through the middle.  Spread a portion of the filling onto the bottoms of each one and top with the top pastry bit, sugared side up.
8. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

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Hot Mint Tea, Bluebirds, Susan Branch and Lemon Puffs . . .  it truly doesn't get much better than this!