Love and Olive Oil

Guest Post: Custard Creams by Kathryn of London Bakes

Hi everyone, Lindsay here. As you may have noticed, I’ve been, uh, a bit busy lately (understatement), and haven’t had as much time to post as I’d like. So, to keep your sweet tooth satisfied in the interim, I’ve arranged for some fabulous guest posts by some blogging buddies! Today we head across the pond for a tasty treat from Kathryn of London Bakes. Enjoy!

Hi, my name is Kathryn and I have recently started taking tentative steps into the world of foodblogging over at London Bakes. As the name suggests, I live in London, England and my blog chronicles my culinary adventures in this fair city.

When Lindsay tweeted that she was looking for volunteers to write a guest post on her blog, I leapt at the opportunity. Love & Olive Oil has always been one of my favourite blogs and I am honoured today to bring you a recipe for a classic British cookie – the custard cream.

Custard Creams Cookies

First of all, let’s get one thing straight. In the UK, the custard cream is called a biscuit. Cookies are some new-fangled American invention and goodness only knows what the British equivalent of an American “biscuit” is. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good soft, chewy cookie but you can’t really dunk one in your tea can you? The custard cream with its winning combination of crisp, buttery vanilla biscuit and creamy fondant filling is an excellent candidate for dunking. For this reason, it is often voted Britain’s favourite biscuit – quite an accolade in our biscuit-obsessed nation!

Part of the charm of a custard cream is its simplicity. These biscuits are so easy and quick to make and don’t require any fancy ingredients – perfect for when you want to whip up a batch of something sweet in a hurry. The recipe does call for custard powder which is not always widely available outside the UK. An American friend informs me that vanilla pudding mix would be an acceptable substitute but you can also use a mixture of corn starch and vanilla which is all that custard powder really is.

But be warned, serious scientific research has found that they are also Britain’s most dangerous biscuit. So if you’re feeling brave, reach for the flour, grab some custard powder and take a walk on the wild side of British baking…

Custard Creams

Did you make this recipe?

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/3 cup superfine sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 tbsps custard powder (or 8 tbsps corn starch and 1 tsp vanilla extract)
A few drops of vanilla extract

Filling:
2/3 stick (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
A few drops of vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsps custard powder (or 2 tbsps corn starch and ½ tsp vanilla extract)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Fold in the flour, custard powder and vanilla essence until you have a dough that you can roll out. This might involve you getting stuck in with your hands!

Flour the surface and roll out your dough to a thickness of ¼ inch. Cut the dough into whatever shapes you want ensuring that you have an even number of each shape. Custard creams are traditionally square but I used a glass to cut my dough into small circles.

Place your biscuits on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

To make the filling, cream the butter and vanilla together and gradually add the sugar and custard powder until you have something with the consistency of buttercream. When the biscuits are cool, gently sandwich them together with a heaped teaspoon of the filling.

Recipe by Kathryn of London Bakes.

All images and text © / Love & Olive Oil

Did you make this recipe?

Let us know what you think!
Leave a Comment below or share a photo and tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #loveandoliveoil.

There may be affiliate links in this post. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

20 Comments

  1. I love the photos of these biscuits and recipe, but there’s something I didnt understand. I’m brazilian and we usually cook the cornstarch to become custard. It seems in this recipe you use it “raw” ???? Can we eat cornstarch “raw” w/o being cooked?? so is it just it, mix it “raw” with the other ingredients to make the filling? I just need to know this to go ahead with the recipe… Thanks a lot! :-) beautiful blog!

  2. Thanks for the recipe and posting this very popular British cookie using American measurements. I can now make them without using a calculator and weight scale.

  3. I am so excited. I’m a Brit living in America and have just got those first pinings for Brittish biscuits. Will so be making these…….thank you

  4. Wow! I don’t bake nearly as much as I cook, but I have all these ingredients just sitting around my kitchen. This weekend I’m throwing some Hugh Grant on the tv and having these delicious little guys over for tea! ;)

  5. Ah thanks! Hm, guess I just didn’t cream the butter enough and work the flour in right. I made it with 8oz, and it was like shortbread-custard deliciousness, though.

  6. I’m not sure if I missed something, but how much is a stick of butter? I buy butter in 8 oz and 4 oz size sticks. I’m kind of assuming the 8 oz would be correct, because 4 oz was definitely not enough– I had to add some cream. They’re still great, but I’d like to try this with the recommended recipe amounts. :)

    • Hi Maevrim –
      double checked with Kathryn and she’s referring to a 4oz stick of butter, or 1/2 cup. Have edited the recipe to clarify. Hope that helps! :)

  7. These look fantastic! I am addicted to tea, and love to “dunk”. Move over biscotti, I’ve got a new recipe to try.

  8. Oh my goodness these look so delicious!!

  9. Great guest post Kathryn! I’m checking out your blog as we speak… I love guest posts for this! My two best friends live in London, so I’m excited to try out this recipe and see what they think.

  10. These look divine!!! I love that the red tea (?) is in the back… these with tea… divine eats!!! Thanks for sharing these!

  11. Yum! I’m going to make those stat.
    Kacie

  12. This guest post is great! Like it! Have to try this recipe!

    Kisses from Hong Kong,
    Nicole

  13. Oh these look heavenly…yum yum

  14. These look wonderful! I am definitely going to make these.

  15. Nom nom nom nom. This looks so great. I tried this. Mine didn’t look that great but were so delicious. Maybe next time they will look better.

  16. I am really looking forward to making these treats. On a side note, we call cookies that people consume biscuits, because the word cookie in my house means “dog treat”. Imagine 3 large drooly dogs following you if you say I feel like making cookies, not good! so I make biscuits and the dogs never know…

  17. My partner is from England and he giggled at this post. He says that yes, they are in fact very British but usually you eat them at “posh” events… Like afternoon tea.

    Thanks for the post and making him feel a little more at home. And giving me a great idea to add to my picnic basket!

  18. My favorite and very addictive. I buy Fox’s and have it with afternoon tea. Send me some, I’m near Ally Pally, when you cook next and I’ll mention you on my blog ;)

  19. What a lovely guest post! I love the recipe for these cookies Kathryn, very well done on presentation too!
    Glad I found your blog Lindsay..thank you for sharing your guest with us!!!

Did you make this recipe? Leave a Review »