Happy Days

I have never kept my obsession with shoes a secret from anyone - I was introduced to someone at a party once as 'the one with all the shoes'! I own over one hundred pairs and I just can't help buying more! Quite simply, I love shoes! However, I have another obsession, and this one, very few people know about.

I am obsessed with Lakeland - as I would imagine many keen bakers are - in a serious way; I am not able to go into the shop without buying something. I refer to Lakeland as the shop that sells items you never knew you needed until you buy them and then don't know how you ever managed without them! So many of the things I use when I bake have come from Lakeland, and so when I saw the item I used for the edible delight written about in this post, I couldn't resist!

As you might know from reading previous posts, or from twitter and facebook, there has been bad news in the Delicious Decadence camp. However, after a prolonged stint of tears and anger, I have decided that I will not be beaten! Therefore, this post is one of smiley faces - quite literally...

Smiley face biscuit cutters from Lakeland! How could anyone resist, let alone someone with an obsession as awful as mine!

The biscuits themselves are fairly unimportant in the grand scheme of things - I just needed a uncomplicated recipe that would work to make these adorable sandwiches - and so it is a simple recipe of butter, caster sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, salt, and plain flour.

 Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat together well. Then stir in the flour and a pinch of salt with a wooden spoon, to form a soft dough.

 It is advisable to put the dough into the fridge for abut 30 minutes before using. I didn't do this because I was trying to save time and later wished I had! The dough is extremely soft and needs time to firm up. When it is firmer, it is simply a case of rolling it out on a well floured surface and cutting out the shapes! Obviously you can use this dough with any cutters and just make plain biscuits.

 Bake in the oven (180 degrees centigrade) for about 8-10 minutes, keeping a really careful eye on them so they aren't over done.  They should be a nice golden colour when ready.

 I am happy to admit that some of the biscuits didn't turn out perfectly, as you might be able to tell from the picture above, and this was down to me not chilling the dough and it being far too soft for the first batch of biscuits.

 With the ones that turned out perfectly (the majority did!) I chose to sandwich them together with some seedless raspberry jam and vanilla butter cream.

Aren't they just the cutest things?! 

I am blaming Lakeland for my ever decreasing bank balance! They keep producing items that I simply have to own! Always handy at christmas though! 

But, even if you don't have these biscuit cutters, you should still spend some time making homemade biscuits with any cutters you do have. It is rather a fun way to spend a day! Plus, you get to eat them afterwards!

Kate

xxx