Cherry and Almond Biscuits

Up until this point in my culinary adventures I genuinely felt that glace cherries had little, if nothing, going for them.  The only time I had seen them used was on top of pre-packaged ‘jaw-achingly sweet’ bakewell tarts, or as part of some weird confectionary choice.  I wouldn’t like to think of myself as a food snob – there’s a time and a place for everything – but glace cherries have always been a bit, well, tacky.  That is until I was given this recipe.  Provided by a friend who shall remain nameless (Felix, that’s you then) my first experience of these biscuits was fresh out of the oven with a cup of tea in her kitchen.  As those of us who suffer from food sensitivities will know, to be cooked for by someone else (friend, family or lover) is one of the most wonderful treats in the world.  So used to providing our own food, bringing our own lunch, offering our own alternative; when someone goes to the effort to make a little something especially for us, it can feel like you are being given much more than just a tin of biscuits.

These little treats have a shortbread consistency made rich with ground almonds and studded with sweet jewels of cherry.  You can’t fault them really, they feel like a real treat to eat and have a wonderfully addictive almond flavour.  On that note, you will see that I have used almond extract in my version of this recipe, that’s because, just like vanilla extract versus vanilla essence, the quality of flavour of the natural extract is just so much better.  You can use almond essence if you so wish, but be careful not to overdo it otherwise you’ll end up with a rather sickly sweet flavour instead of the mellow undertones that you want.  One final word of warning, err on the side of caution with your baking times and watch your biscuits, if you bake them for too long they can become a little too crisp and shatter on biting – not what you want at all.

CHERRY AND ALMOND BISCUITS

Makes about 15 biscuits

You will need a 2¼ inch/6cm round and fluted biscuit cutter for this recipe

180g/6oz Doves Farm Plain Flour

60g/2oz golden caster sugar

60g/2oz ground almonds

115g/4oz butter replacement – Pure Sunflower Spread

80g/3oz glace cherries

1tbsp almond extract

Preheat the oven to 170c (150c Fan) and line a baking sheet with parchment.  Begin by creaming together the butter replacement and the sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Next, stir in the flour, ground almonds, almond extract and chopped cherries until the mixture forms a buttery dough – you may need to pull it together a little with your hands.

Shape the dough into a large ball and place between two sheets of clingfilm.  Roll out the biscuit dough to about ½ cm in depth – any thinner and they are difficult to handle.  Remove the topmost layer of clingfilm and use your round cutter to cut out the biscuits.  Cut out as many as possible from your layer of dough, then ball up the remaining dough and use the same method to roll it out before cutting out more biscuits.

Place the biscuits on your lined baking sheet and baking in the oven for around 15 - 17 minutes until golden and fragrant.  Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.