Chocolate Orange Cream Biscuits

By: Pete on 10:14:00

I wanted to give biscuits another go, using the sa0me basic template, but sorting out a few things. First up was my inability to roll the dough evenly... I ventured online, assuming that there was a knack to rolling, however it seems most people use batons either side of the dough, or rings on the rolling pin to keep even thickness. I happened to have some 5mm thick wooden batons lying round (as you do), so I made up a matching pair that would fit easily on my work surface.

I went for a slightly different recipe this time, the first batch was OK, but the biscuit dough was a little bland..the obvious answer is "make them chocolate!", so I substituted 25g of flour for cocoa instead. I also used butter rather than margarine...the end result was a firmer dough, less sticky than the previous attempt.

The rolling out went really well...using the batons was very simple, and I remembered to deploy the silicone mat this time as well (only got it for Christmas, so still getting used to it). I got 30 biscuits out of the mixture, and once again I took stars out of the middle of half of them (note to self...star cutter is almost broken...I need to use a different shape, or buy a new one!).

For the filling, I wanted to go a white chococlate-based fruit flavoured ganache. I've never used white chocolate before, but was aware that it melted more readily than plain and dark chocolate...I reviewed a few recipe options, and then came up with a quantity that I thouht may work, though it was all a bit experimental. I think the main lesson is that the recipe will set, but it takes a looooong time, so probably should have made the ganache first (and thats how I'm going to order the recipe), and then chilled it in the fridge...as it was it was far too runny when I used it, and came out of the sides of the biscuit sandwiches...that said, flavour was spot on.

Chocolate Orange Cream Biscuits

Ganache Ingredients

• 150g white chocolate
• 80g Double Cream
• 5g unsalted butter
• 20g orange juice
• Zest from one orange

1) Place all the ingredients in a heat-proof bowl, and heat over a bain-marie, stirring regularly.

2) Once the chocolate has melted, and the mixture has become smooth, remove from the heat, and allow to cool

3) The mixture will be runny for a while....transfer to a piping bag, clip the open end, and place in the fridge until the mixture firms up (so it won't run when piped)

Biscuit Ingredients

• 100g butter (softened)
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 225g plain flour
• 25g cocoa powder
• ½tsp baking powder
• ½tsp salt

1) Cream the butter and sugar together until white and fluffy

2) Beat the egg in, and mix thoroughly

3) Add in the sifted flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, and mix until a firm dough is formed

4) Wrap in clingfilm, and chill in the fridge for an hour.

5) pre-heat oven to 150'C

6) once chilled remove dough from the fridge, and roll to 5mm thickness (I used wooden batons) on a floured surface

7) Using a 60mm cutter, cut out 30 biscuits, and place on non-stick baking trays, evenly spaced

8) Using a small star cutter, remove the middle of half of the biscuits

9) Bake in the oven for 12 minutes

10) Remove from the oven, and leave on the trays for a couple of minutes

11) Transfer the biscuits to wire racks to cool completely

Assembling the Biscuits

1) Pair the biscuits up (one with a star hole, one without). Flip the non-holed ones upside down.

2) Pipe a small amount of the orange ganache onto the upside down biscuits (a blog about the size of a £2 coin)

3) Gently press the biscuit with a star cutout onto the ganache