When you think of British biscuits, there are several that stand out. Today 4 of the most retro British biscuits get a homemade version – Jammie Dodgers, Party Rings, Chocolate Bourbons and Custard Creams. In this video with the help of a handy kit which you can get here, that stamps the biscuits to make them even more convincing, i’ll show you how to make all of them, with slightly different recipes for each. You could actually get away with just one recipe for each time and adjust with cocoa / custard powder if you want, but the individual ones give it a more authentic taste. I’ll summarise the steps below, but for all of them, please chill the dough in the fridge, it’ll help stamp them easier and keep the shape when baking, return stamped biscuits to the fridge to hold shape until you bake.
How to make Custard Creams
First up cream together the butter and sugar until well combined and smooth. Fold in the remaining ingredients – the flour, custard powder and vanilla extract, until a dough is formed. This will take a bit of work, if you are struggling add a tablespoon of milk, but don’t make it too wet. Turn onto a floured surface and shape into a ball. With clingfilm down, place the dough on top and another sheet of cling film over and roll out to desired thickness, keep them quite thin, remember there are two in a portion!
Place in the fridge and chill for a good 20 minutes. Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 4 or equivalent see temperature conversion chart. Carefully cut the dough into shapes using the stamps or do it freestyle if you do not have them. Immediately bake them on a lined tray or keep in the fridge so they stay firm until you wish to bake. Bake for 10 mins or until just starting to brown, they will firm up as they cool down. Place on a wire rack to cool fully.
For the filling, beat together the butter and icing sugar and mix in the custard powder until smooth and creamy. Wedge two cooled biscuits together with the custard cream mixture and serve!
How to make Jammie dodgers
Rub together the butter and flour until breadcrumb texture is achieved. Sift in the icing sugar and stir through. Next add the egg yolk and vanilla, mix until a dough forms, this may take a while to come together, use a splash of milk if you are struggling but only a small amount. Roll out the dough on some cling film, with a layer of cling film on top to desired thickness and smooth. Place in fridge until ready to use but chill or at least 30 minutes. After cutting the biscuits remember to cut out one with a whole and leave the corrseponding half normal so the jam doesn’t fall out, chill them in the fridge again to hold their shape. Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 4 or equivalent see temperature conversion chart. Bake for 10 mins or until just starting to brown, they will firm up as they cool down. Place on a wire rack to cool fully.
To build, take a small blob of jam on one half of the jammie dodger (the one with no cut in it) and wedge with another on top.
How to make Party Rings
Rub together the flour, cornflour and buter until breadcrumb texture is achieved. mix in the sugar, egg and vanilla, adding a small splash of milk if needed to help bring it together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead into a dough ball, place the dough ball on some cling film, put the dough on top with another sheet of cling film on top of that. Roll out to desired thickness and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, shape and cut out the centre of each biscuit. Return to the fridge until wanting to bake. Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 4 or equivalent see temperature conversion chart. Bake for 10 mins or until just starting to brown, they will firm up as they cool down. Place on a wire rack to cool fully.
Once fully cooled, add the icing sugar in a bowl and gradually mix in water, mix until smooth but don’t add too much water, add it steadily. You want a runny glue like texture, divide into other bowls and dye with food colouring as necessary for different colour options. Dunk the cooled biscuits face down into the icing and place on wire rack, run lines of different colours across the biscuits and make lines with a bamboo skewer if you wish pushing the coloured lines into the dunked sides. Allow to stand to firm up.
How to make Chocolate Bourbons
The steps for making chocolate bourbons are similar to the custard creams, but you can just throw it all into a blender and slowly add the milk (like I tried in the video!)…. instead its probably best if you prefer a manual way to cream the butter and sugar together and then add in all the other ingredients (except the milk) then slowly add it – you may not need all of it, until a dough is formed. Place down on cling film and with a sheet of cling film on top, roll out to desired thickness, remember this has bicarbonate of soda in it, so will rise a little when baked. Fridge the dough for 20 minutes then cut into desired shapes. Return to the fridge to hold shape. Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 4 or equivalent see temperature conversion chart. Bake for 15-20 mins or until just firmed, as they will continue to firm up once cooled down. Under baked ones will have a more cake texture. Allow to cool fully on a wire rack.
For the cream filling, cream together the butter and icing sugar until smooth adding in the cocoa powder and beating through again til combined. Wedge 2 cooled chocolate bourbon biscuits together with the buttercream and serve!
There we go! Hope you found this homemade British biscuit recipe interesting and you want to try one (or more!). For real authenticity do try and get the british biscuit stampers then wherever you are in the world you can enjoy these treats us British folk love!