Romantic cottages for two in the Peak District

Tom’s & Douglas’s Barns Prize-Winning Biscuit Recipe

I wrote this blog post in September 2011, shortly after the Parwich Horticultural Show when we are all encouraged to enter recipes, vegetables, flowers or indeed whatever we can…

I wrote then, My cake may not have been rated by the Parwich Horticultural Show judge (apparently a genuine Home Economics teacher) nor my jam, but I take heart from the fact my biscuits were given FIRST PRIZE! I must admit it is a very good recipe so I can’t take all that much credit; they do always taste pretty special although you must be careful not to burn them…

Before I begin, you must forgive a cook ‘d’un certain age’ who still uses imperial measurements. I will leave any translation into metrics to you. The recipe – possibly South African – was given to my sister and me when we were still at school (in what is now Zimbabwe) and we have both made them pretty consistently ever since so the recipe (imperial measurements and all) has withstood the passage of time and in my case continents.

Method

Roll small pieces of the dough into walnut sized balls. Place them – not too close together – on a baking sheet lined with non-stick paper. Flatten them with a fork.

Bake in a moderate oven, or on the grid shelf of the floor of the roasting oven in an Aga, with the cold plain shelf slid along the second set of rungs from the top.

They will probably take about 20-25 minutes to cook, depending on how big you make them, but start looking after about 15, because they burn quite easily.  When ready they are yellowish and firm.