RO-VO

Take the good old Iced Vo-Vo, the iconic Australian biscuit of our grandparents’ generation. Make it round instead of rectangular, pile on lots of fresh soft marshmallow, coconut and homemade raspberry jam, and I defy you to find a better biscuit for a cup of tea.

MAKES 12 BISCUITS

SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH

200 g (7 oz) pastry flour, sifted

60 g (2¼ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted

120 g (4¼ oz) butter

a pinch of sea salt

1 egg

Rub together the sifted flour, icing sugar, butter and salt, to a fine crumb. Add the egg and mix as little as possible to bring the pastry together. Wrap into 3–4 manageable portions and chill in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours; the dough will keep for several days.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºC/Gas 4). Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Roll out the dough to about 3 mm (¹/₈ inch) thick, then cut into twelve 7 cm (2¾ inch) discs. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray.

MARSHMALLOW

270 g (9½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar

180 g (6 oz) liquid glucose

15 g (½ oz) powdered gelatine

Put the sugar and glucose in a heavy-based saucepan with 70 ml (2¼ fl oz) of water. Bring to the boil and cook to the soft-ball stage (118ºC/245ºF on a sugar thermometer). Leave to cool to 100ºC (212ºF).

Put the gelatine in a heatproof bowl with 90 ml (3 fl oz) of cold water. After about 5 minutes, once the gelatine has soaked up all the water, place the bowl over a saucepan of hot water to melt the mixture briefly, then add it to the hot sugar syrup. Use hand-held electric beaters or an electric mixer with a whisk attachment to beat the marshmallow until light, fluffy and cool.

TO ASSEMBLE

100 g (3½ oz) desiccated (shredded) coconut

12 teaspoons raspberry jam

Pipe a ring of marshmallow around the edge of each biscuit. Dip each into the coconut and put a teaspoon of raspberry jam in the centre.

These biscuits are best eaten the next day, as the marshmallow gets a nice chewy stickiness to it.

MOON PIE MAGIC

To make moon pie biscuits, prepare as above, but pipe marshmallow around only six biscuits, then top each of these with a teaspoon of blackberry or boysenberry jam, instead of raspberry jam. Put the other biscuits on top and allow to firm for 30 minutes, then dip the biscuits in the melted chocolate mixture from the mit mats recipe.