shooting stars

Makes 24

Preparation time 1 hour, plus chilling, cooling and setting

Cooking time 15 minutes

200 g (7 oz) chilled unsalted butter, diced, plus extra for greasing

275 g (9 oz) plain flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting

100 g (3½ oz) light muscovado sugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

To decorate

200g (7oz) royal icing sugar

a few drops each of orange and yellow liquid or paste food colourings

edible gold food colouring

Grease 2 baking sheets. Put the flour and butter in a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, ground ginger, egg yolks and vanilla bean paste and blend to make a smooth dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out shooting star-shaped cookies using a cookie cutter. Place on the baking sheets, spacing them slightly apart, and reroll the trimmings to make 24 in total. Bake in a preheated oven, 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4, for 15 minutes or until the dough has risen slightly and is beginning to darken. Using a spatula, transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Put the royal icing sugar in a bowl and beat in enough cold water, about 5 teaspoons, to make a thick but smooth paste. Divide the royal icing between 2 bowls and colour 1 orange and 1 yellow. Place in 2 separate piping bags fitted with fine nozzles (or use paper piping bags and snip off the tips). Pipe star-shaped outlines and broken lines of piping on the tails of the stars. Leave in a cool place to set for about 30 minutes. Use the gold food colouring to paint highlights over the cookies.

For festive tree biscuits, roll out the spiced dough as above and cut out Christmas tree shapes with a cutter. Place on the baking sheets. Lightly toast 50 g (2 oz) pine nuts and arrange in rows over the biscuits, pressing them in gently. Bake as above. Put 200 g (7 oz) royal icing sugar in a bowl and beat in enough water to make a smooth icing that thickly coats the back of the spoon. Drizzle the icing over the biscuits with a teaspoon.