People often ask me where I get inspiration from for the recipes I blog. This one was unusually the Costa Coffee queue. Whilst waiting for my coffee at the counter I saw a giant bourbon and custard cream for sale. It seems these are the latest fad- giant confectionery which had me pondering that surely they are just the same as 5 normal biccies…? Anyway, its Autumn…chestnuts are littering my parents Wiltshire lawn like an unkept golf course so I thought I’d tackle not only the challenge of making something with them but with the challenge of making something sweet that wouldn’t get my mum rolling her eyes…
FYI. If I’d had a willing bottle of bourbon to hand I definitely would have added a splash to the filling instead of milk!
Makes about 15
Chestnut Biscuit
- 75g raw chestnuts (of precooked vac-packed)
- 85g dark soft brown sugar
- 75g softened unsalted butter
- 110g plain flour
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- Cocoa to dust
Filling
- 100g butter, softened
- 85g icing sugar
- 20g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp milk
- Start by cooking the chestnuts. Score a large cross on the base of each with a knife. Place in a saucepan of water and bring to the boil and boil fast for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Drain and you should find the skin is easy to peel off.
- Place in a food processor and blend to a paste with the sugar. Add the butter and puree. Add the flour and baking powder and blend to form a smooth ball of dough.
- Form into a disc shape, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C . Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into whatever shape you like, just short of 1cm thick. Place on a lined baking tray and sieve over a sprinkling of cocoa powder.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until cooked and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
- Next, place the butter, icing sugar and cocoa in a food processor and blend. Add the milk and blend until you have a thick buttercream adding more milk for a thinner consistency.
- When the biscuits are cooled, spoon a teaspoon of the chocolate filling onto one biscuit half and sandwich with another.
