White chocolate and orange biscuits

A quick and easy shortbread biscuit

Makes 18 EASY 45 mins

Preheat the oven to 160°C and line two baking trays with baking paper. Combine 250g soft butter and 110g castor sugar in a food processor, and blitz, 1 minute. Blitz in 375g cake flour and 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence. Mix until combined. Roll the dough by hand, into 18 evenly sized balls. Arrange on the baking trays, make a deep thumbprint in each and bake, 15 minutes. Cool, 5 minutes, and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Melt 160g chopped white chocolate and 15ml (1 tbsp) butter in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water until smooth. (Do not allow the bottom of the glass bowl to touch the water below it.) Stir in 15ml (1 tbsp) orange zest. Use a teaspoon to fill the cooled biscuits with the chocolate ganache and garnish with 30ml (2 tbsp) finely chopped toasted hazelnuts. Allow to set. Serve with extra orange zest to garnish, if desired.

COOK’S TIP

If the biscuits close up slightly during baking, use the back of a spoon to make the thumbprint in each biscuit a bit deeper, while still warm.