I ate about 10,000 of these at a wedding reception last year, and resolved to make them myself. I googled the recipe and found it on Nigella Lawson's site, so here's my take on her recipe.
Ingredients
- 150g of plain flour
- 100g of unsalted butter
- Half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 75g of parmesan cheese
- 1 egg yolk
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Sift the flour and cayenne pepper into a mixing bowl.
- Cut the butter into little chunks and add it to the bowl.
- Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until you have something like breadcrumbs.
- Grate the parmesan (or open the packet if you've bought ready-grated).
- Stir the grated parmesan into floury-buttery mixture.
- Separate the yolk from the eggwhite and stir the yolk into the mixture.
- Knead together gently with your hands until you have a lump of soft, but not sticky, dough.
- Lay some clingfilm out on a surface. Place the ball of dough on it.
- Roll the dough into a long sausage about three inches thick. Pat the ends so that they're flat.
- Wrap the clingfilm around the dough and twist the ends like a Christmas cracker.
- Place the wrapped dough in the fridge for at least 45 minutes.
- Put a sheet of baking parchment over a baking tray.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it into medallions, about a centimeter and a half thick (I realise I'm mixing imperial and metric measurements here. Whichever cap fits, wear it, I say).
- Place the biscuits on the baking tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until irresistable.
