Lemon star biscuits

• vanilla↗1 quantity

  shortbread dough (see below), with the finely grated zest of 1 lemon added to the flour

• lightly beaten egg1 tbsp tbsp

  white

• lemon↗1 tbsp tbsp

  juice

• icing sugar↗200g g
• tropical dried fruits, such as mango100g g

  pineapple and papaya, chopped

• dried cranberry↗50g g

  chopped

• silver ballsmall handful

  small handful

• ribbon

  for hanging on the tree

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas 4/fan 160C and grease 2 large baking sheets. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 5mm/¼in and cut out star biscuits using a 10cm cutter. Re-roll the trimmings make more biscuits.

2. 2

   With a skewer, make a small hole 1cm/½in from a point on each star - this is for hanging the biscuits. Bake for 18-20 minutes until turning pale golden around the edges, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. (If the holes have filled in during baking, re-make them with the skewer while the biscuits are still hot.)

3. 3

   Put the egg white and lemon juice in a bowl and beat in the icing sugar to make a smooth icing. Using a small palette knife, spread it generously over the biscuits to about 5mm/¼in from the edges.

4. 4

   Mix the fruits, then scatter them in the middle of the icing with some silver balls. Leave for at least 2 hours to set. Thread with ribbon just before you hang them and eat within 24 hours. They will keep fresh for up to 1 week stored in an airtight tin.