Rum and raisin biscuits

The wind and rain is howling outside, which I’m not complaining about as we need rain to alleviate our current drought conditions...but it is a bit grim; or to put it another way, it’s the perfect day to make delicious, comforting rum and raisin biscuits!

These biscuits are very quick to make as long as you remember that you need to soak the raisins ahead of time. With soaking fruit there is only one rule: the longer the better. Ideally I soak fruit overnight but here, I decided on a whim to make the biscuits so soaked for an hour.

The rum flavour is subtle and the texture of the biscuit is light and crumbly. As usual, I got half as many biscuits as the recipe suggested...I just can’t help myself! I think my tablespoons are twice the size of everybody else’s!

This is my first post back following the loss of the CCM (Caked Crusader’s Ma). I know that my blog is usually light and humorous (Readers: so now she tells us!) but I would like to be serious in my thanks to all of you for your lovely comments and emails. I was quite overwhelmed by your words of sympathy and will admit I cried at many of your beautiful messages. Thank you. Day to day life still feels empty and wrong at the moment but I’m hoping that trying to get back into a routine (blogging being a part of that) will help.

Ingredients

150g raisins
150ml rum – I used Mount Gay golden rum
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
140g caster sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
280g plain flour

Method

Soak the raisins in the rum for as long as possible – ideally overnight, but a minimum of an hour.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Beat together the butter and sugar until smooth, light and whippy.

Beat in the vanilla and the egg yolk.

Beat in 3 tablespoons of rum from the raisin/rum bowl.

Drain the raisins, retaining any remaining rum.

Stir the flour and the raisins into the mixture. If the dough seems dry add a further tablespoon of the retained rum.

Take tablespoons of the dough and place them, about 3cm apart, on the baking sheets. I got 13 biscuits whereas the original recipe said approx 30.

Press down on the biscuits so they are flat. If they are too domed they will be cakey in texture rather than biscuity.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes if you got nearer to 30 biscuits, or up to 30 minutes if – like me – you got 13! You’re aiming for them to be golden and crumbly around the edges but still soft in the centre.

Leave to cool completely on the baking sheets before moving to an airtight container. You will find that they have crisped up and are no longer soft in the centre.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.