naughty little Virgin's Breasts

sounding naughty. looking like little nipples. tasting delicious

Custard creme. Pastry. Perfectly white icing. Cherries.
I saw these in Gourmet Traveller a while back and wanted an occasion to make them. In the end there was no occasion, so I made them anyway.

Makes 20 little breasts

Filling
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornflour

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 piece lemon rind, removed with a peeler

1/4 cup coarsely chopped candied orange - use good quality peel in this case

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Candied cherries, for decorating

Pastry

225g unsalted butter, softened

80g caster sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp finely grated lemon rind

475g plain flour

In a heavy based saucepan whisk together milk, sugar, cornflour, vanilla and lemon rind. Place over a medium heat, whisk constantly and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, simmer for a minute, then remove from the heat to cool. Stir through the candied orange and cinnamon and set aside until required.

For pastry, cream butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Add egg yolk and beat to combine. Stir in lemon rind, 1/4 tsp salt, flour and 50mL water. Knead gently to form a soft dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out dough to 3mm thick on a lightly floured bench. Cut out circles about 5cm in diameter. Spoon about 1 tbsp custard on top. Brush edges with water, cover with a circle cut with a 6cm cutter and press edges well to seal. (This step can be quite fiddly. Keep practicing with cookie cutters and the amount of custard until you get a nice neat little breast shape).

Place on baking paper lined trays and bake for 15-20 mins or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Whisk together icing sugar, 2 tbsp boiling water and remaining vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Spoon icing over cooled pastries and place a cherry on top.

Biscuits will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days. They will not last that long.