Sweet spicy kisses

I've lived in the UK for almost 4 years and the country still surprises me. Like this time I had a jonesing for ginger kisses and went to the supermarket and found out that they don't have them here! Can I hear a big WTF? Yes, that's what I said. Sweet soft gingery cakes sandwiched over creamy filling? Nuh-uh, not here in the UK, they appear to be an Antipodean delicacy.

So I found a recipe and broke out my inner Stepford Wife again.



Recipe from here

biscuits:
125 gm flour (1 cup)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
115gm butter
85 gm caster sugar
1 egg
2 tsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp hot water

filling:
30 gm butter
120gm icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 Tbsp boiling water
1 Tbsp preserved ginger, finely chopped
(I didn't think this looked like enough so I added more butter & icing sugar)

Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Line baking trays with baking paper.

Sift together flour, baking powder and spices.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the egg, followed by the golden syrup. Fold in the sifted dry ingredients. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and add to the mix. Put small teaspoonfuls of the mixture on the trays and bake for about 10 minutes then remove to cooling rack.

Making the filling by beating the butter, icing sugar and vanilla together with an electric beater, then adding in the boiling water a little at a time. Continue beating until the mixture is very light and creamy. Fold in the preserved ginger. (I actually melted the butter with the ginger in it first, before adding the icing sugar, etc).

Pair up the biscuits, matching sizes, then put a teaspoonful of filling on the lower half and stick 'em together.

This recipe made me 13 ginger kiss sandwiches (26 biscuits) but they're quite substantial, I think I'll make very small teaspoonfuls next time. And I'll definitely make these again; they're YUMMY. Softish and gingery and tasty, with a creamy icing filling, just like they should be!