Cherry & Cardamom Yo-Yo’s
Let me just blow the dust of this keyboard. Hello, and welcome back! 🤗 Not sure if I am welcoming you or myself! A lot has happened since we last spoke. I am back in England trying to launch my business. Did you know you can now order baked goods from KB.eats so you don’t just have to drool longingly at the screen! Click here for more info on that and click here to see what I have been baking. I want to change the way I blog. It’s going to be short and sweet from now on. A few pics and even fewer words. Why? When I am looking for recipes I hate having to scroll and scroll until I actually reach the recipe, so why should I put my readers through that same hassle. Maybe I will create a separate section for my ramblings. Don’t hold your breathe though. lol.
This recipe is inspired by my time spent in the Antipodes, both working and travelling. I worked for a Kiwi lady (shout out to Marie Chan, no 1 boss) in a cafe in Melbourne, so a lot of what I baked was Kiwi inspired as well as some Aussie stuff. Now I am not sure who claims Yo-Yo’s but all I know is I saw them in most bakeries around New Zealand and Australia. The biscuit itself is traditional but I added my own flare in the form of cardamom buttercream and roasted cherries for the filling. Soz to all the traditionalists 🙃
Please bear with me whilst I learn to take photos for my blog again. It seems I have forgotten how to style food photos 🤦🏾♀️
Recipe
So these sandwich biscuits are made up of melt in your mouth custard biscuits, cardamom buttercream and cherries roasted with a pinch of black pepper! My Grandad said they’re really good and someone with no teeth could eat them 😝
Original recipe can be found in Indulgence Cookies : A Fine Selection of Sweet Treats
I adapted the Melting Moments recipe to make them Yo-Yo’s by switching the corn flour to custard powder.
Serves: 8 (sandwiches)
Prep Time: 30 mins + 1hr refrigeration of dough
Cooking Time: 30 mins (15 mins cherry roasting 15 mins biscuit baking)
Difficulty: 2/5
Equipment
Stand mixer/electric hand whisk
Small baking tray
2 x baking sheets (lined with baking parchment)
piping bag and your fave nozzle (optional)
blender/ stick blender
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter (softened)
60g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
220g plain flour
60g custard powder
½ tsp baking powder
Roasted Cherries
220g cherries (unpitted)
1 tbsp demerara sugar
a couple of cracks of the pepper mill
Buttercream
75g unsalted butter (softened)
60g icing sugar
¼ tsp ground cardamom
Method
- Using electric hand whisk or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter, icing sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy for around 5 mins.
- Sift in flour, custard powder and baking powder into the creamed butter. Carefully fold in the dry ingredients (you don’t want to knock out that precious air) until a soft dough forms.
- Cover in clingfilm (or beeswax wrap if you’re that way inclined like me 💁🏾♀️Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- ROASTED CHERRIES: Whilst the dough is chilling, pit and quarter the cherries. Spread on small baking tray. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and black pepper.
- After the dough has been resting for 40mins preheat oven to 200c/180c fan. When oven has reached temperature roast prepared cherries for 15 mins.
- Reduce oven temp to 180c/160c fan.
- Remove dough from fridge and shape into 16 balls – they should weigh about 30 – 35g each. Space the dough balls about 4cm apart and press down lightly with a fork. Dip the fork in flour between presses.
- Bake biscuits for 12-15mins until lightly golden.
- Leave biscuits to cool on tray for a few minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely
- BUTTERCREAM : Using electric hand whisk or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter, icing sugar and cardamom until light and fluffy. If using a piping bag transfer buttercream to piping bag with nozzle attached.
- ROASTED CHERRIES: If your cherries have not released much juice, remove 1/3 and blend. Mix blended cherries with remaining cherry quarters.
- If piping, pipe a ring of icing around the edge on the bottom of half of the biscuits. Fill centre with cherries and top sandwiches with remaining biscuits. If not piping, spread icing in a thin layer and top with cherries.
THESE BISCUITS ARE CHERRY GOOD!
