November 16th, 2009
Jam Biscuits
Recipes come in many ways. Books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, word of mouth and family secrets passed down from generations. This recipe came to me written behind the packaging of a tart mould. A mould I had purchased during one of my trips abroad and was lying unused for almost 2 years. And there was this huge ripe pineapple that was waiting to be turned into jam and I thought that these biscuits were just the ticket to use up that jam.
When I read the recipe it reminded me of the custard tarts that my aunt Rekha’s cook Francis used to make. Old Francis was an expert baker and showed us his expertise in the form of biscuits, buns and tarts amidst many other baked delicacies. During one of our holidays my aunt made us children, my sister and our cousins watch Francis make some cute jam tarts. At that time I was more interested in eating rather than making them.
I wanted to make the jam tarts that Francis used to make but unfortunately my aunt misplaced her recipe notebook during one of her shifting sprees. There was no way I could replicate those until I happened to see this recipe scribbled behind my biscuit mould. I only had to replace the egg yolk.
These biscuits are very reminiscent of childhood for me and they would be great in kids snack boxes, sophisticated tea parties or any time one wants to munch into a biscuit with the goodness of jam. Also, a great way to use homemade jam.
Jam Biscuits Recipe
I have used pineapple jam here, but you can substitute any jam, say strawberry, blueberry or mixed fruit jam.
Ingredients:
- 100 gm (1/2 cup) butter
- 60 gm (1/2 cup) icing sugar
- 100 gm (3/4 cup) plain flour
- 100 gm (3/4 cup) Vanilla custard powder
- 30 gm (4 tbsp) corn flour or cornstarch
- 3 tbsp yogurt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
In a bowl, cream butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. You can use a hand blender or hand beater to cream the butter and the sugar.
Add in the plain flour, custard flour and corn flour and mix well. Stir in the yogurt and form into a smooth, round ball.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to roughly 5 mm thickness. Cut with a jam biscuit or cookie mould. If you do not have one, you can use a round cookie cutter and make an impression with your thumb to fill in the jam.
Place the biscuits on a greased baking tray and fill the impressions with the jam.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180C /350F/Gas Mark 4 for 15 minutes or till done.
Pineapple Jam
Ingredients:
250 gm (1 cup) Pineapple, grated
125 gm (1/2 cup) sugar
Method:
In a heavy bottomed utensil, cook the grated pineapple and sugar until thick and reaches jam consistency, about 15 minutes.
Makes about 24 biscuits
November 16th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Delicious! That Pineapple picture is a masterpiece! Absolutely Genius!
November 17th, 2009 at 12:41 am
nice.. yum! Homemade (new) alternative to jim jam?
November 17th, 2009 at 4:49 am
Wow I love the mould and the jam is a big winner, maybe add cinnamon next time it will be great. I have made similar biscuits before, but they don’t look as wonderful as yours
November 17th, 2009 at 7:22 am
These look delicious ! perfect color. what is custard flour ?
November 17th, 2009 at 8:14 am
I love the tart molds. And pineapple jam - amazing!
November 17th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Rustoo: You can say so! If you love jim jams you will love these too. And these are minus the preservatives that come with packaged stuff.
RK: Custard powder or flour is available in India. You could substitute any eggfree vanilla pudding powder or cornflour/cornstarch with extra vanilla.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
oh yes - we really like these type of biscuits, however i have not quite used pineapple jam for them. look great!
November 17th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Luv britannia jim jam biscuits and this one looks really tempting as its with pineapple jam flavour!
November 19th, 2009 at 7:28 am
So pretty. Love the pineapple jam.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:37 am
jam biscuits..ohh YUM
November 20th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
These are lovely and so elegant! I love the shape! Just beautiful and I love the idea of the pineapple jam!
November 21st, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Loved the shape..from where you got this cookie cutter? Biscuits look truly amazing and i love pineapple jam
November 25th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Anu,
Love your recipes
I have prepared similar one but used cream cheese in the mixture
will definitely try this.
Since you seem to create eggless versions wonderfully.
Can you please suggest the best replacement for eggs in cake.
If you have a wonderful cake recipe that calls for 2 eggs what will be you first choice of substitute.
I see so many out there
Once tried baking powder and I was able to taste it , did not like the cake at all.
Is it tofu? or yogurt/curd? or buttermilk? or flax
Thanks you so much for your wonderful recipes.
–Swarna
November 25th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Swarna:I have a few eggless cake recipes on divinetaste. Take a look. The eggless vanilla cake and eggless chocolate cake have never failed me.
Yogurt in cakes is very good, makes them soft and moist. Try using 1/4 cup plain yogurt for 1 egg and 1 tsp baking powder for another egg (apart from the additional baking powder in the recipe).
I dont really use tofu but love to use both buttermilk and flax, depending on the recipe. Hope this helps.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Thanks a lot Anu. Will try your suggestion and and let you know how it turns out.
November 27th, 2009 at 10:42 am
These look so pretty and neat. Love the picture of the pineapple. Gorgeous!:)
November 27th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Wow….perfect and yummylicious looking cookies…i love the pineapple jam…
November 27th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Hey Anu,
I’ve been getting requests for eggless recipes - is it alright if I post a link to your space? Let me know. Thanks!
November 29th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
These biscuits look amazing! You have an amazing mould/cutter in your arsenal!! And I’m sure they taste amazing too!
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
Beautiful layout! I love your pictures. Absolutely droolworthy biscuits!
December 8th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Love your site, the recipe looks great, I am sure it must taste good
Sure going to try this one.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
This looks like a very interesting recipe and I must make a note to try it. Your cookies (oops–I mean jam biscuits!) are beautiful, and so is your wonderful blog! I look forward to visiting again soon.
December 24th, 2009 at 1:17 am
Anu,
The cake turned out great. Check it out at
http://swarnashri.blogspot.com/2009/12/eggless-pumpkin-almond-cake.html
Thanks
Swarna
February 28th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
This is surreal!! I just bought a mini tart mould exactly like that…this pineapple tarts are a staple at festive seasons in Malaysia and I was quite surprised to see it here..altho I shdnt be :)…. ill be making this too soon with exactly teh same mould!!!!…im waiting for my pineapple to ripen …u have a beautiful blog with beautiful pictures ..m glad I found you ^^