Cookie
150g Softened Butter
175g Plain Flour
50g Icing Sugar
Zest of 1 Medium Orange
Filling
100g Mascarpone
1 tsp Icing Sugar
25g Plain Chocolate
Glaze
50g Icing Sugar
1 tbsp Orange Juice
1. Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4. Put the butter in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the flour, icing sugar and orange zest and beat together to make a soft dough. Knead into a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill for 1 hour.
2. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 3mm. Cut 24 circles with a 7.5 cm round plain cutter. Put them on a couple of baking sheets.
3. Using a small sharp knife, cut out Halloween faces on 12 of the circles. Gather up the spare biscuit dough and press into pumpkin stem shapes, trimming with a sharp knife. Press to the top of each biscuit with a knife to join. Make lines on the face biscuits with the back of a knife, to look like the markings on a pumpkin. Bake all the biscuits for about 15 minutes until pale golden. Leave to set for a while and then cool completely on a wire rack.
4. Mix the glaze ingredients to make a smooth, runny icing, adding a bit more juice if needed, and then set aside. For the filling, beat the mascarpone with the icing sugar, then stir in the cooled melted chocolate.
5. Spread the filling over the cooled plain biscuits, then press the 'face' ones on top - do this just before you want to eat them, otherwise they go soft. Brush with the glaze, using a clean paint brush or pastry brush. Eat the same day.
By Kelly Thake
