Empire Biscuits

I have been trying to make a dent in my Christmas baking. I started with shortbread and have move on to the Empire biscuit. They are a bit labour intensive however I quite enjoy that fact. These are very reminisent of the Bakewell tart which gives me a bit of comfort. I had received a manual cookie cutter with cut out shapes as a gift and wanted to put it to the test and this was the perfect recipe. 

It is considered that the Empire biscuit is traditionally a Scottish snack. The biscuit was originally known as the "Linzer Biscuit" and later the "Duetch Biscuit". However, when World War I broke out it was renamed to the Empire biscuit. 

Empire Biscuits 
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1/2 cup (125ml) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (125ml) casters sugar 
1 egg
1 teaspoon (5ml) almond or vanilla extract
2 cups (500ml) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5ml) baking powder
1/3 cup (75ml) raspberry jam 

Icing
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1 cup (250ml) icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon (1ml) almond or vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (15ml) hot water, approximately
6 candied cherries, quartered 

Notes:

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- I found that I needed to add a bit more butter so I increased the butter to 2/3 cup.

- You may use strawberry or apricot jam. I used a Peach Raspberry Champagne preserve.

- You can use 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 inch (4-4.5cm) cookie cutter. The cookie cutter I used was a bit smaller therefore the baking time was not a full 10 minutes. So tweak the baking times according to cookie cutter size. 7 minutes was all the time needed to bake mine. 

- You could sandwich the cookies after putting jam on the bottoms however I found it easier to icing the tops separate and then sandwich them together. 

- I know 3 hours seems long for the icing to set. Trust me they need that length of time. 

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC) 

In a large bowl beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy; then beat in the egg and almond extract.

In a separate bowl whisk flour and baking powder together; then stir into the butter mixture.

On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to a 1/8 (3mm) thickness. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely on wire racks. 

When completely cool divide the cookies into tops and bottoms. Spread raspberry jam on the bottoms and set the tops aside. 

Time to make the icing...

In a small bowl, combine icing sugar, almond extract and enough water to make a thin icing. Spread over the tops that were set aside. Top with a cherry piece and let stand for a few minutes then sandwich the tops and bottoms together. And let the icing dry for about 3 hours.