Spiced Easter Biscuits

Take a large mixing bowl and add the softened butter and the sugar, then beat together with a wooden spoon or electric whisk until smooth. Separate the egg (reserve the white for later) and add the yolk to the bowl, together with the lemon zest and a generous few gratings of nutmeg, then beat again until well combined. Next, sieve in the flour and salt, add the currants/dried fruit, then use clean hands to bring everything gently together into a soft dough. Form the dough into a ball, then wrap in baking paper or clingfilm and put in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes. Towards the end of the chilling time, switch the oven on to preheat to 180⁰C (Gas Mark 4).

Use baking paper to line a large baking sheet, then lightly dust your work surface with flour. Place the chilled dough on the work surface, then roll it out to roughly ½ cm thick and cut out biscuits in any shape you like (Easter-themed cutters are great, if you have them – just try to keep all the biscuits similarly sized, so that they cook at the same rate). Lift the biscuits on to the prepared baking sheet – you may need to use a palette knife – and leave a little space between them, to allow for spreading. Put the biscuits into the hot oven to bake for 6 minutes, then take them out; lightly brush each biscuit with the reserved egg white, then top with a little sprinkle of sugar and return them to the oven for about 8 more minutes, or until just golden. Leave the cooked biscuits to cool on their tray for 5 minutes, then carefully lift them on to a wire rack to cool completely.