An old fashioned recipe for an old fashioned type of day. There is nothing quite like a cup of Earl Grey tea and a really good biscuit when you are ready to stop and sit on the doorstep after a busy morning gardening. Or at least, that's what I do! 

Viola Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 250g Plain Flour
• 115g Caster Sugar (granulated will also be fine)
• 2tsp ground cardamon.
• 230g Salted Butter (Fridge cold, or better grated from the freezer.)
• For the candy glaze
• 50grams of sugar
• 50grams of water
• Assorted viola flowers, you’ll need 30-40 flowers.

Cut in butter and sugar together, you can do this in a food processor but I’m old fashioned and like to cut in with a round ended butter knife like my mother taught me.

Add the flower and cardamon and rub together bringing the mixture in to a ball, adding a splash of cold water if it doesn’t hold together easily.

Refrigerate for 30min or until the dough is firm. Take this as an opportunity to preheat the oven to 175°c Gas Mark 3.

Whilst you wait gently pinch off any of the green stems from your viola placing them on a baking paper covered tray. You will be left with mostly petals so treat them very gently!

When ready roll out the dough to just over 5cm thick, if you roll them too thin they will just burn but too thick and they will never quite cook before the burn causing them to be crumbly instead of cracking. To be honest through, I do quite like a crumbly biscuit! Using a round cutter cut out disks and lay them on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until they have a slightly golden colour. Careful they don't turn too brown or they will taste slightly burned! 

Whilst the biscuits are cooking make a sugar glaze by bringing the sugar and water to the boil until all the sugar is dissolved.

Once the biscuits are cooked whilst still hot bush the tops with a very little of the glaze, gently pop a flower on top of each biscuit and brush again with the glaze.

Allow to cool and enjoy.

These will keep for three to five days if they don’t get eaten first.

I apologise for the lack of a photo, this is a recipe I have pulled out of the book of recipes I develpoed while I was running the cafe. I will make these again and post a picture another day.