Strawberry & cream roly-polys

Freeze-dried strawberries give these swirled pink and white biscuits their rosy hue – perfect for a kid’s party or as an afternoon tea treat

  • Prep:35 mins
    Cook:20 mins
    plus 1 hr 30 mins chilling
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 114
  • fat 6g
  • saturates 4g
  • carbs 12g
  • sugars 5g
  • fibre 1g
  • protein 1g
  • salt 0.1g

Ingredients

  • 2 x 7g packs freeze-dried strawberry pieces (available from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s or online)
  • 140g cold slightly salted butter, cubed
  • 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp double cream
  • good splash or squeeze of red or pink food colouring

Tip

In the pink

For a bright pink swirl, use a good splash of food colouring to enhance the strawberry powder’s natural rosy hue, as this will fade once baked. 

Method

  1. Tip the freeze-dried strawberries into a food processor and whizz to a powder. Transfer to a bowl, then wash the bowl of the food processor.

  2. Put the butter and flour in the food processor with a good pinch of salt and blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar and whizz again. In a small bowl, whisk together the vanilla extract, egg yolk and cream, then add to the mixture in the food processor and whizz again until the dough clumps around the blade and most of the small crumbs have been worked into the dough.

  3. Scoop about half the dough out of the processor (being careful not to cut yourself on the sharp blade) and briefly knead it on a work surface to bring it together. Shape into a puck, then wrap in cling film and chill. Add the strawberry powder and a few drops of food colouring to the remaining dough in the blender, and whizz again until evenly coloured and combined – it should be bright pink (add more colouring if needed). Tip onto the work surface, flatten to roughly the same shape as the other dough, then wrap and chill for 30 mins.

  4. Remove both pieces of dough from the fridge 10-15 mins before you want to roll them. Dust the work surface with a little flour and unwrap the doughs. Place 1 piece of dough on top of the other, squashing the sides until they are roughly the same shape. Flour your rolling pin, then roll the dough into a rectangle, roughly 25cm x 20cm – this is easiest if you first ‘notch’ the dough, which means pressing the rolling pin firmly over the surface in one direction to make a long indentation in one direction, then turning the dough 90 degrees and repeating the process.

  5. From one of the longer sides, roll the dough into a tight coil, as you would a Swiss roll. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 1 hr. Or you can freeze it for up to 2 months. About 10 mins before you are ready to bake the biscuits, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.

  6. When the dough is firm, cut off and discard the end pieces, then slice into discs about the thickness of a £1 coin. Lay the biscuit dough out on your baking trays, spaced a little apart, and bake for 15-17 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through cooking, until the biscuits are firm and starting to turn pale golden around the edges. Leave to cool on the trays for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Stores in a biscuit tin for 3 days.

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