Tips & Tricks

It is so easy to give your plain vanilla biscuits or shortbread extra life by 'dressing' them up. Here are some simple decorating tips that will have your biscuits looking very smart!

Glace Icing - a simple glace icing (see recipe below) can be spread, piped or casually drizzled over your cooled baked biscuits. Dipping half of each biscuit in the icing also works well.

Nuts - whole or chopped nuts not only look good they also add texture and flavour. Try pecans, almonds, walnuts, macadamias, pistachios and hazelnuts either pressed into the dough before baking or sprinkled over after spreading or dipping in glace icing or melted chocolate once they have been baked.

Fork - use a fork to press either once or twice (to create a 'hatched' pattern) before baking.

Melted Chocolate - dipping your cooled baked biscuits in melted dark, milk or white chocolate is a great way to decorate them. You can also spread their bottoms, or pipe or drizzle the chocolate over their tops.

Chopped Chocolate - sprinkle over the uncooked biscuits and lightly press in or sprinkle after spreading or dipping in glace icing once they have been baked.

Edible Sprinkles - there is an amazing assortment of sprinkles available at supermarkets and at specialty food stores nowadays. Keep an eye out for fun, interesting ones and use them to sprinkle on your biscuits before baking, pressing in lightly, or after decorating the glace icing.

Simple Glace Icing

250g (2 cups) pure icing sugar
1½-2 Tablespoons water or strained fresh citrus juice

1. Sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl.
2. Use a metal or wooden spoon to gradually stir in the water or juice until the mixture is smooth. For spreading and drizzling it will need to be a thick coating consistency. For piping it will need to be slightly thicker. If too thick you can add a little more water or juice. If too thin gradually add a little more sifted pure icing sugar until the right consistency is reached.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature until ready to use.