Tangelo cookies
150 g (5½ oz) unsalted butter,
cool and pliable
30 g (1 oz) icing (confectioners’)
sugar
finely grated zest of 2 medium
tangelos (reserve juice for
filling, below)
150 g (5½ oz) plain
(all-purpose) flour
75 g (2¾ oz) custard powder
2 g (¹⁄₁₆ oz/¼ teaspoon) fine
sea salt
cooking oil spray
Tangelo frosting filling
juice from 2 tangelos, reserved
from cookies (above)
150 g (5½ oz) icing
(confectioners’) sugar
60 g (2 oz) unsalted butter,
very soft and squidgy
Tangelo custard creams
For a few months in 1984, I had a strict after-school ritual of

watching the musical Grease on VHS while eating this dough,

unbaked. I just muddled all the dough ingredients together in a
cup and spooned it up while watching Olivia Newton-John swirl
bits of paper over Danny Zuko’s disembodied head in a pond.

But I’m a grown-up now and I know two things from that time:
it’s better to wait until they are baked and share a frosting kiss,
and always add a tangy bad-girl balance when your filling is
Sandra Dee sweet.

Put the butter, sugar and finely grated tangelo zest in the bowl of an
electric stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on speed 4
(below medium) for about 10 minutes until the mixture forms a creamy
orange paste. Scrape down the side of the bowl twice during mixing.

Don’t get the base pale and fluffy as the cookie will crumble like powder
when baked.

Lightly combine the dry ingredients and add to the creamed butter.

Mix on speed 1 (low) for 30 seconds, until cohesive and no flour or
butter streaks are visible.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. If the dough
feels cool and ‘easy’, divide it into two portions and start rolling
straight away; otherwise, form the dough into two fat discs, cover in
plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. The dough should be around
15°C (60°F) and feel like playdough.

Preheat the oven to 140°C (285°F). Lightly spray two flat baking
trays with cooking oil and line with baking paper.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half the dough to an
even 4 mm (⅛ in) thickness. Keep moving the dough and flouring
underneath as you roll. If the dough cracks, it doesn’t matter – just
collect it up and re-knead it lightly. If the cookies or dough stick to the
work surface, shimmy an offset spatula underneath to loosen them.

continued …

Makes Around 8 filled buttons.

Takes Just over 1 hour, plus a little

extra chill time to set. To get ahead,
you can make and roll the dough
and hold it chilled for up to 3 days
before baking.

Keeps Keep airtight at room

temperature for 1–2 days.

Chill for up to 2 weeks.