Springtime Lemon Custard Creams - SRC

For this month's edition of Secret Recipe Club, my assignment was to choose something yummy that I'd like to make from my fellow food bloggers site, The Adventures of an Epic Baker (great name, don't you think?).

After visiting her fun, and well thought out blog several times, I finally settled on her recipe for Lemon Custard Creams! After all, it's finally spring and what fits spring better than a light, lemon flavored bite of a yummy, delicate cookie with a lemon flavored custard filling? Not too much in my book!

I found this cookie recipe different from any cookie I've ever made before. It calls for custard powder which was very easy to make (8 tablespoons cornstarch and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract). But, what it didn't call for anything that would bind the cookie ingredients together. I read and re-read the recipe.

I kept thinking that I MUST be missing something (blinking and cleaning my glasses several times) or that I had done something completely wrong and made mistakes in my measuring of ingredients. There was no way this dough would roll out on my counter without it being a crumbly mess.

There and then, I decided to add an egg to the mix (I also had to adjust by adding slightly more flour) and crossed my fingers that I didn't completely screw up this recipe. Thankfully the dough came together nicely in my stand mixer and I felt confident that everything would be OK. Maybe I should have been more patient and gave the crumbles a chance to prove themselves but I panicked and *adapted* the recipe. Is that so wrong? LOL

LEMON CUSTARD CREAMS {PRINT THIS RECIPE}
The cookies:
1 stick butter, softened (I used salted butter)
1/3 cup *powdered sugar*
1 cup all purpose flour plus *1 tablespoon*
8 tablespoons custard powder (8 tablespoons cornstarch plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

*1 large egg*

1 additional teaspoon of vanilla extract
*Fresh zest of one lemon*

-In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
-Add the vanilla extract and the egg and continue to beat until combined.
-Alternately add the flour and custard powder to the mix, beating until the dough just comes together (do not over mix).
-Add the zest and beat for just for a moment to combine.
-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
-Gather your dough and on a floured surface, roll the dough out to roughly 1/4 inch thickness.
-Using whatever cookie cutters you choose (I used 1" rounds) cut the cookies out (in an even number for tops and bottoms) and lay the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.
-Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes on the center rack of your oven until the cookies are just showing a slight bit of brown. Do not over bake as you want these cookies to remain light in color.
-Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before filling.

The custard:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons lemon extract
*a few drops of yellow food color* (I was a little heavy handed)

-Freeze the bowl and whisk of your stand mixer for 5 minutes while you gather your ingredients.
-Add all the ingredients to the frozen bowl of you mixer and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Being careful not to walk away from your mixer (like I did) and take it too far or you'll turn your custard to butter. Of course with the addition of the lemon food color I used, to me, it looked slightly like scrambled eggs...Yikes! Thankfully, it still tasted really, really good :)

-Using a piping bag or a spoon, add a healthy dollop of custard onto one side of a cookie and top with an additional cookie making a sandwich.

*The glaze*:

*1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar*

*2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice*

*2 tablespoons of heavy cream*

-In a small bowl, whisk together the above ingredients until you get a glaze that runs easily and has no lumps.

-Place your cookies on an elevated cooking rack (this allows any excess glaze to drip off) over a parchment lined baking sheet.

-You can now spoon the glaze over the cookie sandwiches or add the glaze to a squeeze bottle and squeeze the glaze evenly over the cookies.

-For the garnish, add a few picked pansies (FOR DECORATION ONLY...REMOVE BEFORE EATING)

to the tops of your cookies.

-Keep your cookies refrigerated until serving and then your ready for any springtime garden party or maybe a bridal or baby shower.

So pretty and delightfully light and lemony!!!