With redcurrant biscuits, the jelly makes or breaks the batch. If it is too runny, it seeps out of the sandwich biscuits during baking and glues the whole tray together. If it is thick enough, it holds between the two shortcrust halves and gives a clean, slightly tart filling that pairs well with the buttery dough.
We bake these biscuits every year during Advent, usually as part of a batch alongside other shortcrust varieties. After several attempts with jelly that was too thin, we found the point at which the filling holds reliably. The shortcrust dough needs 4 minutes on kneading mode, then a full hour of chilling time, otherwise the cut-out hearts stick to the work surface and tear when you lift them.
Redcurrant Biscuits with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 9 ✓
- 100 g sugar
- 120 g butter
- 200 g flour
- 1 egg
- 1 sachet vanilla sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp redcurrant liqueur
- 100 g redcurrant jelly shop-bought or homemade
Instructions 0 / 5
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1
Mill the icing sugar.
Add the sugar to the mixing bowl and mill for 8 seconds / speed 10, then set 50 g of the icing sugar aside.
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2
Mix the shortcrust dough.
Add the butter in pieces along with the remaining dough ingredients and mix for 4 minutes / kneading mode. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
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3
Bake the biscuits.
Preheat the oven to 180°C top and bottom heat. Line a baking tray with baking paper. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough to about 2 mm thin, cut out hearts (or other shapes) and place on the baking tray. Bake on the middle shelf for about 10 to 12 minutes until pale golden.
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4
Ice the biscuits.
Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice, 1 tbsp of liqueur and a little food colouring, then spread over half of the biscuits.
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5
Fill the biscuits.
Stir the jelly together with 1 tbsp of liqueur until smooth, spread over the other half of the biscuits, then place the iced halves on top.
Tip: If you prefer to skip the alcohol, replace the liqueur with redcurrant juice.
Video
Nutrition per serving
What makes these biscuits work
- Icing sugar milled fresh. The 100 g of sugar goes into the mixing bowl for 8 seconds at speed 10. This produces fine icing sugar that combines instantly with the butter in the shortcrust dough. The same icing sugar is used later for the icing, so simply set 50 g aside beforehand.
- 4 minutes on kneading mode for the shortcrust dough. Butter, flour, egg, vanilla sugar and salt are added directly after the icing sugar. 4 minutes on kneading mode is enough for the dough to come together into a ball. Kneading for longer makes the dough tough, because the gluten in the flour starts to develop.
- 1 hour of chilling is essential. Freshly kneaded shortcrust dough is too soft to roll out. An hour in the fridge firms the butter back up and makes the dough easy to cut. Skip this step and you end up with a sticky mass that cannot be cut out cleanly.
The question of the jelly
The 100 g of redcurrant jelly goes in as a filling between two baked biscuits. We specifically use jelly, not jam with fruit pieces. Redcurrant jelly is naturally firm because redcurrants are high in pectin and set firmly when cooked down. If the jar wobbles when you shake it, or the contents slide straight off a spoon when you tilt it, it is too runny for these biscuits.
Before spreading, we stir the jelly together with 1 tbsp of redcurrant liqueur to loosen it slightly so it spreads without soaking the biscuits. If you prefer not to use liqueur, replace it with 1 tsp of redcurrant juice. Do not add more liquid than that, otherwise the filling becomes too thin.
Where shortcrust dough crumbles or sticks
Dough tears when rolling out
The dough comes straight from the fridge and is too firm. We leave it to rest for 5 minutes at room temperature before we start rolling. If it still tears at the edges, press it back together briefly with your hands and keep rolling. Our solution: Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper instead of on a floured surface. This prevents tearing and avoids the effort of lifting it off the worktop.
Biscuits lose their shape during baking
This happens when the dough goes onto the tray too warm, or when it has been rolled out for too long. The butter softens and the biscuits spread in the oven. Our solution: Put the tray of cut-out biscuits in the freezer for 10 minutes before it goes into the oven. This keeps the hearts with sharp edges and the shortcrust texture stays fine.
Biscuits are too dark after the baking time
Shortcrust dough turns golden at 180°C top and bottom heat in 10 to 12 minutes. If they turn brown, they taste bitter and the icing seems too sweet by comparison. Our solution: After 10 minutes, check a biscuit from the edge of the tray. If the undersides are light brown and the tops still pale, take them out straight away. They firm up as they cool.
Icing and filling
Once the biscuits have cooled, we divide them into two stacks. One half gets the icing, the other is spread with jelly. The iced biscuits are then placed on top of the jelly halves. This gives a sandwich biscuit with visible icing on top and filling in the centre.
For the icing, we mix the 50 g of icing sugar with 1 tsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of redcurrant liqueur. The lemon juice adds a slight tartness and stabilises the consistency. A tiny amount of red food colouring gives the icing a deep berry colour that matches the filling. The icing should drip slowly from a pastry brush, not run like water. If it is too thin, add more icing sugar. If it is too stiff, add a few drops of lemon juice.
With chocolate, marzipan or as sandwich biscuits
- With raspberry jelly instead of redcurrant. Works just as well, tastes a little sweeter and less tart. We then use only 1/2 tsp of lemon juice in the icing so the sweetness does not overwhelm.
- Without alcohol. Use 2 tbsp of redcurrant juice instead of redcurrant liqueur. The flavour is slightly lighter, but the consistency stays the same.
- With ground almonds. Replace 30 g of flour with 30 g of ground almonds. The biscuits become more crumbly and pick up a nutty note that works well with the berry filling.
- Other cutter shapes. Stars, moons or rounds work equally well. The only thing that matters is that the top and bottom halves are the same size so the biscuit fits together neatly.
Tea, cocoa or Advent coffee
If you are planning a full biscuit tin, redcurrant biscuits pair well with varieties that offer contrast in texture and colour. We have collected our classic shortcrust recipes made with the Thermomix® in a dedicated section. We make our own vanilla sugar for the dough, which takes five minutes and has a more intense flavour than the shop-bought kind. If you would like to use the liqueur for more than just these biscuits, our liqueur section has recipes for homemade redcurrant liqueur.
3 weeks in an airtight tin
In a tin, the finished biscuits keep for 1 to 2 weeks, though the jelly filling gradually softens them over time. They taste best freshly assembled, so we often fill them shortly before serving. The unfilled, baked shortcrust hearts can be stored for 4 weeks in an airtight tin or frozen. Once thawed, fill and ice them as normal and they will taste as fresh as the day they were baked.
Goes well with: Vanilla crescents, cinnamon stars and whipped cream.
When stacking in the tin, place a piece of baking paper between each layer, otherwise the icing sticks to the biscuits above.
Find more shortcrust ideas made with the Thermomix® in our shortcrust biscuits section.
