Ginger Nutmeg Melting Moments

“When I made these for my book photographer, Jean Cazals said they melt in your mouth — which is the point of them.”

Darina’s note: you could make these without the stem ginger and they will still be delicious.

Makes 16 biscuits

200g (7oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

70g (3oz) icing sugar

125g (4½oz) flour

125g (4½oz) cornflour

½ tsp baking powder pinch of fine salt

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

2 balls of stem ginger, grated

2 balls of stem ginger, finely sliced

Preheat oven to 170C. Place the butter and sugar in a food processor and blitz for 1 minute until fluffy. Sift the flours, baking powder, salt and nutmeg and add to the creamed butter, then pulse to form a dough, being careful not to overwork. Tip onto a board and gently knead the grated ginger in. Divide the mixture into quarters, then each of these into quarters again. This will give you 16 even-sized pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball and place 6cm apart on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking parchment. Place a slice of ginger in the centre of each one and press down with your thumb. Bake for 15 minutes. The biscuits shouldn’t colour too much, so keep an eye on them. Once done, remove from the oven and let them cool on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer them to a cake rack to cool. Store in airtight jars.