Bourbon Cremes

Last month, we were invited to a British-themed party with some friends from church.  Everyone there had either lived in England, or visited.  We were all asked to bring a British dish, so I decided to make Bourbon Cremes (along with my Yorkshire Pudding of course!).  Although I had never had them during my visits to England, I had pinned the recipe from the Tesco website a while ago, and thought this was a perfect opportunity to try them out (Tesco is a major grocery chain in the UK, much like Safeway is here in the US).

This recipe was a bit of a challenge at first.  For one thing, I had to track down Golden Syrup, which is a common household baking staple in England.  Luckily, our local grocery store has a great international foods section (thanks Meijer!), so I was able to find it without too much difficulty.

Secondly, England uses the metric system for their recipes, so I had to adapt the ingredient proportions with my trusty food scale.  Unfortunately, the dough didn't look right even though I measured everything out precisely.  It was far too sticky.  So I added a little more of the ingredients here and there, until I got the dough to look and taste just right.

These were a hit!   Everyone raved about them, and the golden syrup added such a unique taste.  I loved these because they weren't too sweet or rich.  They were gobbled down at the party in no time.

I was craving them a few days later, so I made them again and kept track of the proportions so I could post the recipe here.  Unfortunately, I was out of my favorite Cadbury Bournville Baking Cocoa, so I used the Hershey's cocoa I had on hand.  They still turned out pretty good, but weren't quite as tasty.  Needless to say, I promptly ordered some more Cadbury Cocoa to restock my pantry.  

Bourbon Cremes
Recipe adapted from Tesco

Ingredients:

For the biscuits -

• 1/2 cup butter
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 2 tablespoons baking cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the icing -

• 5 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 2 tablespoons baking cocoa
• 1 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

For the biscuits - 

1. Heat the oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Using a hand mixer beat butter and sugar together until combined, then beat in the golden syrup.
3. In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking soda and cocoa powder. Fold through the butter mixture then bring together to form a dough.
4. Using a small cookie scoop, form dough into balls and place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Dip the end of a cup into flour, and gently press down on dough balls to flatten. 
5. Bake for 10 minutes. 
6. Leave to cool on the trays while you make the filling. 

For the icing -

1. Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder together. Add the butter and vanilla and beat together with an electric hand mixer until soft and creamy. Stir through the milk.
2. When the biscuits are completely cooled use a knife or piping bag to cover one side with the icing, then sandwich with another biscuit.