Birthday Biscuits

Line two or three baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a spoon. Once blended use your hands to thoroughly knead the dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan, gas mark 4). To roll out the cookies, sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and knead a little dough at a time, leaving the rest in the fridge till you are ready to use it. When making iced biscuits its best to make them quite thick, so that they can be handled easily.

Cut out your desired shape, place the cookie on a piece of baking parchment and then place the baking tray in the fridge. By cooling the tray and cookies they are less likely to spread when cooking and it prevents them from losing their shape.

Bake your cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool before icing.

When icing your cookies, roll out sugar paste icing till it is really thin- about 1-2mm thick. Then use the same cutter as you used for the cookie to cut out your shape in icing. Lift each piece of icing as you go so you can ensure that the edges are clean and sharp and there is no 'fraying' which will look messy once it is on the biscuit.

To get a sharp edge, make sure that you have enough icing sugar under the icing when you roll it out, to prevent the shape from sticking to the surface and when cutting out the shape move it around a little bit. If you need to remove any fray from the edges place the icing flat on your hand and with a soft bristled brush sweep the edges so the fray goes underneath. Do this lightly or you will make indents.

When ready, brush the back of the icing with water so that it becomes moist- not wet, then position on the biscuit. Use the palm of your hand to smooth the icing and leave to set/dry for a few hours. Repeat for each biscuit. For additional decoration, make up a batch of royal icing, which can be coloured with food colouring and pipe onto the biscuits.