Yo-Yos

 

My mum is a legendary yo-yo maker and she has very definite ideas on the perfect yo-yo. It should not be browned, lemon icing is a must. I prefer my yo-yos to be very crisp. In my oven this means that some will be a bit brown and some will be a perfect color and very crisp. I've promised to ice some with chocolate icing next time I make them because G is a chocolate, as opposed to lemon, sort of guy.

They definitely use a lot of butter which I think is what makes them so nice. However if butter is not your thing, I've heard they can be made with margarine. My mother's original recipe calls for 12oz butter, 4oz icing sugar, 4oz custard powder, 12 oz plain flour. That's an awful lot of butter to make into a form of biscuit that will probably get eaten rather quickly. Unless baking for sale or gifts, I wouldn't make too many at once.

You will need

250g butter at room temperature
80g icing sugar
80g custard powder
250g plain flour

juice of about half a lemon
about a cup of icing sugar
a piece of butter the size of two peas

To make

1. Cream the butter and icing sugar until it is very pale and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl several times.


2. On a low speed, add custard powder an half the flour. When that is well combined, add the rest of the flour gradually. Sometimes you won't need all the flour, flours vary a bit. The dough should come together easily into a ball without being sticky.


3. Turn the dough out onto a board and gently press into a ball. Shapes into a flat squarish shape.Cut into four and then cut each square into eight. Roll each little sqare into a ball and place on the baking sheet. When all are done, press into each biscuit with the tines of a fork dipped in flour.


4. Bake for approximately 15 minutes at 170C. Rotate trays at the seven minute mark. Keep a close eye on them at the end. They are done just before they begin to brown, or when the end ones are starting to colour. Remove from oven and leave to cool on the trays (protect from marauding cats).

To finish

1. Make the lemon icing by mixing the juice of half a lemon, the little nob of melted butter and the icing sugar into a thick paste.


2. Match each biscuit with another the same size and doneness. Sandwich together with lemon icing. Allow to set before handling or eating.