Black Pepper Thumbprint Cookies With Ginger Lemon Curd

For lemon curd. Zest the lemon and squeeze out the juice. Mix all the ingredients for the lemon curd, apart from butter, in a pot. Place the pot on medium heat.

Whisk on medium heat until everything is mixed together. Add in the butter. While continually stirring let the mixture cook on medium heat until it thickens up and coats the back of the spoon. Do not let it boil!

Pour through the sieve into a bowl. Cover the surface of the curd with cling film. Keep it aside in fridge to chill.

For cookies. Place the sugar and butter in a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer (or whisk) beat it together until the mixture is creamy. Add in the egg and mix it well.

In another bowl sift flour. To this add in the salt and black pepper. Mix until well combined with the flour. Add in the flour mixture with the wet ingredients. Mix everything together with a spoon or spatula.

Knead with your hand to bring everything together and form the dough. Wrap it in a cling film and let it rest in fridge for 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 175-180C and like a baking tray with parchment paper.

Once the dough has chilled, take it out of the fridge and divide it into small balls. This should give you around 25 cookies.

Place the balls on the prepared baking tray. Using your thumb press each ball down in the center to make space for the lemon curd.

Place the baking tray in the preheated oven and bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove the tray out from the oven. If the depth of the dent seems to have reduced, press it gently with the back of the measuring spoon while the cookies are still hot.

Fill the indentation on each cookie with 1 teaspoon of lemon curd. Bake it again for couple of minutes until the lemon curd sets. Take the cookies out and let it cool down a bit. Sprinkle some sugar on the top. Serve them fresh.