Biscuits

1. Mix together the sifted flours and sugar in a mixing bowl.

2. Cut the butter into small chunks and add to the bowl.

3. Rub the butter into the mixture using your fingers until you have a breadcrumb consistency.

4. Add the egg yolk and vanilla essence to a small bowl and gently mix using a fork.

5. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the egg yolk and vanilla essence. Mix together until a ball is formed.

6. Place the ball of dough between two sheets of non-stick baking paper and roll out using a rolling pin. You want the dough to have a thickness of approx. 1cm. Place the rolled out dough in the fridge to chill for at least 30 mins.

7. Once chilled, cut the dough using a round cutter. We used a 2.5 inch cutter and made 12 biscuits.

8. Place the cut dough onto a baking tray lined with either a silicone mat or non-stick baking paper, leaving around a 4cm gap between each.

9. Put the baking tray in a preheated oven at 160°C fan and bake for approx. 12-15 mins

10. Remove from the oven and leave the biscuits on the tray for 5 mins.

11. Carefully remove the biscuits and place them onto a wired rack to cool.

Fondant Icing

1. Sift the fondant icing into a bowl.

2. Make a well in the centre and add 3 tbsp of water.

3. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix from the centre, slowly incorporating the icing.

4. Add the rest of the water and continue mixing until a ball is formed. You don’t want the fondant to be too sticky or too dry.

5. Divide the fondant in two and colour one half red and the other half black.

6. To colour the fondant, dip a cocktail stick or the tip of a knife in the gel food colouring and spread it in one area of the fondant. Start with a small amount, you can always add more later if needed.

7. Using gloves, fold the fondant over the food colouring and start stretching and folding. Continue doing this until you have an even colour throughout the fondant.

Decorating

1. Sprinkle some royal icing sugar on a flat surface and roll out the red fondant icing until it is approx. 3mm thick. Using the same round cutter as used for the biscuits, cut out 12 circles.

2. For each circle, use the round cutter to remove a third of the circle.

3. Brush the top of the biscuit with water and place the fondant on top.

4. Roll out the black fondant the same thickness as the red.

5. Cut 6 circles of fondant and use the round cutter to cut out a third from each side of the circles (12 in total).

6. Place this third inside the red fondant gap on the biscuit, this is the ladybird head.

7. Using the back of a knife, imprint a line along the centre of the red fondant. Start from the edge of the black fondant and imprint to the edge of the biscuit.

8. Cut out 48 mini black circles, we used the head of a round piping nozzle.

9. Dab the back of each black circle with water and place on top of the red fondant, adding 4 per biscuit.

10. Finally add two edible eyes on the black fondant head by dabbing a little water underneath each eye.

Tips

1. Chilling the biscuit dough before baking prevents the biscuits from spreading too much and losing their shape while in the oven.

2. If you decide not to wear gloves when colouring the fondant, the food colouring may stain your hands.

3. If making the fondant in advance, tightly wrap it in cling film and store it in an airtight container at room temperature. If stored correctly, the fondant will last up to 2 months.

4. To stop the fondant from sticking when rolling it out, dust the base and top with fondant icing sugar.

5. If water alone doesn’t stick the fondant to the biscuit, try using sugar syrup or a thin layer of jam.