Making your own jammy dodgers might seem like a weird thing to do. After all, you can pick up a pack of 12 at any corner shop – how can you possibly improve upon that perfection? But these aren’t an exact replica of the store-bought variety, nor are they meant to be. Think of them instead as an homage: a simple buttery shortbread and a tangy, fruity jam that would go particularly well with a little spoonful of clotted cream.
Home-made jammy dodgers
This is a good recipe to make with children, although the making of the jam should be done by an adult, because the jam spits as it cooks. You could save time instead by warming ready-made jam and stirring through the gelatine. If you haven’t a sugar thermometer, put a plate in the freezer for an hour ready to do the “wrinkle test” below.
Prep: 35 min, plus chilling time
Cook: 20 min
Makes: 10
For the biscuit
250g plain flour
60g caster sugar
⅛ tsp table salt
175g cold, unsalted butter, cubed
1 medium egg, beaten
2 tbsp demerara sugar, to dust over
For the jam
200g strawberries, chopped
180g jam sugar
30g lemon juice
1 leaf of gelatine, in a bowl of cold water
To make the biscuit dough, mix together the flour, caster sugar, salt and butter in the bowl of a food processor with the blade attachment fitted. Blitz until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then gradually pour in the egg, continuing to blitz until the mixture comes together in large clumps (you might not need to use all the egg). Tip out the dough and knead together briefly until smooth, then cover with clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for half an hour.
While the dough chills, start making the jam. Stir the strawberries with the jam sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan, then simmer over a low-medium heat, covered, for three minutes. Remove the lid, turn up the heat and continue to cook for another five to eight minutes, giving an occasional stir to stop it catching on the bottom of the pan. The jam will be cooked when it reaches 104 degrees on a sugar thermometer, or you can also check that it’s set by placing a small blob on a plate which has been in the freezer for an hour – the jam will wrinkle when pushed. If it’s still liquid, check again after another minute or two of cooking.
Pass the cooked jam through a fine sieve, then stir through the gelatine until dissolved. Set aside while you bake the biscuits.
Take the dough out of the fridge, dust your work surface and rolling pin with a little flour, and roll the dough to 2-3mm thick. Use a 6cm cookie cutter to cut out rounds, then use a 2½cm cutter to remove the middles from half of them. Arrange the whole rounds and doughnuts on two separate baking sheets lined with greaseproof paper, then sprinkle the demerara sugar over the doughnuts.
Bake at 190C (180C fan) gas 6 for eight to 10 minutes, until the biscuits are browning at the edges (the doughnuts will be baked sooner than the whole rounds). Leave the biscuits to cool, then spoon a little of the jam into the middle of each of the rounds, before topping with a doughnut biscuit.
