MARZIPAN TEA BISCUITS

One dark, sad evening, in a little flat in a dear green place at the edges of Bad City, a pretty white mug shatters into a hundred pieces, and waves goodbye to this world never to be seen again. And from the back of a cupboard in the tiny kitchen of this little flat, behind glasses and pots and second-hand china, another mug, long forgotten, is brought back to light. This big colourful mug is painted with images of a place that is half a world away in space and time too; but memories of this remote island all of a sudden find their way to you on a shaky seaplane; and it is some sunny, placid memories of car rides along a promenade and there’s tall tall trees; and people smile at you and feed you nuts and chocolate, and take you to a house of leaves where you find jars and jars of toffee and vanilla and sweet marzipan tea.

Whenever I hear that everything happens for a reason, I secretly cringe with disdain; as there can’t possibly be a recommended daily intake of misfortune, never mind having a good 5-a-day of it; however, I must admit, catastrophes may cater for stories; and in this specific case, catastrophes do cater for very nice biscuits.

In loving memory of my white mug – July 2015-11^th March 2016

MARZIPAN TEA BISCUITS

155g (2/3 cup) margarine

90g (scant 1/2 cup) sugar

200g (1 ¾ cups) plain flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 heaped tablespoon loose-leaf marzipan rooibos tea

In a large bowl cream together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl combine flour and salt and add to the margarine mixture. Mix well then add almond and vanilla extract and tea leaves. Mix again until the mixture comes together as a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out thinly on a lightly floured surface. Cut out into shapes and place onto the prepared baking tray. Bake for 12 minutes rotating the tray half way through, until the biscuits turn light golden brown at the edges. Leave on the tray for two minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Notes

It is some pretty special tea that I used here <3

If you can’t find marzipan tea, not to worry. You can use regular loose-leaf rooibos tea and add tiny bits of marzipan and finely chopped almonds to it (that’s what’s in my tea blend also); or just use regular loose-leaf rooibos, as the almondy taste will still come through from the almond extract.
More good news: any kind of loose-leaf tea can in fact be used in the recipe, so if you feel adventurous you can pick whichever you like best.