Baking for Beginners: Raspberry and Amaretto Jammy Hearts

Like many people who should know better, I am unbelievably fond of the schmaltz of Valentine's Day. I don't care if it's overly sentimental commercialism, I love me a good heart-shaped anything. I also love biscuits. So there you go, that's basically how this recipe came into my life.

You don't have to be as sickening as me, these are also just bloody tasty - and the little kick of booze gives them extra fun points. The first batch I made were enjoyed by a group of slightly tipsy women dipping them into their after-dinner glass of amaretto - I cannot recommend this activity enough, ladies.

Before we start: TOP TIP! If, like me, you are a fan of getting your sauce on the cheap, you might like to know Aldi do bottles of amaretto for £4.99. And it's not half bad.

Raspberry and amaretto jammy heart biscuits (makes about 15 biscuits)
You will need:

For the biscuits

• 300g plain flour, plus more for rolling
• 100g icing sugar, plus more for dusting
• 50g ground almonds
• 200g butter
• 1 tbsp amaretto

For the filling

• 4 tbsp seedless raspberry conserve
• 1-2 tbsp amaretto

Make it!

1. Sieve the flour and sugar into a bowl, then stir in the almonds.
2. Add the butter, and rub it all together until everything is combined. This is a pretty sticky manoevre, and can take a good five minutes or so for everything to properly mix together, but everyone knows it's the most fun part.
3. Add the spoonful of amaretto, and squish the mixture into one big ball in the bowl. Pop it in the fridge for half an hour - this makes it far easier to roll and gives the booze time to soak into the mixture.
4. When you take the mixture back out of the fridge, preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
5. Flour a flat surface, and roll the mixture out until it's about half a centimetre thick.
6. Use a large heart-shaped cutter to cut the dough into biscuits, and then use a smaller heart-shaped cutter to make a hole in half of them.
7. Pop them in the oven on a baking tray for 12-14 minutes until lightly golden, and then leave to cool.
8. Mix the jam and amaretto together (add 1 tbsp at a time to check the consistency doesn't get too runny), and use a spatula to spread a healthy blob on the 'whole' biscuits. Leave about a centimetre gap around the edge to stop jammy spillages.
9. Pop the biscuit with the hole on top of the jammy one, and spoon another wee blob of jam into the hole. Dust with icing sugar, and give them to the one you love. Ha! Just kidding. These are way too good to share.