When it comes to baking for the Valentines’ weekend, it has to be something heart-shaped. Musing on what I should bake, I was struck by sudden inspiration. My husband is a huge fan of the Bakewell Tart, and it occurred to me that I could try use the same flavours to create for him some Bakewell cookies. Make them heart-shaped, and there you have it. Bakewell hearts.

I looked around online, and came across these, which then led me to the Smitten Kitchen slice and bake cookie recipe. It just needed a little adaptation and the addition of some icing. The boys kindly taste-tested them for me, affording them the accolade of eating the whole cookie, not just the icing. As for my valentine, he declared them to be ‘amazing’, devoured a couple, and packed up some more to take to work the next day. Which is one of the many reasons why I love him.

Bakewell Hearts

115g butter at room temperature

40g icing sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon almond extract

125g glace cherries, chopped

140g plain flour

 

200g icing sugar, sieved

2 teaspoons (approximately) recently boiled water

 

Cream the butter in a mixer until smooth. Sieve in the icing sugar and mix again to form a buttercream.

Beat in the egg yolk, followed by the almond extract.

Stir through the glace cherries and then add the flour at a low speed, being careful not to over-mix.

As soon as the mixture is combined, form into a disc, wrap in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for an hour, or ideally two, if you have time.

Preheat the oven to 180

Once it is thoroughly chilled, roll out the cookie dough on a lightly floured work surface, to a thickness of about 1cm.

Cut into heart shapes using a cookie cutter and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

Bake for about 12 minutes, until set but not browned, and cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing, sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and gradually add a small amount of recently-boiled water until the icing forms a thick paste. Using a small palette knife, spread the icing over the cooled cookies, leaving a border around the edge of the icing.

Serve with love.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen