Excitement in aisle five...

I've been getting excited when I visit the fruit and veggie market lately. Now that may sound sad to some, but the fruit section is starting to look a lot more colourful and that makes me happy. Then I start thinking about how I can incorporate some of the beautiful bounty into some new recipes... again, excitement ensues.

I don't have much trouble getting either of the lads to eat strawberries straight from the punnet, but I got a bit carried away when visiting the Swansea Street Markets in East Vic Park the other day and let's just say I ended up with enough gorgeous, plump local Berry Sweet strawberries to start my own jam company. I didn't want to make jam, so I decided to create these biscuits instead. They go down really well with a cuppa and both the big and little lad devour them in an instant. And they look pretty. Winner all round. 

I piped these beauties onto the tray, quite frankly because starting this blog has made me pay more attention to my presentation (the lads aren't too fussy on the plating up) but you could easily spoon them...

Strawberry Almond Bites

Ingredients

100g butter, softened

1/2 cup raw caster sugar

1 3/4 cup almond meal

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

About five strawberries, sliced (depending on the size)

Method

Pre-heat oven to 165 degrees Celsius. 

Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, mixing well after each addition. Fold through almond meal. Pipe or spoon twenty cent-sized portions onto a tray lined with baking paper and press a piece of strawberry into each.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. They will firm once cooled.