Take a very simple vanilla butter biscuit dough. Spread with plum jam and scatter with almond meal. Roll up swiss roll style. Slice and bake. The result? A gorgeous, very moreish biscuit. Short, buttery and delicious. Sometimes I use raspberry jam and coconut or nutella and hazelnut meal. This time I had a jar of my mother’s home-made plum jam and thought I would put it to good use.

Butter Swirls With Plum Jam and Almond Meal

Makes about 30 biscuits

2 1/2 cups plain flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons plum jam
4 tablespoons almond meal

SIFT together flour, salt, and baking soda into a bowl. Set aside.
CREAM butter and sugars together in a large bowl using an electric beater. Mix on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until just combined.
REDUCE speed to low; gradually add flour mixture. Divide dough in half and bring together into a ball. Wrap each ball of biscuit dough in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or overnight.
REMOVE dough from the refrigerator.  Place each  ball on a lightly floured strip of baking  paper. Roll out into a 30cm x 20cm rectangle. Trim edges neatly with a sharp knife.
PLACE baking paper and rolled out dough onto two oven trays. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
REMOVE the trays from the fridge. Spread three tablespoons of plum jam over each rectangle of biscuit dough. Scatter two tablespoons of almond meal over each. Starting with the long side, roll the biscuit dough swiss roll style into two logs. Wrap each log in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or overnight.
WHEN ready to bake Preheat oven to 180 C. Remove logs from the refrigerator and cut into 2cm thick slices using a sharp knife. Place on paper lined baking trays.
BAKE the biscuits until the edges turn golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating the trays about half way through. Allow to cool a little on the baking trays before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. The biscuits and jam filling will harden as they cool.