Preheat the Oven:

• Pre-heat the oven to 170 °C. 
• Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Make the Lemon Sugar:

• Add the huka one (caster sugar) in to a large bowl.
• Finely grate the kiri rēmana (lemon zest) in to the bowl.

  Rub the kiri (zest) in to the huka (sugar) with your hands until the rēmana (lemon) is fragrant.

Whip the Butter and Sugar:

• Add the pata kūteretere (softened butter), wanira (vanilla) and tote (salt) in to the sugar mix.
• Using a hand mixer, whip on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy in colour and texture.

Add the Egg and Dry Ingredients:

• Add the hēki (egg) and whip again for 30 seconds on medium speed.
• Add in the puehu parāoa (flour), puehu kānga (cornflour) and pēkana paura (baking powder).

  Stir well with a fork or wooden spoon until a dough forms.

Shape in to Balls:

• Mould the mixture in to 20 equal sized balls. 
• Squash the balls down with the palm of you hand.
• Then make a large dent in the centre with your thumb or with a round wooden handle of a lemon juicer or something like that.

  Make it large so you can fit heaps of preserve or tiamu (jam) in. 
• Fill each of the holes with the tiamu (jam), filling them to the top.

Bake the Cookies:

• Bake for 12 minutes.
• Cool for 5 minutes before eating as the jam gets very hot when baking.

Storing the Undecorated Cookies:

• These pihikete (biscuits) will keep well for 7 days in a sealed container in the fridge or in a cool cupboard.

Decorate the Cookies (Optional)

Make the French Meringue:

• Make one batch of my French Meringue recipe.

Pipe the Cookies:

• Once it is ready, add it to a piping bag with a petal piping tip.

  Working your way around the cooled pihikete (biscuit) create little petals or whatever shape you want.

  Start at the edge of the tiamu (jam) and move to the edge of the pihikete (biscuit). Repeat with each cookie.

Final Flourish:

• You can keep the meringue plain but I prefer to torch it because it is more fun and it helps the meringue hold its shape for a bit longer.

  Sprinkle with rōpere tauraki-tio (freeze-dried strawberries) if you want to.

Storing the Decorated Cookies:

• The decorated pihikete (biscuits) can be stored in the pouaka makariri (fridge) for up to 24 hours.

  The meringue starts to loose its flare after that, so keep these decorating times in mind. They don't last much longer than that in our whānau!