Chocolate caramel creams

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with with baking paper. Sift the flour and cocoa together. Beat the butter, vanilla and 125g of the sugar in a bowl with a wooden spoon.

Add the flour and stir. Once it's too stiff to use the spoon, gather the mixture together with your hands, handling it as little as possible to stop it from becoming greasy.

Shape into 32 small balls and put on the baking trays, leaving a gap between each.

Dip the prongs of a fork in cold water and press onto the biscuits to flatten them slightly and mark the tops.

Bake for 15-17 minutes. Leave on the trays to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the buttercream, put the rest of the sugar in a pan with 3 tbsp water and heat slowly until dissolved. Simmer, without stirring, until it is a rich caramel colour, watching it carefully all the time. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in 25g of the unsalted butter and the milk. Return to a gentle heat and stir until evenly mixed. Leave until cold.

Beat the remaining butter until soft, then gradually stir in the icing sugar. Add the cold caramel mixture and beat until light and creamy.

Just before serving, sandwich the biscuits together with the caramel buttercream.