Line the muffin tins with extra large pieces of baking paper so the shortcakes can be presented in paper cups. Once cooked, they can be tied with string for a cafe-style look.

Ingredients

• 250 grams butter softened
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 2¼ cups flour
• ¼ cup custard powder
• 2½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ cup cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons icing or caster sugar
• 6-8 poached feijoas
• caster or icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Line standard muffin tins with baking paper or paper cuts.
2. In a bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla essence until light in texture.
3. Sift the flour, custard powder and baking powder together and stir into the creamed mixture.
4. Divide the mixture in the bowl roughly into two-thirds and one-third. Using the larger portion, divide the mixture evenly among the paper cups and press down lightly.
5. Beat the cream cheese and icing or caster sugar together and place 1 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture on top.
6. Halve the feijoas crosswise and place half a feijoa on top of the cream cheese. If the feijoas are small, use a whole one.
7. Crumble the remaining dough evenly on top of the fruit.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the shortcakes are lightly golden and firm to the touch.
9. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before transferring to a cake rack to cool.
10. Serve dusted with caster or icing sugar.

Cooks Tips

- If you do not have poached fejoas, use other poached or stewed fruits or canned plums or apricots. - You could make half the shortcakes with feijoa and the other half can just have the cream cheese in them.