Easter egg biscuits

1. Cream together the butter and sugar with electric beaters (or in a freestanding mixer) for 1 minute. Beat together the egg and golden syrup, then beat into the creamed butter. Sift in the flour, add the zests and beat until it comes together to form a dough.

2. Roll out onto a lightly floured surface to around 0.75cm thickness. Cut out the biscuits using 6cm and 7.5cm egg-shaped cutters. Put on parchment-lined baking sheets about 3cm apart; chill for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden. Rest for 2 minutes on the sheets, then cool fully on a wire rack.

4. To decorate, make the royal icing according to pack instructions. Transfer 3 tbsp icing to a bowl and add about 1⁄2 tsp water, until it is of piping consistency. Cover with cling film and set aside.

5. Divide the remaining icing between 3 bowls and add a separate food colouring to each. Then add a little more water to each bowl, 1⁄2 tsp at a time, until the icings are of piping consistency.

6. Put 1⁄2 of the blue icing in a small, disposable piping bag; repeat with the pink and yellow icings. Cover the remaining icing with cling film; set aside. Cut a small hole at the end of each piping bag and, taking care not to use all of each icing, pipe a thin outline around each biscuit so you have 10 blue, 10 pink and 10 yellow outlines. Set aside for 15 minutes.

7. Now you want to spread a slightly looser icing inside the outlines. Add drops of water to the coloured icings in the bowls to thin them (aim for the consistency of runny custard). Use a teaspoon to gently spoon on the icings and nudge towards the outline edges. Pop any air bubbles with a cocktail stick and leave to set completely (about 2 hours).

8. Put the reserved white icing in a piping bag. Use this and the leftover coloured icings in the piping bags to decorate the biscuits. Leave your Easter egg biscuits to set for at least 1 hour before serving.