Almond shortbread jam (or marmalade) drops

I am never without a jar of Stephanie Alexander’s mum’s kumquat marmalade. Its presence in my fridge, with its gorgeous golden hue, is endlessly cheering in the depths of winter: I’ve been known to eat it straight from the jar or with thick Greek yoghurt spooned alongside.

A teaspoonful of it, as I recently discovered while tinkering in the kitchen, baked into shortbread, provides a lovely, bittersweet and chewy counterpoint to the crumbly biscuit. Of course, you can use any kind of jam here, but do give this excellent marmalade a go; the recipe is in Stephanie’s The Cook’s Companion. Just remember you need to slice the kumquats instead of quartering them if you’re making these biscuits.