Rhubarb and Custard Biscuits (Yo Yos)
Short, crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth, these rhubarb and custard biscuits are my take on classic Australian and New Zealand yo-yo biscuits, also known as melting moments. They’re made with custard powder for that distinctive flavour and delicate texture then sandwiched together with a sweet and tangy roasted rhubarb buttercream. Perfect for afternoon tea.
I’ve just harvested the first of this year’s rhubarb. It’s always an exciting moment and it confirms that spring is really here. As is traditional, the first thing I made was rhubarb crumble. But I kept a stick back just so I could make these yo-yo biscuits. After all, I had a cake club event to attend and the theme was biscuits and cookies.
Dive Right In
- What Are Yo-Yo Biscuits?
- Why You’ll Want To Make These Rhubarb and Custard Biscuits
- Rhubarb and Custard Yo-Yo Biscuits
- Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
- How To Make Rhubarb and Custard Biscuits
- FAQs
- Other Recipes For Sandwich Biscuits You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Pin It
- The Recipe
What Are Yo-Yo Biscuits?
Similar to melting moments, but made with custard powder rather than cornflour, yo-yos are a classic Australian bake. They’re short with a melt-in-the-mouth texture and are sandwiched together with a buttery filling.
Prior to baking, you lightly flatten the biscuits with a fork, which gives them their distinctive pattern.
They take their name from their appearance. Two round biscuits joined with buttercream resemble a yo-yo – a favourite toy when I was growing up.
As I understand it, although most of Australia and New Zealand call them yo-yo biscuits, in South Australia, they’re often known as melting moments. These are not the same as traditional British melting moments though. Ours are quite different. And that reminds me that I really ought to have a recipe for them here on Tin and Thyme.
Why You’ll Want To Make These Rhubarb and Custard Biscuits
If you fancy a simple bake with a nostalgic twist, here are a few reasons to give these yo-yos a try.
- Light, buttery biscuits that really do melt in the mouth.
- That classic rhubarb and custard flavour we all know and love.
- Perfect for entertaining as well as a quiet afternoon tea moment.
- A simple bake with a slightly special feel.
- A delicious way to make the most of seasonal rhubarb.
Rhubarb and Custard Yo-Yo Biscuits
Inspired by traditional yo-yo biscuits, these rhubarb and custard biscuits have that signature light, crumbly, melting texture. If you’ve ever enjoyed antipodean melting moments, you’ll recognise the buttery richness straight away. But the addition of rhubarb adds a fresh, slightly tart contrast that balances the sweetness nicely.
The custard powder gives yo-yo biscuits a distinctive yellow colour and warm vanilla notes. The rhubarb adds flavour, a light pink colour and a slight tartness to the sweet buttercream
Despite their soft and crumbly nature, the biscuits didn’t go at all soggy, not after twelve hours anyway. I’m told they should last about a week, but I can’t vouch for this as they all disappeared at cake club. The feedback was really positive.
These rhubarb and custard biscuits might just be the first sandwich biscuit recipe on Tin and Thyme that doesn’t contain chocolate!
Ingredients, Additions and Substitutions
The good news is that you only need six ingredients to make these rhubarb and custard yo-yo biscuits. And you’re likely to have all of them, except the rhubarb, in your store cupboard.
Custard Powder
Custard powder is a key ingredient in these yo-yo biscuits. It gives them a yellowy cast and a touch of vanilla. It also helps to make them both short and tender.
However, if you don’t have custard powder, it’s fine to replace it with cornflour and an extra bit of vanilla extract.
Flour
Because I was making the biscuits for cake club, I wanted them to have an appealing yellow colour rather than a brown one. So instead of using a hundred percent wholemeal spelt flour, I used only half and topped the rest up with ordinary plain flour.
Next time I make them though, I’ll stick with wholemeal. I think they’ll still look good.
Rhubarb
You’ll only need one stick, but it’s fresh rhubarb you need for this recipe. Roasting it bring out the flavour and removes some of the moisture.
How To Make Rhubarb and Custard Biscuits
Despite the sandwich filling, this is an easy biscuit recipe. Apart from a tin to roast the rhubarb in, you don’t need much in the way of equipment other than a bowl and wooden spoon. So read on, find out how to make yo-yo biscuits and lets get started.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for cooking temperatures and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Soften Butter
First off, take your butter out of the fridge to soften. It’s something I often forget and it’s really annoying. If I do forget, I chop it into cubes, place it in the mixing bowl and put it in the oven for a few minutes on the lowest setting.
Once your butter is soft, line a couple of baking trays with baking mats or baking paper. Then set your oven to the correct temperature.
Step 2. Make Biscuit Dough
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and icing sugar together with a wooden spoon until light in colour and fluffy in texture. It’s fine to use an electric mixer if you’d rather.
Beat in the vanilla extract until thoroughly combined, then add the custard powder and beat that in until it’s also well combined.
Finally, add the flour and stir until everything just comes together into a soft dough. Try not to overmix at this stage, as activating the flour’s gluten can make the biscuits tough.
Step 3. Form & Bake
Take rounded teaspoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls in the palm of your hands. Place them on the baking trays with at least a 2 ½ cm (1 inch) gap between them. They will spread a little as they bake.
Press each one lightly with the tines of a fork to flatten them a little and give them their distinctive pattern.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 13-15 minutes, until just starting to turn golden. You don’t want them to take on much colour.
Cool for a couple of minutes on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 4. Make Filling
Just before you place the biscuits in the oven, wash the rhubarb stick, then top and tail it. Cut the stick into 6cm (2-3 inch) batons. If it’s a large stick, you may need to slice the batons in half lengthways.
Place on a small greased oven tray and bake along with the biscuits. They should be soft when done, but still holding their shape.
As you can see from the above image, I rather overdid mine. Instead of baking them with the biscuits, I stuck them in the air fryer and was rather over enthusiastic with the timing.
Whilst the rhubarb is roasting in the oven, cream the butter and sugar together in a small mixing bowl until light in colour and fluffy in texture. Add the salt and cream some more.
Beat in the rhubarb until thoroughly combined.
NB: If I hadn’t over baked the rhubarb, the buttercream would be a bit pinker.
Step 5. Fill Biscuits
Place a teaspoon of the buttercream onto the smooth side of one biscuit, then sandwich with another of a similar size. The fork-patterned sides should face outwards.
Press down lightly so the filling spreads to the edges. Repeat until you’ve sandwiched all of the biscuits together.
FAQs
Yo-yo biscuits are a classic Australian bake introduced in the 1930s. They’re made with custard powder and have a short and melt-in-the-mouth texture. Once baked they’re filled with buttercream and sandwiched together to resemble yo-yo toys.
Yo-yo biscuits are called melting moments in some parts of Australia. They’re so called because of their melt-in-the-mouth texture.
Yo-yo biscuit filling is a classic vanilla buttercream, although it’s sometimes flavoured with lemon. In this case I’ve replaced the vanilla with roasted rhubarb. It’s delicious.
Yes you can. Yo-yo biscuits will keep for about five days in an airtight container, but if you need them for longer than this, freeze them in a suitable container for up to three months.
Other Recipes For Sandwich Biscuits You Might Like
- Bourbon biscuits
- Chestnut biscuits with chocolate cream filling
- Chufa chocolate macaroons (gluten-free)
- Coffee biscuits with whipped coffee ganache
- Custard creams (gluten-free)
- Vanilla biscuits sandwiched with chocolate ganache
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these rhubarb and custard yo-yo biscuits, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for making yo-yos?
Please rate the recipe too. And do tag me @choclette8 on Instagram with your images, I really enjoy seeing your take on my recipes.
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If you’d like more rhubarb recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Rhubarb and Custard Biscuits. PIN IT.
Rhubarb and Custard Biscuits (Yo Yos)
Ingredients
Biscuits
- 200 g unsalted butter softened
- 60 g icing sugar sifted if lumpy
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 50 g custard powder sifted if lumpy
- 200 g plain flour (all purpose flour) I used 100g wholemeal spelt flour & 100g of plain white
Filling
- 1 stick rhubarb weighing approximately 60g
- 50 g unsalted butter softened
- 60 g icing sugar sifted if lumpy
- 1 pinch fine sea or rock salt
Instructions
Biscuits
- Heat the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) and line a couple of baking trays with baking mats or baking paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until light in colour and fluffy in texture. Alternatively, use an electric mixer.200 g unsalted butter, 60 g icing sugar
- Beat in the vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.½ tsp vanilla extract
- Add the custard powder and beat that in until well combined.50 g custard powder
- Finally, add the flour and stir until everything is just about mixed. It’s always a good idea not to over mix once the flour is in as it can make for tough biscuits.200 g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- Take rounded teaspoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls in the palm of your hands. Place them on the baking trays with at least a 2 ½ cm (1 inch) gap between them.
- Press each one lightly with the tines of a fork to flatten them a little and give them their distinctive pattern.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 13-15 minutes, until just starting to turn golden. You don’t want them to take on much colour.
- Cool for a couple of minutes on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Filling
- Just before you place the biscuits in the oven, cut the rhubarb into 6cm (2-3 inch) batons. Place on a small greased oven tray and bake along with the biscuits. They should be soft when done, but still holding their shape.1 stick rhubarb
- Whilst the rhubarb is roasting in the oven, cream the butter and sugar together in a small mixing bowl until light in colour and fluffy in texture. Add the salt and cream some more.50 g unsalted butter, 60 g icing sugar, 1 pinch fine sea or rock salt
- Beat in the rhubarb until thoroughly combined.
- Place a teaspoon of the buttercream on the smooth side of half of the biscuits then sandwich them together with the smooth sides of the other half. Press down lightly so the filling spreads to the edges.
What a great idea adding roasted rhubarb to the filling – definitely going to try that. These biscuits are known in NZ as both melting moments or yo-yos and used to be a popular choice for afternoon teas or communal suppers
Good to know Sue, though it seems sad if they’re no longer the popular choice. They’re a great bake as they’re actually very easy to make, but a step up from your average cookie.
I like your Rhubarb idea for the filling. I have made an array of flavours to add to the fillings but never thought of Rhubarb. Really, you could incorporate quite a lot of different fruit as long as you weren’t planning on storing them for too long. I haven’t made Yo Yo or Melting Moments in a while so maybe now is the time!! :))
Oh yes, if you have access to rhubarb now, do give these a go. What flavour (s) would you recommend?