Rhubarb & Custard Party Rings
Welcome to Mini British Bakes — a joyful new series where we take nostalgic British flavours and turn them into fun, small-scale treats that are just as delightful to make as they are to eat.
We’re kicking things off with a playful twist on a childhood classic: Rhubarb and Custard Party Rings. These aren't your average biscuits. Think buttery shortbread made with custard powder for a rich, golden crumb, sandwiched with a zingy rhubarb custard buttercream — and topped with the iconic party ring pink drizzle. Yes, they’re every bit as magical as they sound.
What Makes These Rhubarb & Custard Party Rings Special?
These bakes bring together everything we love about British teatime — fun, colour, and a generous dose of nostalgia — with a grown-up twist:
Homemade Custard Shortbread: Made with custard powder for that classic flavour and sunshine-yellow hue.
Tangy Rhubarb Custard Buttercream: A zingy, sweet filling that perfectly balances the richness of the biscuit.
Peek-a-boo centre: A small hole in the top biscuit gives a tempting reveal of the pink buttercream inside.
Iconic Drizzle Icing: Finished with a party ring-style swirl of pink icing — just because it’s fun.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Easy to make in batches — The dough comes together in minutes, and the buttercream can be whipped up while the biscuits bake.
Perfect for celebrations — Ideal for birthday tables, afternoon teas, or baby showers.
Nostalgic with a twist — Rhubarb and custard is a classic combo, but pairing it with party ring styling makes it feel fresh and creative.
Kid-friendly and freezer-friendly — Bake ahead, freeze the biscuits, and assemble when ready.
Baking Tips & Tricks
Use cold butter in the shortbread dough for that perfectly crumbly texture.
Don't skip the custard powder — it gives colour and flavour to both the biscuits and the buttercream.
Pipe the buttercream generously so it peeks through the top ring.
Let the icing set completely before serving or stacking — for that signature crunch on first bite.
Rhubarb & Custard Party Rings
These little bakes are everything I love in a biscuit — buttery, nostalgic, and full of personality. We’re talking a custard powder shortbread (yes, really), sandwiched with a rhubarb-spiked custard buttercream, and finished with a pink drizzle icing. Mini but mighty, and far easier than they look.
Makes 10
For the biscuit:
175 g plain flour
3 tbsp Bird's Eye custard powder
1 tsp baking powder
50 g unsalted butter
50 g vegetable shortening (like Trex)
45 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large free-range egg
1 tbsp milk
For the rhubarb buttercream:
70g (about 1 small stick) rhubarb, trimmed, washed and cut into 3cm lengths
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed
150g icing sugar
1 tbsp Bird’s Eye custard powder
½ tsp lemon juice
For the icing:
100g icing sugar, sifted
A few tablespoons of water
Optional: pink food colouring
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas mark 4. Line two baking trays with parchment.
Start by making your rhubarb buttercream: place the rhubarb on one of your prepared baking trays and roast for 30 minutes until softened. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before whizzing to a purée and adding the butter. Sift in the icing sugar and custard powder then whizz again for a couple of minutes. It may seem like a long time, but you want the mixture to thicken.
Next make your custard cream cookies: in a food processor, blitz together the flour, custard powder and baking powder. Add the cold butter and shortening, and pulse again until you’ve got a fine, sandy crumb.
Tip in the sugar and give it another quick pulse. In a small bowl, beat the egg, vanilla extract and milk together, then slowly pour it in with the motor running — just until the dough starts to clump together. You might not need all the liquid, so go slow.
Bring the dough together, press it into a disc, wrap it up and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. This just makes it easier to roll (and helps stop spreading in the oven).
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to around 4mm thick. Use a round cutter (around 5–6cm) to cut out an even number of biscuits. For half of them, use a smaller cutter to punch out a centre hole — these will be your tops.
Bake for 15-17 minutes until just golden at the edges. Cool on a wire rack while you make the icing.
Mix the icing sugar and a tablespoon of water together until you have a thick but pourable consistency. Then add a drop of pink food colouring and mix well until the colour is even. Fill a piping bag with the icing and snip a tiny bit off the end of the bag using scissors.
When the biscuits are cool, place all the biscuits with holes onto a sheet of baking parchment and pipe over the pink icing in lines. Leave to set for about 20 minutes.
Next, pipe or spoon a blob of rhubarb custard buttercream onto the base of each whole biscuit. Gently press a top biscuit (the one with the hole and pink icing) over it so the filling peeks through. Make your favourite cup of tea and enjoy!
Baking Notes:
You can make and freeze the biscuits ahead of time — just ice and fill when you’re ready.
These are best eaten the day they’re sandwiched, but the components keep well separately.
For a floral twist, you could swap rhubarb for raspberry and a drop of rose water.
