Prep time: 20 minutes + 1 hour chilling. Cook time: 15 minutes.

Tip the cumin seeds into a small frying pan and toast over a low heat for 2–3 minutes, shaking the pan frequently, until aromatic. Allow to cool for a minute or so, then roughly grind in a pestle and mortar.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until pale and fluffy. Gently fold in the flours and the ground cumin, bringing the mixture together into a soft dough as quickly as you can. Form the dough into a neat round, then wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4 and line a baking tray with baking paper.

On a lightly floured surface, gently roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin to about 3mm thick and stamp out shapes of your choice. (The dough isn’t terribly precious about the way it’s handled – I’ve given the dough to children to roll and stamp out with excellent results.)

Transfer the shapes to the lined baking tray, reroll and stamp out the remaining dough, then transfer to the oven to bake for 15 minutes, keeping an eye after 12 minutes if you have smaller shapes. When cooked, the biscuits should take on hardly any colour, but look firm and feel sandy to the touch. Gently transfer to a wire rack to cool and serve with ice cream or tea. These will keep well in an airtight container for 3–4 days.

NOTE: As with all shortbread, rice flour lends these biscuits a fantastic crisp texture, but you can use all plain flour if that’s what you have in the cupboard.