Sift dry ingredients: flour, custard powder, salt and baking powder three times.
Beat butter and sugar till creamy. Add essence and mix well.
Mix all the dry ingredients and candied fruits into the butter-cream mixture.
Generally bring the dough together. Do not knead.
If you feel the dough to be dry, add little milk. Do not add too much. Sometimes you don’t require any milk.
Shape the dough into a log and wrap it in a cling film or butter paper.
Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree.
Remove a log from the refrigerator and cut it into quarter inch thick slices. Lay the cookies at least two inches apart as they will expand while baking.