Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease or line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream the castor sugar, butter and vanilla essence until well light and fluffy.

Sift the cake flour and salt into the butter mixture and work into a soft dough.

Divide the dough into four portions. Leave one portion plain and mix one of the different flavour variation ingredients into the others, giving you 4 different flavour doughs. Wrap each portion in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out each dough portion onto a floured surface and using a cookie cutter, cut into desired shapes.

Place the biscuits onto the prepared baking trays and top with an extra sprinkling of the relevant flavour addition. Bake for 10-15 minutes until they are lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Did you know? These butter biscuits get their name from the 1 : 2 : 3 ratio of sugar, butter and flour in the recipe.