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Method

1. Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone mats. (Ideally, make sure these trays fit in your fridge or freezer.)

2. To make the shortbread, beat together the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl until smooth and combined. This can be done with a wooden spoon or a spatula. (Don't cream the butter as if you were making a cake or the biscuits will be very bubbly on top and more likely to spread.) Whisk in the vanilla bean paste.

3. Add the flour and use a spatula to mix into a smooth dough. You may find it easier just to use your hands after a while. Aim to minimise how much you handle the dough, though – the less it is worked, the less the gluten develops which makes for a more melt-in-the-mouth result.

4. Turn out onto a well-floured surface. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a very light dusting of flour and roll out until the dough is about the thickness of a pound coin (or a Euro!).

5. Stamp out hearts with a 7cm/2¾in wide heart-shaped cutter and transfer to the prepared baking trays. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or in the freezer for 10 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until a pale golden colour (smaller biscuits will bake more quickly). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. To make the icing, add the egg white to a bowl and whisk with the icing sugar until smooth. To check for the right consistency, run a knife through the icing – it should take around 15–20 seconds to return to a smooth consistency. You may need a little more icing sugar or egg white to adjust the consistency slightly.

8. Divide the icing between different bowls according to how many different colours you need for your flags. Stir in the gel food colourings to get the desired colours. The flags are primarily blue and red, so make plenty of these colours.

9. Transfer the coloured icing to piping bags.

10. Use scissors to cut a small opening in the bags. You can use the same piping bag for both outlining and ‘flooding’ (filling in the outline) as the icing consistency works for both and the areas being covered are quite small. Pipe your chosen Eurovision flags on the biscuits. When you have flooded the middle, use a cocktail stick to to smooth the icing and fill in any gaps.

11. Allow the biscuits to dry, uncovered, at room temperature for at least 1 hour. You can add a border to decorate with sprinkles, or brush edible glitter over the flags.