Prepare the Cream Cheese Filling: In a small bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, 60g of sifted icing sugar, and ½ tsp of vanilla extract with an electric mixer until smooth and combined. Cover and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to firm up. This makes it much easier to handle.

Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter and caster sugar together on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add Wet Ingredients: Add the egg, milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and white vinegar. Mix until just combined. Now, add your red food colouring gel and mix again until the colour is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the plain flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt.

Make the Dough: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on a low speed until a soft dough forms. Be careful not to overmix. Cover the bowl with cling film and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Assemble the Cookies: Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and line two large baking trays with parchment paper. Place the 50g of icing sugar for rolling in a small, shallow bowl.

Shape and Fill: Remove the filling and dough from the fridge/freezer. Take a tablespoon-sized piece of cookie dough and flatten it in your palm. Scoop a small teaspoon of the chilled cream cheese filling and place it in the centre. Carefully wrap the cookie dough around the filling, rolling it into a smooth ball. I find that using a small ice cream scoop gives you perfectly uniform cookies every time.

Coat and Bake: Roll each dough ball generously in the icing sugar until it's completely coated. Place the balls on the prepared baking trays, leaving about 5cm (2 inches) of space between each one to allow for spreading.

Bake to Perfection: Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies should look set around the edges and have lovely cracks on top, but still be very soft in the centre. They will firm up as they cool. Let them cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.