A few weeks ago, I’d like to think it was less than that but
it wasn’t, I made Afghan biscuits. And then never did the subsequent blog
update. Yes that’s right. I decided I needed to be more consistent with the
blog, and so I decided to bake. Marty suggested Afghans, I made Afghans, and a
month later you have the information. Whoops!
Now I didn’t know about Afghan biscuits until I moved to New
Zealand. And not many Australians seem to know them either. The recipe is not
wildly available on .au websites, but thank heavens for Edmonds Cookbook! I did
a little Googling so that I could impart some pearls of wisdom into the origins
of the odd name and the best I could come up with was that it was unclear and
unknown. I think if the Australians had invented them we would have had a name
with some curious etymology! Needless to
say they are a delicious chocolate biscuit that is low in sugar and isn’t made
with any dairy. Their sweetness comes from the addition of chocolate icing or
melted chocolate. They are light, with a melt-in-your mouth texture and have
cornflakes through them that add body and a little bit of crunch. They are not
by any stretch of the imagination pretty, but they are completely addictive and
delicious.
In fact, the first time I really got into eating them was
when I moved from hospitality into retail and the cafeteria at work sold them.
After 4 weeks of eating one per shift, my uniform started to get very firm and
I understood the need for moderation. I had to go cold turkey and only
sporadically eat these delicious mounds of ugliness. Needless to say, having a
box of them at home was a true test of willpower and after one lapse of concentration;
I decided I’d have to make them again when I wasn’t going to be around. I
inhaled about 4 in one sitting – but in my defence they were quite small. The
Edmonds Cookbook recipe says you make approximately 30, but at ‘normal’ size
biscuits I only got 20 out. I also did half the batch with traditional
chocolate icing – yummo! And the other half with melted chocolate as requested
by the Afghan man. I enjoyed the sweetness of the chocolate icing much more
than just the melted chocolate. I used good quality Dutch cocoa so the biscuits
were a bit bitterer than just using supermarket grade stuff, but Marty likes
his choccie bitter and dark so I see why he preferred the melted chocolate.
Regardless, they were a hit and I’ll make them again. I’ve
accomplished Anzacs and Afghans this year so now I’m on the hunt for a
traditional South African biccie. Ideas? Rusks maybe?
Here’s the recipe – enjoy making them, they are so easy!
What you’ll need:
200g butter – softened
½ Cup sugar
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ cup flour
2 cups Cornflakes
Chocolate icing to top
Walnuts to decorate
Makes approx. 20 normal size biscuits
What to do:
1. Cream
butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Sift
dry ingredients and mix in.
3. Fold
in cornflakes
4. Spoon
out mixture onto baking trays. Shape and make bake at 180deg for about 10-15
minutes.
5. Once
cooled completely, ice them and eat them!
Enjoy them.
Ciao
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