Romany Creams, the popular South African biscuit-was usually made by Amma for Diwali. She used a biscuit cutter with the worm shaped template to make them. I have not had any Romany Creams biscuits (homemade or bought) in several years so this recipe was an attempt to make them as authentic as possible.
Most soft textured biscuits result when the butter and sugar are creamed well. Romany Creams however, have a crunchy texture- so you want the sugar to remain intact since it will contribute to the crunchy texture of the biscuit. The method I have used for making these Romany Creams biscuits involves separating the dry and wet ingredients. I sifted the dry ingredients then combined the butter and egg before combining all ingredients to form the dough. I have used butter in this recipe. I recommend the same for best results -Margarine tends to soften biscuit dough.
Romany Creams are sandwiched together so individual biscuits don’t need to be too thick hence I have not used any baking powder in this recipe.
How To Make Romany Creams Biscuits
This recipe yields approximately 40 single biscuits or 20 Romany Creams sandwiched biscuits. To make Romany Creams you will need:
- 160g flour
- 100g granulated sugar (white sugar)
- 30g cocoa powder
- 60g desiccated coconut (preferable fine coconut)
- 1 egg
- 150 g butter
- 70g Melted chocolate or Chocolate Buttercream Icing
1. Preheat the oven to 100 degrees Celsius. (preferably 15-20 minutes prior to baking).
2. Sift all the dry ingredients.
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3. Combine the butter and eggs to form a smooth mixture. This can be quite messy so use a deep bowl. If you have a hand mixer you can also use this- but it is not completely impossible to do by hand.
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| © 2011 l www.foodlikeammausedtomakeit.blogspot.com |
4. Combine the butter and egg mixture with the sifted dry ingredients. Mix until a soft pliable cookie dough is formed.
How to Shape Romany Creams
The Cookie Cutter Method
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| © 2011 l www.foodlikeammausedtomakeit.blogspot.com |
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| © 2011 l www.foodlikeammausedtomakeit.blogspot.com |
I have tried two different options for shaping the Romany Creams. I recall that were not quite round, arched on the top and bottom and slightly straight on the sides… oval but not quite.
In this method I have used a circle cookie cutter- then simply used my index fingers to apply pressure to the sides straightening them slightly.
The Cheese Cutter Method
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| © 2011 l www.foodlikeammausedtomakeit.blogspot.com |
- The second method involved rolling the dough into a log with the sides slightly indented then refrigerate for 2 hours. I then used a cheese cutter to cut out the biscuits. You can also use a knife-but this requires that you cut the biscuits uniformly-the cheese cutter works best for this reason…but if you have a steady hand then a knife works just as well.
- If you use the cheese cutter method then you can also store in the freezer then cut when needed. This is a great technique to eat cookies in moderation. Instead of baking them all at once…and succumbing to temptation…instead freeze the dough and bake when needed.
- To bake simply remove from the freezer an hour or two before you intend to bake them the slice and bake.
How To Bake Romany Creams Biscuits
1.Once you have achieved the desired shape- bake for 7-10 minutes at 180 degrees in a preheated oven. Cooking times may vary depending on the brand of oven. I have used the fan function so cooking time was approximately 7 minutes.
2. Once the Romany Creams are cooled, melt the chocolate then place half a teaspoon of melted chocolate on a biscuit then close with another to form a sandwich. Alternatively you can also use Buttercream Icing instead of melted chocolate.