Saturday 5 September 2015

Coconut + Cardamom Biscuits.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Cardamom fans, unite!

Seriously.
These coconut cardamom biscuits are for those that enjoy Indian tea. You know, the tea where the water is boiled in a pan with whole spices, usually cardamom and cinnamon. Then, teabags are added and boiled. Finally, in goes the milk and the whole thing is cooked until frothy with a spicy, milky aroma that fills the kitchen. Plenty of sugar is stirred through and the tea is strained and served.


Yes, if you enjoy the flavour of said tea, these coconut cardamom biscuits will be right up your street. They're tiny, almost bite-sized, and make the perfect accompaniment to your afternoon cuppa.

My family are big tea people. And, when I say tea, I mean the one described above. Honestly, English tea made in a kettle with more water than milk, is likened to dishwater compared to the liquid gold that is the cooked, spiced one. In fact, water isn't even added to our cooked tea - it's just milk, teabags and plenty of spices.
Which can be a right pain in the neck, if you're the one on washing up duty that day. Anybody who has ever had to scrub out an Indian tea pan, especially one in which the tea has been cooked for a while, knows exactly what I mean.

More biscuits (and cookies!) --> here!

A Simple List of Ingredients:
1. Cardamom Pods (instructions are given for ground cardamom too)
2. Caster Sugar
3. Butter
4. Demerara Sugar
5. Plain Flour
6. Eggs
7. Desiccated Coconut
8. Icing Sugar

Bismillah, let's begin!

The first job? Grab some green cardamoms. We have a plentiful supply round here considering the Indian tea addiction and all.

Take 2 tablespoons Cardamom Pods.

Take the cardamom seeds out of the pods. You can use your fingers for this but I've heard scissors help too.

Next, grab the caster sugar.

We'll need 100 grams Caster Sugar.

Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar to the cardamom seeds.

Give them a quick stir.

Then, grab a spice grinder or coffee grinder. If you don't have one, you could crush the seeds into a fine powder by hand with a pestle and mortar. Or you could just replace the cardamom seeds with 2 teaspoons ground cardamom and proceed straight to the actual biscuit dough.

But, since we grind our own spices at home, I used a spice grinder.

Into the grinder, goes the sugar and cardamom seed mixture.

And, the whole lot is ground down to a fine powder.


Voila! Cardamom sugar!

Now that the cardamom sugar is done, these biscuits could not be easier because all you do is throw everything into the food processor, chill it, shape and bake it.
So, let's do just that.


First, butter. I used unsalted but salted is fine too and margarine would probably work just as well here.


Measure out 80 grams Butter, softened.


And, pop it into the food processor.


Next, demerara sugar.


Measure out 60 grams Demerara Sugar.


Add it in to the bowl.


Then, it's the turn of plain flour. We're making biscuits here so there's no raising agent - plain flour is what we need.


Spoon out 180 grams Plain Flour.

Throw it on in.


Next, 2 large Eggs.


Give them a crack.


A beat.


Pour them on in.


Since these are coconut and cardamom biscuits, it's about time we saw some coconut.


Measure out 140 grams Desiccated Coconut.


Add the coconut to the processor bowl.


Finally, in goes the remaining caster sugar.


Along with the cardamom sugar.


And, that's it!


Pop on the lid and blend until everything is well combined.

The dough will be a paste consistency.


Scrape the paste out of the bowl and place it onto a piece of clingfilm.


Wrap it up well.


Throw it into the fridge to chill for 2 hours or until firm. Side note: this recipe is perfect to make in advance.


When you're ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 140C / Gas Mark 2. Grease and line two baking trays.
We will roll the biscuits in icing sugar so ..


... weigh out 75 grams Icing Sugar.


Take the dough out of the fridge.


Shape the dough into balls measuring about 1 tablespoon worth.


If you want to be really precise, each ball weighs around 12 grams.


Roll the piece of dough into a ball and place it into the icing sugar.


Roll the ball in the icing sugar.


And, place onto the baking tray.


Grab a fork and press down to flatten slightly.


Like so.


Continue with the rest of the biscuits.


Once rolled and pressed, bake at 140C / Gas Mark 2 for 20-25 minutes until they are golden underneath.


To check if they're baked, turn one over. They should be golden underneath.


Let the biscuits cool completely on wire racks and then store in an airtight container. Serve with hot tea!

Full Written Recipe:


Coconut + Cardamom Biscuits.

Prep Time: About 20 minutes + 2 hours chilling .
Bake Time: About 20 minutes per tray.
Serves: Makes about 50 small biscuits.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons Cardamom Pods
100 grams Caster Sugar
80 grams Butter, softened
60 grams Demerara Sugar
180 grams Plain Flour
2 large Eggs, beaten
140 grams Desiccated Coconut
75 grams Icing Sugar, for rolling

Method

To make the cardamom sugar, take the cardamom seeds out of the pods. Place them into a grinder with 1 tablespoon of the caster sugar and grind to a fine powder.

To make the biscuit dough, place the butter, remaining caster sugar, Demerara sugar, flour, eggs, coconut into a food processor. Add in the cardamom powder and mix until everything is well combined and forms a paste.
Wrap the paste in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 2 hours or until firm.

To bake the biscuits, pre-heat the oven to 140C / Gas Mark 2. Grease and line two baking trays with paper.

To shape the biscuits, remove the dough from the fridge. Shape the dough into balls measuring 12 grams each – about 1 tablespoon. Roll each ball in the icing sugar and place onto the baking tray. Press each ball down with a fork to flatten slightly.

To bake the biscuits, place them into oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden underneath.
Serve them warm with hot tea. These biscuits also keep well in an airtight box once completely cool. Enjoy!

{Heavily adapted from Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding}

This Time One Year Ago:

This Time Two Years Ago:

Keep me in your duas, please, and enjoy you biscuits,

Wasalaam!


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