Okay, you’ll need to find a kawakawa plant and a dehydrator (or a friend with one) to make these beautiful biscuits by revered indigenous chef of Māori and Samoan descent Monique Fiso. But it'll be worth it.
Kawakawa shrewsbury
A little something from my childhood with an indigenous kick.
Makes about 15 filled cookies
For the kawakawa berry sablé:
125 g plain flour
50 g icing sugar
5 g kawakawa berries, powdered (see below)
Pinch of table salt
90 g butter
1 egg yolk
METHOD
1 Sift together the flour, icing sugar, kawakawa berry powder and salt. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add the egg yolk and mix to a smooth dough. Roll out on a lined tray to 3 mm thick. Chill overnight.
2 Heat the oven to 160°C. Use a 2.5 cm round biscuit cutter to cut the dough into shapes and transfer them to a lined baking tray. If you have a small heart-shaped cutter, use this to cut a shape from the centre of half of the rounds. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, then transfer to the oven and bake for 8–10 minutes, or until light golden. Transfer to a rack and allow to cool completely.
For the shrewsbury jam
125 g sugar
20 g glucose
15 g water
50 g fresh raspberries
Put all the ingredients in a small pot and set it over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook until the mixture reaches 130°C. Transfer to a metal bowl and allow to cool before using. The jam should be very thick and sticky.
To assemble
Sandwich the biscuits together with a small blob of jam (making sure the biscuits with the heart-shaped cut-outs are on top). Store in an airtight container.
Kawakawa berries
1 Arrange washed and dried berries on a dehydrator tray. Dry for 10 hours at 70°C.
2 Transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature.
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