Heaven...chocolate...heaven!

(Excerpt from Delicous! Newsletter - 20/01/2008)

A childhood friend now living in Perth aptly compared immigrating to entering a Witness Protection Program as you arrive in a new country with no identity and no sense of history and have to recreate a life for yourself all over again. My friends in Israel always tease me about being the Poster Girl for aliyah - and it's true that not a day goes by that I am not grateful to have realised a long-held dream of moving here - but I have to admit that I still find supermarket shopping traumatic and I long for the familiar brands and tastes I left behind.

Specialty stores like Meatland in Raanana cater especially for nostalgic Anglos like us but they can't possibly stock everything we're looking for. It's for this reason that the South African readers amongst you will be especially glad to hear that you can easily produce Romany Creams in your own kitchen and offer your children and friends the chance to experience a taste of your growing-up years.

Note to the uninitiated:

Romany Creams are to South Africans what Oreos are to Americans and their distinctive chocolate-coconut flavor is sure to be enjoyed by everyone. Forward this recipe to any South African you know and you're guaranteed of earning yourself loads of brownie point or - more accurately - Romany Cream points!

MAKING MEMORIES ROMANY CREAMS

250g butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 cups cake flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
100 g desiccated coconut

3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup cream
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup powdered sugar
50g dark chocolate

1. Beat the butter and sugar till light and creamy then add egg and beat again.
2: Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, add the coconut and mix well with butter mixture.
3: Roll dough into small balls, place on baking paper and flatten each ball lightly with prongs of a fork.
4: Bake in preheated oven at 180 C for approximately 12 minutes then allow to cool.

1: Heat the sugar for the filling with the butter in a saucepan over medium heat till sugar has dissolved.
2: Add the cream and milk and mix to combine then add vanilla, chocolate and powdered sugar.
3: Mix till chocolate has melted - break in pieces first to speed things up - and then remove from heat.
4: Sandwich cookies together in 2's with the chocolate filling between.

COOK'S NOTES: Adapt this recipe to make a dessert by making cookies substantially bigger and sandwiching them together with a thick layer of vanilla, chocolate or mint ice-cream. Store in freezer till ready to serve. You may sandwich cookies together with just the ice-cream or you can throw calorie-counting to the breeze and first coat the bottom of each cookie with melted chocolate.

I can feel my thighs spreading just typing this up!

Enjoy!