Today's treat at printing was Belgium (or Belgian) biscuits. The print master has been trying his hand at baking and the latest offering proved a resounding success.
His version consisted of spicy biscuits sandwiched together with jam (a New Zealand brand, naturally) and topped with a blob of icing and a choc bit. The kiwi expat amongst us knew immediately what they were, but they were a new experience to the rest of us.
The recipe comes from the
Edmonds Cookery Book, which apparently has the same status in New Zealand as the
PWMU or the
Green and Gold cookery books have in Victoria and South Australia. Our Belgian biscuits came with an apology for the substitution of choc bits for the cherries specified in the original recipe, so I was amused to read in this blog entry from
Pat Churchill (which includes the recipe) that she had never seen them made with cherries. In her experience red jelly crystals were the popular choice of the discerning housewife.
It seems to me that the Belgium biscuits baked for the Ancora Press, with their restrained blobs of white icing and discreet chocolate decoration, are decidely more elegant than the garish pink and red creations suggested by the venerable Edmonds.
Tell the master printer that the chocolate on top is an inspired and appropriate indicator of their twentieth-century name. The first history lesson I received from my grandmother, on the origins and aftermath of WW1, was delivered over a plate of these delicious mouthfuls, which she had grown up calling German biscuits. My mother ditched the pretty crystals on top (Edmonds made jelly crystals and instant puds as well as baking powder, so it had to encourage purchase) and put the tiniest bit of lemon juice and rind in her icing. (Right now it is so hot here that any icing would melt.)
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