Tuesday 11 May 2010

Tropical stars


I made these for a friend's hen day. She's diabetic so I anted to make something sweet but fairly low in sugar and I didn't want to use artificial sweeteners because I don't like the taste. They came out pretty well. The best bit was the filling which had the texture of custard creams once it had set. Yum.

Tropical stars
1/3 cup canola/vegetable oil
1/3 cup sugar/1/3 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup soya milk
1/4 tsp almond essence
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

For the filling (don't make this until the biscuits are cool because it sets quite quickly):
1" x 2" block of creaamed coconut (heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until melted)
1 heaped tbs jam (I used no added sugar pineapple and mango)

Preheat oven to 177c or 350F. Mix up all the wet things and then add in the dry stuff and mix it up. Roll out the dough to 3 or 4mm thick between two sheets of cling film. Cut out star shapes and bake on grease proof paper for about 7 minutes or until golden brown.

Once the biscuits are cool, melt the coconut and mix up the filling then sandwich up your biscuits. Give them an hour or so in the fridge to set them properly but once they're done you can keep them in your biscuit tin at room temperature.

The hen day was lovely. The biscuits, along with a magnificent array of cupcakes and canapes provided by the other ladies, were enjoyed with sparkling wine whilst we all painted crockery and gossipped - so much nicer than trawling round nighclubs wearing willy hats and L plates! Oh, and in lieu of willy hats and L plates, we needed something to make us look festive so I knitted us each a flower to wear in our hair or as a brooch. Check them out!
Also I made a garter for the hen (thought she might like it has her 'something blue'). We used it as the gift in the middle of a pass the parcel game which was a good laugh. Every time one of us unwrapped a layer, we had to tell the group our celebrity crush. High/low point of the game was Marzia's appalling and shocking answer - Pierce Morgan - which had us all in fits. You think you know someone and then they come out with something like that ...