Every year or so, I do a Google search for “South African Snowballs” and a few days ago, I found a recipe! I was so excited, I gave it a go yesterday, and was not completely happy. The recipe was not a flop in the sense that it is definitely inedible (it is totally eatable!), but it is a flop in the sense that it’s a cookie, not a cake (not by any stretch of the imagination!). The recipe was from Food Network UK, and I must say I’m surprised it’s nowhere near authentic.
The dough is literally a dough, as described in the recipe, unlike the actual South African Snowballs, which are more of a cake batter that have a limited amount of spreading potential. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything other than a cookie as a result.
As for the amount of water suggested to thin out the jam, I don’t think so–it was too much by a million miles–or a 1/2 cup anyway.
Ingredients
4½ oz (125g) butter
4½ fl oz (125 ml) cream
4½ fl oz (125 ml) caster sugar
10 oz (625 ml) self raising flour
1 tsp strawberry essence
7 oz (200g) strawberry jam
1/4 cup boiling water
1 tsp food coloring
desiccated coconut to taste
Method
- Cream butter and sugar till fluffly.
- Beat in cream.
- Add flour and knead to make soft dough.
- Divide dough into 24 balls. Flatten each ball slightly.
- Place 12 each on cookie sheets.
- Bake in oven preheated at 350 F for 15 minutes ortill edges are brown.
- Beat jam with a fork. Add boiling water and colouring and whisk till smooth.
- Sandwich two cooled cakes with a bit of jam/water syrup.
- Then dip the two sanwiched cakes in the syrup.
- Roll in coconut and leave uncovered for a bit to dry.
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