Soetkoekies

I have been looking for a good recipe for this traditional South African biscuit for quite some time now. The first few I tried were total disasters. They are interesting biscuits which call for both spices and Port wine, or Sherry.

The taste is memorable - and certainly brings back smells and memories of childhood for me. The only pain about them is that they have to rest for a minimum of 2 hours in the fridge - so you can't just whip them up in a jiffy. But I keep getting told about the joys of delayed gratification (something I have very little - I lie - NO experience in), so I suppose this is an instance to hand.

Soetkoekies

4 cups Cake flour
1 t salt
1 t ground cloves
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1 t Bicarb
1 cup sugar
250g butter
100g ground almonds
2 large eggs
50 ml Port or Sherry


Sift the flour, salt, spices and bicarb together. Add sugar and rub in butter. Add the ground almonds. Mix in the eggs and the Port. Mixture should form a stiff dough. Place in a plastic bag and leave for a minimum of 2 hours in the fridge – preferably overnight. Roll out onto a floured surface, about 5mm thick. Cut the biscuits using a biscuit cutter and place on a greased baking tray. Press half a peanut, or slivers of almond into the middle of each biscuit. Bake in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes at 200° C. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.