Next week Muslims all around the world will celebrate their second Eid or Labarang.
Like last year however, Eid ul Adha will be very different to other years.
Safety comes first and many will be keeping it small, as under lockdown level 4, gatherings are not allowed.
We will miss the hustle and bustle, the chatter of family and friends and having a huge spread, but there’s many ways we can still celebrate and keep it special.
Instead of visits, we can have extra-long video calls, send pictures of our loved ones and the little ones all dressed up and share what’s on the menu for this special day.
As time and circumstances change, we need to improvise.
Drop-off boxes are such a great idea.
Themed Eid Mubarak boxes or barakats with loving notes to your dear ones is something special.
You won’t be able to celebrate together, but you will have a part of their favourite bakes on your table.
The week before Eid, magic happens in the kitchen.
We usually bake for days leading up to the celebration.
Traditional bakes like hertzoggies with jam and coconut, soetkoekies, Romany Creams or even plain old butter biscuits with sprinkles are favourites in many homes.
You don’t always need fancy ingredients to make lekker koekies.
Basics like butter, margarine, flour, sugar, vanilla and sometimes eggs are all you need.
You can also use a basic butter biscuit recipe, make a big batch and decorate it in so many different ways; simply add sprinkles, sugar or coconut, nuts or drizzle over some chocolate.
I am sharing some of my favourite biscuit recipes for you to enjoy and add to your Eid Table.
Eid Mubarak to all celebrating.
Tips to remember when making biscuits.
- Sift the flour
- Sift the cocoa
- If the dough is too sticky, add extra flour
- Dough should be smooth
- If your dough cracks when rolling you added too much flour
- The butter must be at soft to touch at room temp
- Melted butter leads to a sticky dough
- Try to use castor sugar instead of granulated sugar it dissolves quicker
- When mixing butter and sugar, cream until all sugar is dissolved
- Bake for 10-12 minutes
- Bake on baking paper
- Leave enough space between the biscuits, when baking for heat to disperse
- If you grease with butter, sometimes the biscuits brown too quickly at the bottom, try using baking paper instead
- Once the biscuits are slightly golden (top and bottom) and move freely on the tray they done
- Once removed from oven, biscuits will be slightly soft to touch
- Allow to cool on the tray, it will harden
Happy baking
Recipe
Hertzoggies
Ingredients
500g of soft butter or margarine
1 egg
1 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 ½ cups sifted flour
1 level tsp baking powder
Method
Cream the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla essence until all the sugar is dissolved and butter is light, fluffy and creamy.
Add in your flour and baking powder and mix until a soft dough is formed.
Transfer the dough to a glass bowl, cover the dough with cling wrap and rest in the fridge for 45 minutes, until the butter has firmed up.
*Note for a stiffer dough you can add some extra flour when rolling out.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out with a flower cookie cutter.
Your dough should not be thin and should lift easily.
Spray a hertzoggie or muffin pan with spray and cook.
Add 1 teaspoon coconut (see recipe below) in half the shell.
Bake in a preheated oven on 180 degrees for 12-15 minutes until the tips of the biscuit and coconut turns golden brown
Add 1 teaspoon jam in the remaining half of the shell, immediately after it comes out of the oven while the shells are hot, the heat will slightly melt the jam in the coconut.
You can add your jam in with the coconut, or half way through baking, but it tends to weep.
*For the Coconut Filling
2 cups fine coconut
¾ cup sugar
1 cup water
1 stick cinnamon
2 cardamom pods
1 tsp vanilla essence
Boil all the ingredients together (expect vanilla essence)
Once water all the water has cooked away, remove the cinnamon and cardamom and stir in the vanilla essence
Custard Biscuits
Ingredients
250g soft butter
1 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 cup custard powder
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 cups flour
Method
Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy
Add in all the remaining ingredients except the flour.
Mix until well combined.
Add in the flour a half cup at a time to form a soft dough.
Press out or pipe with a nozzle to make finger size biscuits.
Bake on a tray lined with baking paper for 15- 20minutes on 150degrees (preheated oven)
Drizzle, dip or sandwich with chocolate.
Romany Creams
Ingredients
250g soft Butter
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
200g coconut
2 heaped tablespoons of cocoa
500g self-raising flour
Method
Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla essence and eggs until light, fluffy and creamy.
Add in all the remaining ingredients to form a soft dough.
Roll into small balls and press flat, or use a cookie cutter or pipe with a nozzle and bake on a tray lined with baking paper for 10-15minutes on 170degrees (preheated oven)
Drizzle with chocolate or sandwich with melted chocolate in between
Butter Biscuits
Ingredients
250g soft Butter
½ cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
¾ cup maizena or corn flour
2 ½ cups flour
Method
Cream the butter and sugar and vanilla essence.
Add in the corn flour and mix until well combined.
Add in the flour and mix to form a smooth, soft dough.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and press out with a cookie cutter.
Add sprinkles or toppings of your choice
Bake on a tray lined with baking paper for 10-15minutes on 170degrees (preheated oven) or the biscuit is golden brown.
Drizzle with chocolate, add sprinkles, chopped chocolate, chopped nuts or add your own special touch
Barfi
Ingredients
2 cups Fresh Cream
2 cups sifted Icing Sugar
500g Klim Milk Powder
2 teaspoons fine cardamom
½ cup fine coconut
Roughly chopped pistachios
Method
On a stove, top, heat your fresh cream over a medium heat, just until it begins to bubble. (Do not boil- once it starts steaming and you see bubbles starting to appear, then turn off the heat and remove from stove)
Once removed from the stove top, add your icing sugar and stir with a whisk until the sugar is dissolved.
Add in your klim, cardamom and coconut and stir until its smooth, lump free and barfi milk has slightly thickened.
Pour into your tray to cool and decorate... Or once cooled, refrigerate for at least a half hour before piping shapes or scooping into paper cups.
Decorate with roughly chopped pistachios or almonds.
Allow to set overnight