Nutella Cream Biscuits
It often amazes me how so many different cultures across the globe host an abundance of gorgeous traditions that date back generations.
Take the Espelette pepper festival that takes place in a tiny village nestled in the Basque region of France. Every year at the end of summer, the locals will hang hundreds of a bright red chillis from the facade of each of their homes. Beautiful, glossy ropes of their beloved Piment d’Espelette decorate the streets and entice eager tourists to fill the little township.
Spain has it’s incredibly renowned traditional paella which if you haven’t tried or at least heard of this dish before, I hate to break it to you but you’ve been living under a rock… It celebrates the abundance of seafood available across the entirety of the country. First becoming a meal created by the humble farmer, it became a solid tradition after the Moors from Africa conquered Spain and found the climate to be perfect for growing short-grained rice - a staple ingredient for a paella.
The list goes on for beautiful cuisine traditions across the world. Whether it be festivals celebrating grapes in Italy or pineapples in Thailand - each is unique and wonderful.
Us Aussies, culturally diverse and whiling to find an excuse to celebrate just about any occasion - have our own tradition. One that the rest of the world, I’ve come to realise, may not know about.
The TimTam Slam.
Now, I can’t testify to the exact date or origin of this sacred tradition. All I know is that it is an art. One only years of training can prepare you for. Unless of course you are a member of my extended French family. In which case, after showing you the ropes you managed to perfect your slamming technique on your first try. Believe me when I tell you there was no “French resistance” in prompting them to practice.
The basis of this highly revered cultural practice is to strategically bite the diagonally opposite edges of a TimTam - double coat preferably - dunk it into a hot beverage of choice - a milky latte because we're not heathens - and suck with all your might before the biscuit has a chance to collapse onto itself and sink to the bottom of your mug. Done correctly, you’ll be not only rewarded with the most angelic mouthful of thick, chocolatey coffee, but also a slightly melted, gluttonous bite of TimTam bewitchment.
Spain can have their paellas and to heck with Thailand’s pineapple motorcars. Nothing reins supreme against our iconic slam. There should be a national holiday for such a gastronomic epiphany. I for one would revel in a TimTam themed festival. Time to brush off my old craft desk because I’m feeling a pair of Double Coat TimTam festive slippers coming my way!
Nutella Cream Biscuits
Ingredients
- 110g unsalted butter - softened
- 90g icing sugar - sifted
- 3 egg yolks (50g)
- pinch of salt
- 160g plain flour - sifted
- 40g cocoa powder
- 125g unsalted butter - softened
- 200g icing sugar
- 40g Nutella
- 250g 40% dark chocolate - or preferred chocolate
- Freeze dried raspberries - optional for garnishing
Instructions
- In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, salt and egg yolks together until smooth. Add flour and cocoa powder and continue to beat until the mixture comes together into a soft dough.
- Pat the dough into a rough 2cm thick disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for an hour to firm up.
- Preheat oven to 170°C. Line two large baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
- Roll the chilled dough between two sheets of baking paper until it's about 2-3mm thick. Cut the sheet into as many 5cm x 3cm rectangles as you can. Place each biscuit onto the tray, 1cm apart should be ample space - they shouldn't spread much, roll out offcuts of dough and repeat until all the dough has been used up.
- Place trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through baking.
- Allow to cool completely on a cool rack before icing.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and icing sugar until light and creamy. Add Nutella and continue to beat until evenly mixed.
- Spoon the icing into a large piping bag (or ZipLoc bag) fitted with a medium round piping tip and set aside at room temperature until ready to use. This is optional but using a piping bag does make filling the biscuits a little bit easier.
- Pipe an even amount of icing across one biscuit. Sandwich the other biscuit onto the icing so that it spreads to the very edges. Use a knife to clean up any excess before repeating with the remaining cookies.
- Place into the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
- Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Dip each biscuit and cover evenly with chocolate. Scrap the bottom of each cookie along the side of the bowl to remove any excess before placing back on the tray and continuing with the remaining biscuits.
- Sprinkle each with a freeze dried raspberries if desired and place in the fridge to completely set before eating - another 10 minutes.