CHOCOLATE CREAM FINGERS

I blog in spurts.

I keep telling myself that I will never blog in spurts again. It's bad. As bad as gorging on chocolate cream filled chocolatey biscuits when you're trying to be healthy. Or trying to walk in a straight line.

Sorry for the an unplanned absence. I have been uninspired and distracted. For many reasons. The heat, mega sales, the heat, friends, the heat and family. And mainly mega sales. And the heat.

Nevertheless, these English chocolate cream filled chocolate biscuits are reminiscent of the chocolate bourbons from Marks and Spencer that I gorged on thirty years ago. So busy was I that I got yelled at by a man with a heavy load on his shoulders. I almost walked into him. I jumped out of his way in the nick of time. I'm sure he would have hit me on my head if he could.

Thank god Mary Berry had a recipe for it. Thank god I bought her Fast Cakes recipe book thirty years ago. And thank god they taste just like my memory of it. The biscuits I mean.

These are very, very chocolatey, and although they are sandwiched with chocolate icing the sweetness is cut down very much by the use of cocoa powder in the recipe. I urge you to try them if you are a chocoholic like me. Best chocolate biscuits ever. Ever, ever, ever. 

No these are not at all like our Asian KGB version of chocolate cream fingers. Never liked those...very very very bland and tasteless.

These are traditionally made in the finger shape with the required ten holes and a filling of simple chocolate butter icing. Like the Oreos they are good for dunking, for taking apart, for scraping the filling off with your two front teeth or just biting into it whole.

These are not short or buttery like shortbread of which you can tire of quickly because of its buttery richness. They are crunchy and doesn't give in as easily because there is no egg in the recipe to give it lightness nor too much butter to make it tender. It's very much like a sugar cookie. But a dark chocolate one. And definitely not as sweet. The most delicious.


The dough may seem a little dry when you mix it in and are trying to bring it together but persevere and don't be tempted to add more butter or an egg. It's meant to be. And once you roll it out it will come together rich, dark, chocolatey and neat.

The recipe ~ by Mary Berry

Makes about 12 chocolate cream fingers



4 oz plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 T cocoa powder
2 oz soft magarine or butter
2 oz castor sugar
1 T golden syrup


Filling


1 oz soft magarine or butter
2 oz icing sugar
2 tsp cocoa
a few drops of vanilla essence


Place all biscuit ingredients together in a bowl and using a wooden spoon first work them together until they are evenly distributed. The mixture will be crumbly and sort of dry. Don't despair. Turn the mixture onto a slightly sugared table and using your hands press and knead gently to warm the butter in the dough and until it just all comes together nicely and is a ball of dough. Press with hands to form into a firmer ball of dough. The dough will still be somewhat loosely held together but once you roll it out it will come together better from the pressure of the rolling pin. If the dough breaks up while rolling out just stop and patch it up and then roll again.


Roll out the dough until about 1/4 inch thickness between 2 sheets of baking paper. Remove the top baking paper and cut the rolled dough into fingers about 1 inch by 21/2 inches. Prick each finger with a fork two or three or four times. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Lift off ot cool on a wire rack.


For the filling, put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. until smooth and creamy. Use to sandwich the biscuits together in pairs.