Two layers of buttery soft melt-in-the-mouth shortbread cookies filled with jam and coated with icing sugar. These Mauritian Napolitaine cookies are simple yet so delicious!
2 - 3tablespoonsraspberry or strawberry jamfor spreading on the cookies
1tablespoonrumoptional
For the icing:
300gicing sugar
30mlwater at room temperature
Strawberry jam for pink colouringor a few drops vegan red food colour
Pinchcurcuma powderthe yellow colouring from turmeric for yellow colouring
Melted chocolatejust place 1-2 squares in the microwave
Instructions
Place margarine into the flour. Cut into tiny pieces then rub with the fingers to make a soft dough.(Use a little more margarine if necessary but do not use water). Sprinkle in the rum (if using). Wrap up the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven 180 degrees Celsius.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 4 mm. Cut small circles, about 5 cm in diameter from it.
Re-roll trimmings and cut more circles.
Place them on lightly greased baking sheets and bake until cooked but still beige in colour, not brown. Allow to cool.
When cooled, spread jam over half of the cookies and cover with the remaining ones.
Mix the water with the icing sugar to make the icing. Leave some white. Divide the rest into 2 parts. Add a little jam to obtain the pink colour and a little curcuma for the yellow colour.
Adjust the consistency using more icing sugar (if too thin) or water (by drops, if too thick.
Mix well until a consistent colour is formed.
To test consistency, drop some on the cookies, it should take about 10 seconds for the icing to cover the cookie including the sides. You'll need to slightly lift the spoon and tap it again on the top icing and around the edge to allow the icing to overflow on the sides.
Ice the whole batch of cookies. Leave iced cookies to dry for a few hours or preferably overnight before doing the decorations. (If so, you may want to do the yellow coloured icing the next day).
To decorate with flowers, I used medium piping tip.
Work from the centre outwards then coming back to finish in the centre.
Drop some melted chocolate in the centre with a toothpick.