MAURITIAN NAPOLITAINES

Napolitaines are known as "Gateaux Napolitaines" in Mauritius.  The Napolitaines are Mauritian specialties and can be seen in almost all our local cake shops.  If you are a not a Mauritian, then am not referring to the  "Neapolitan layered cake" or "Neapolitan ice cream" you may be thinking of!  The Napolitaine am talking about is simply a jam-sandwiched biscuit made with only flour and butter and then coated with a pink glaze. 

  

Ingredients (Make 22 Napolitaines)

500 g plain flour

325-350 g unsalted butter (leave at room temperature 1 hour before use)

A pinch of salt (Optional)

Filling:

Strawberry or Raspberry jam (Any red-coloured jam can do the job)

Glazing:

Icing Sugar

Liquid (You can simply use water or orange juice)

Method

1.  Sift flour and salt.  A dash of salt helps to improve the flavour of the finish product.  Make sure you sift the flour well to make the biscuits more light and flaky!   

2.  Rub the butter in the flour and knead for 2 minutes until you obtain a soft smooth dough.  Water should not be used in the dough.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.  We are using the Rubbing-in-method here.  Remember that this should be done with the tip of our fingers to prevent the fat from melting.  Cold fat in doughs = Flakiness!! 

3.  Divide the dough into 2 parts.  Keep the second part in the refrigerator while working with the first part.  Roll the dough about 1cm thick in between floured wax paper.  

4.  With a 5 cm lightly floured round cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds.  Re-roll trimmings and cut more rounds.  

5.  Place the rounds on a greased and lined baking tray.  No need to leave much space in between the  biscuits since they will not expand in diameter.  Bake in a pre-heated oven on middle shelf at 200°C for 15-18 minutes (The cooking time depends on the type of oven you have, so keep an eye on them while they are baking).

The biscuits are ready when you notice a colour change from yellowish to pale yellow or cream coloured.  They should not turn brown.  By the way, your kitchen is going to smell great!  I also notice a slight increase in thickness after baking.

6. Once the biscuits are done, leave them to cool on the baking tray at room temperature.  Do not be tempted to move them or play with them while they are cooling.  Repeat the same thing with the remaining dough.

7.  After cooling, place a daub of jam on one biscuit and cover with another one.  I placed the jam on the bottom side of the biscuit, since its surface was flatter.

I strongly recommend glazing the biscuits the next day as some bakers usually do.  In fact, you are going to see that the biscuit taste yummier the next day.  

8.  To prepare the glaze, you just need to mix icing sugar with a liquid over a pan of simmering water until you obtain a smooth viscous glaze.  If the glaze is too liquid, you just need to add more icing sugar and if it is too thick, you need to add some more liquid.  You may colour and flavour the glaze.  However the traditional Napolitaines are coated with a pink glaze.

Here, I added orange zest and use orange juice as the liquid

The sandwiched biscuits should be ready on a cooling rack with a tray underneath.  Pour the glaze over the biscuits.  Allow the glaze to harden for some hours.  Store in an airtight container.  Do not store in the refrigerator since it may affect the glossiness of the glaze.

1: Classic/Traditional Napolitane 2: Orange Glaze 3: Butter cream with coloured-coconut  4: Orange Glaze with Zest

• Traditional Napolitaine: Pink colouring + water + icing sugar
• Orange Glaze: Orange juice + icing sugar
• Coloured-Coconut: Cream some butter and icing sugar.  Spread over the biscuit and top with coloured-coconut.  You can make your own coloured-coconut by mixing some colouring with dessicated coconut (Mix using your hand).
• Orange glaze with zest: Orange juice + icing sugar + grated zest.

Feel free to play with the colours and flavours.  Next time I'll try coating them with dark chocolate and white chocolate.  Or maybe I should try some marble design on top.  I can also try to make some polka dots or flowers on top of the glaze using Royal Icing.  What do you think?