Caramel-Coconut Shortbreads (aka Samoas)

I am pregnant. I don't have a lot of cravings, but every now and then, I get hit with a wanting. And tomorrow is my birthday. We don't have Girl Scouts in Brazil and yet THESE are what I wanted in lieu of cake:



Was I up to baking them in summer humidity? Yes...provided it was in easy bar-cookie format. Success!




As a bonus, this shortbread cookie base is really, really good on its own. Will be bookmarking for the future!


1. Cookie base

(Adapted from Baking Bites.)

2 1/4 cups flour
200 grams butter (salted)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then add egg, salt and vanilla, mixing well. Beat in the flour until it forms a soft dough. I patted my dough into a greased pan for bar cookies, but you could also roll it out and make shaped cookies. Prick with a fork to avoid puffing and bake until light brown on the bottoms.

2. Coconut-Caramel Topping
(Adapted from Ina Garten.)

3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons corn syrup

1/2 box creme de leite
2 Tablespoons butter
pinch of salt
vanilla (1/2 teaspoon Western style; 1/4 teaspoon Brazilian)

1/2 bag coconut

Cook first three ingredients, stirring often, until the mixture boils and turns a deep golden brown. While this is cooking, heat next three ingredients in a separate pan until just simmering.

Remove cream mixture from heat and add vanilla. When sugar mixture is ready, remove from heat and carefully stir cream mixture into sugar. It will boil viciously, so be careful! Cook until it almost reaches soft ball stage, about 3-5 minutes more. Stir constantly. When soft ball is achieved, remove from heat and pour in the coconut, stir well and allow to cool slightly before spreading. If it is too thick/sets up too much, add a little milk or cream, heat and stir. Spread on cookies.
***With this one, I really overcooked it. The cookies were great while the caramel was still warm, but a few hours later it was ROCK hard! Oops.***


3. Chocolate Drizzle

1/3 cup chocolate chips/chunks (I used milk chocolate)
1 Tablespoon milk

Heat in microwave or over double boiler until chips are melted, stir well to combine. Drizzle over caramel.

Homemade Sausage Recipe, Brazil style

I consulted three different recipes online before coming up with this recipe. If you wanted a little more "scrapple" of a sausage, do add some cornmeal to the mix. I didn't, and it was just fine. If anything, perhaps a little too heavy on the sage; next time I'll use a little less fresh.

It's hard to find fresh pork here and not a soul would grind it for me, even when I asked oh-so-nicely. Pão de Açucar supermarket had fresh pork in the meat section, right between the chicken and the beef. There were about 15 trays, tops. Not a lot of variety. I wavered between the options: toucinho? barriga? lombo? before deciding to use a small tray of barriga suína that seemed to have the right mix of fat to meat. You want about a 30% fat, 70% lean mix, though of course that varies with personal taste. The barriga did have a few pieces of bone and really tough cartilage, so you need to prep this before tossing it into the food processor!

One pound (apx 500 g) barriga suína (with plenty of fat)
1 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt or heavier grind
2-3 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves (sálvia)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (pimenta do reino)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (pimenta calabresa)
2 T maple syrup (or use brown sugar)
1/4 teaspoon marjoram (manjerona)
1 teaspoon thyme (tomilho)
1/8 teaspooon ground cloves (cravo)
(I used 1/4 teaspoon of a speculoos mix that included both of these sweet spices)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (noz moscada)
1 big clove garlic, minced (alho)

Toss your meat in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes, which will help make it easier to cut and grind. While the meat chills, mix up your spices in a large bowl. To taste test, mix well, then sprinkle a pinch of the mix over a piece of bread of bland cheese. Taste, adjust seasonings as necessary. Remove meat from freezer. Chop into pieces and separate the fat if possible. Whir the fat in a food processor until it becomes creamy, and dump into the bowl with spices. Next, grind your meat. You don't want to make a puree here, so use a pulsing action. When it is ground sufficiently, add to the fat and spices, and mix well. Form into patties and fry, or freeze. I made logs, wrapped them in plastic wrap, tinfoil and ziplocked. They should last a long time frozen...if we can resist that long!