Trudie’s lemon squares

Whenever I make these lemon squares, I think of my sister, who is quite a few years older than me. The day she got married and took off with her husband, leaving me as the last one behind at home, felt like the end of the world to me at 15 years old. Then I got to visit them and it all changed when she served up a plate filled with these delicacies. From then on, I couldn’t wait to go visit. She always had something new and interesting and exciting going on in her house and life and her tins were filled with lemon squares and cookies of all sorts and the most delicious dried peaches straight from the farm….sounds like perhaps the main attraction for visiting! At some stage I inherited her recipe and it has become a favourite in our family too and of everybody else that “inherits ” it along the way.

It is a non – baking cookie/biscuit and can be kept in the fridge for a long time, if you’re so lucky to have any left to last that long.

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Trudie’s lemon squares

  • 2 packets of  butter biscuits (Petit beurre)
  • 250 g butter
  • 1 can of sweet condensed milk
  • 250 ml desiccated coconut
  • lemon juice and zest

Lemon icing:

  • About 20g butter
  • 450ml icing sugar
  • lemon zest and juice to taste
  1. Melt the butter over low heat and add the condensed milk.
  2. Stir in some lemon zest and juice to taste and mix well.
  3. Add the coconut.
  4. Break in the biscuits and mix well until the biscuits are finely broken up en well coated.
  5. Press into a greased lamington tin, 24 x 34 x 2cm.
  6. Leave to cool down completely or place in fridge.
  7. Combine the ingredients for the lemon icing and mix to a smooth icing.
  8. Cut in squares and decorate with some candied lemon and lime zest.

Serves about 48 squares

This is an entry for Christmas cookies from around the world 2007, here at Susan from Foodblogga.

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Chocolate truffles

December is chocolate time – chocolate for gifts, chocolate truffles, chocolate mousse, souflé, cookies, in a cup, saucy over veal….

Everybody has a truffle recipe. Mine comes from way back, from Letitia Prinsloo (owning Femenika at the time), who opened up the Institute of Culinary Arts in Stellenbosch SA, in 1995.  I have not yet come across a more delicious chocolate truffle.

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Chocolate truffles

  • 50g butter
  • 20ml icing sugar
  • 15 ml rum
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 250g finely grated chocolate(70% cocoa)
  • 20ml cocoa
  • 50ml ground almonds roasted
  • melted dark chocolate
  1. Whisk the butter until soft.
  2. Add the sugar, rum, egg yolks, grated chocolate, cocoa and almonds and mix.
  3. Shape into small balls, roll in sifted cocoa and store in fridge.
  4. If preferred, melt 500g dark chocolate over gentle heat and dip the truffles into the melted chocolate, in place of rolling in cocoa, after you’ve let them cooled overnight in the fridge.
  5. Serve with a pinch of gold leaf for that festive sparkle.

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