These biscuits are a traditional Croatian recipe that look like little peaches rolled in sugar and colored in food coloring to get an authentic peachy look. They are filled with cocoa filling with rum and are usually kept for special occasions like Easter, Christmas, or for Weddings. They make the perfect treat when combined with tea or coffee on Sunday morning. Give it a try!
Peaches Biscuits With Cocoa and Rum (Breskvice)
Ingredients:
Biscuit Dough
- 2 cups caster sugar
- 1½ cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup milk
- 4 eggs
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla paste, or extract
- 6 cups plain flour (approx)
Filling
- 1 cup cookie crumbs
- 1 ½ cups ground walnuts (walnut meal)
- 2 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 cup apricot jam
- 1 tbsp bourbon or rum
- 1-2 tbsp milk
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
Sugar topping
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup peach brandy (optional or replace with milk)
- Pink and yellow food colouring
- 1 cup caster sugar
Instructions:
- In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, oil, milk, eggs, baking powder and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
- Blend enough of the flour to form a soft dough.
- Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and bake on a lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes. The biscuits should be pale in colour (not golden). Cool completely.
- Using a paring knife, carefully cut a circle in the bottom of each biscuit and scoop out the centre using a teaspoon.
- Place the biscuit crumbs into a food processor and blitz for several seconds until it resembles coarse sand.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine the 1 cup of biscuit crumbs, ground walnuts, jam, bourbon and cinnamon and mix well.
- Using a teaspoon or a butter knife, scoop a little of the mixture into the cavity of half the biscuit and press another half on top to sandwich them together. Gently squeeze them together until both biscuits touch and are stuck together. If any of the filling squeezes out just wipe it away with your finger, making sure there’s no filling residue at the join. Set aside.
- For your sugar topping, place the milk in one bowl and add about 4-5 drops of the pink and 2 drops of yellow food colouring.
- Place the peach brandy into another bowl and add 3-4 drops of yellow food colouring.
- Place the sugar into a third bowl.
- Take each filled biscuit and carefully dip one half into the coloured milk and then the other half into the coloured brandy. Quickly and gently remove any excess liquid by dabbing the cookie onto a clean sponge or paper towels laid on the bench. (Remember you’re using food colouring so make sure your work bench is protected from splashes). Place the damp biscuit into the sugar bowl and toss around to coat it entirely, shaking off any excess.
- Store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks or can be frozen for up to 3 months (just thaw 2-3 hrs before serving)
Notes
- These are best made 2-3 days beforehand as the biscuits will soak up some of the liquid and become softer.