Coconut shortbread hearts

Brown sugar gives these shortbread biscuits a beautiful caramel flavour, a great match with the coconut-chocolate filling.

Coconut shortbread hearts. Credit: The Chocolate Queen

• makes

  13

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Coconut shortbread

• 150 g unsalted butter
• 100 g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 35 g desiccated coconut
• 260 g plain flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• Pinch of sea salt

Chocolate coconut filling

• 200 g unsalted butter
• 80 g icing sugar
• 200 g good quality dark couverture chocolate 70%
• 40 g desiccated coconut
• 40 ml coconut milk

Finishing

• 250 g good quality dark couverture chocolate 54%
• 2 tsp sea salt
• Pinch of gold lustre dust

Chilling and cooling time: about 3 hours.

Instructions

1. For the shortbread: Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and creamy. Gradually add the egg, mixing to combine after each addition.
2. Add the coconut, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until the ingredients come together as a dough.
3. Press the dough into an even, flat square and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.
4. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced).
5. Roll the chilled pastry to 3-4mm in thickness. Use a heart-shaped cutter, 40-50mm in size, to cut individual hearts. (If you don’t have a heart-shaped cutter, you can simply cut the dough into squares.) Place onto a lined baking tray and bake in the pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes, until light golden in colour.
6. Allow to cool completely at room temperature.
7. For the filling: Beat the butter and icing sugar until light and aerated.
8. Heat the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until completely melted. Add the chocolate to the butter mixture and mix to combine.
9. Lastly, add the desiccated coconut and coconut milk. Mix to incorporate.
10. Pipe or spoon the chocolate coconut filling onto every second biscuit and sandwich them together. Place into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow the filling to harden.
11. To finish: In a small bowl, combine the salt and lustre dust.
12. Temper the chocolate by placing it into a saucepan over an induction cooktop on setting 4. Stir continuously until you have 50% solids and 50% liquid. Transfer the chocolate into a heat-proof plastic bowl and stir vigorously until the solids have completely melted. (Alternatively, use the microwave method outlined in this recipe)
13. Dip the shortbread hearts into the chocolate so that it covers half of the biscuit, then transfer to a lined baking tray.
14. Before the chocolate sets, lightly sprinkle with the gold salt. Allow to set at room temperature.

 

Note

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.