Šape – paws
No festive Croatian table would be complete without these wonderful little cookies. Soft, crumbly and liberally dusted with powdered sugar, the name translates to “paws” because of the tin that’s traditionally used to mould them. Šape.
Why don’t mine look like paws? I don’t have the tins – just some regular old fluted ones that have been in my possession for many years.
I asked my mother for the recipe as I knew she had one given to her by her mother, but in typical fashion, I’ve added my own little touch here and there.
I understand the traditional šape don’t contain aromats like lemon and vanilla – just plain old sugar and the flavour of walnuts.
That’s all great, but I couldn’t help myself by adding lemon and vanilla – things that many people add to them – plus a herb that features quite a bit in savoury Croat dishes.
Rosemary.
Getting heavy-handed with this herb in a sweet dish can send it straight into soapy territory – much like lavender – but in small amounts it brings a certain something. Personally I reckon that vanilla, lemon zest and rosemary have the most evocative combined scent, providing the balance is right.
My addition of rosemary could cause my mother to raise her eyebrows and my baka to turn in her grave, but I bet they’d be reaching for another one of my šape if they had the chance.
| Servings |
cookies
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- 160 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp rosemary leaves
- 200 g butter softened
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 350 g plain flour
- 120 g ground walnuts
- icing sugar to toss
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 26 x 7cm fluted tins and dust with flour.
- Place the caster sugar and rosemary leaves into a food processor and blitz until the rosemary is finely chopped and has flavoured the sugar.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar, softened butter and vanilla for 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and continue beating until light and creamy (about 2 minutes).
- Stir through the flour and ground walnuts until a batter forms. The batter should be moist but not too sticky. Add a little more flour if it's too wet or a little milk if it's too dry.
- Take heaped tablespoons of the batter and press into each prepared mould, filling to the ¾ point. Arrange the filled moulds on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly golden.
- Allow the šape to sit in the tins for 5 minutes before removing and gently tossing in icing sugar while still hot. Allow to cool completely before storing in a sealed container.
They're best after a couple of days, but perfectly fine to eat right away.
