Rose & Pistachio Napolitaines

Mauritian napolitaines get an Indian twist for Diwali: egg-free butter shortbread scented with cardamom and sweetened with finely blitzed coconut sugar or jaggery, sandwiched with crunchy Pistacrok and finished with a deep maroon rose icing, chopped pistachios and dried rose petals. They look fancy, but the dough comes together in one bowl. Makes about 12 sandwiches in around 45 minutes, plus cooling.

Ingredients:-

• 250 g plain flour
• 125 g organic alpine butter, softened
• 70 g finely blitzed coconut sugar or jaggery (both tested; the biscuits bake a very dark colour, which works)
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (seeds from about 12 pods)
• a pinch of fine Himalayan pink salt
• 3–4 tablespoons Pistacrok 190 g (or Pistacrok 90 g)
• 150 g finely blitzed coconut sugar or jaggery, for the rose icing
• 1–2 teaspoons rose water
• a pinch of beetroot powder, for colour (with coconut sugar, this gives a deep maroon icing, not pink)
• 2 tablespoons shelled pistachios, roughly chopped, to finish
• 1 tablespoon dried rose petals, to finish

Directions:-

1. Dry the rose petals first if you are starting from fresh flowers. Use unsprayed garden roses only (shop roses are usually treated and not safe to eat). Rinse the petals gently, pat dry, and spread them on baking paper. Leave somewhere airy and shaded for 3 to 5 days, or dry them in the oven at its lowest setting (about 50–60°C) with the door slightly open for 1 to 2 hours, until crisp. Store in an airtight jar.
2. Heat the oven to 170°C and line two trays with baking paper.
3. Blitz the coconut sugar or jaggery to a fine powder before you start. Cream the softened butter with 70 g of the finely blitzed sweetener until smooth. Mix in the flour, ground cardamom and salt until a soft dough forms. If it feels crumbly, bring it together with your hands; do not overwork it. The dough will look much darker than a classic napolitaine shortbread — that is expected.
4. Wrap and chill the dough for 15 minutes. Roll out to about 5 mm thick on a lightly floured surface and cut into rounds (about 5–6 cm). Re-roll the scraps once.
5. Bake for 12–15 minutes until the edges are just set and the biscuits feel firming (they stay dark). Cool completely on a rack — they firm up as they cool.
6. Sandwich pairs of biscuits with a thin layer of Pistacrok (if it is stiff, stand the jar in hot water for a few minutes).
7. For the icing, blitz another 150 g coconut sugar or jaggery to a fine powder and tip it into a bowl. Stir in the rose water and enough drops of water or milk to make a thick, spreadable icing. Tint with a tiny pinch of beetroot powder. Tested with coconut sugar: the icing turns deep maroon, not pink. (Jaggery also works for the icing; the exact shade with beetroot was not separately noted.)
8. Spread or spoon a little icing over each sandwich, then finish with chopped pistachios and dried rose petals before the icing sets.