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Shortbread base topped with jam and a chocolate-nut meringue. This recipe hails from a time when Yugoslavia was made up of many different countries (see note, below*) and the naming of this recipe is somewhat vague.
Ingredients
- For the base:
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam
- For the topping:
4 egg whites at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup ground walnuts
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Grease a 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan. To prepare cookie base, combine flour, nuts, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Stir in flour mixture; blend well. Turn into prepared pan and smooth the surface. Evenly spread jam over dough; set aside.
- To prepare topping, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl at medium speed until soft peaks form. Increase speed to medium-high; add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until egg whites form very stiff glossy peaks. Gently fold in ground nuts and melted chocolate. Spoon dollops of meringue over jam, spread evenly. Sprinkle meringue with chopped nuts.
- Bake 5 minutes, remove pan from oven. Using a very sharp or serrated knife, lightly score surface of meringue into 2-inch squares (8 x 5). Continue baking 20 to 30 minutes or until meringue is firm to the touch. Cool in pan on rack. Cut into squares. Store in airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Adapted from The Joy of Cookies
by Sharon Tyler Herbst (1987).
- * Alternate names: also known as Zora Kolači, Damen Kapric, Zagorje Kolach, or London štanglice, Docci Bojai. I have found various versions of this recipe where people claim them as “Definitely Croatian!” and even “Exclusively Croatian”…but then also “My Serbian grandmother made these” and other such claims. This makes it difficult for me to truly place them under one country or another regardless of who claims these as exclusively theirs. The truth is probably that they were popular throughout much of that region. I have chosen to retain their historical name for now and classify them under those three countries.
- Photo by Nikola Smolenski under Creative Commons license.
