RECIPE: NESTUM™ BISCUITS

This is a recipe my mother used to make all the time, especially for Diwali. I finally found NESTUM™ in Canberra; I used to have to buy it from Melbourne whenever I went over there for work or to visit my in-laws. You can now find NESTUM™ at the Hub Asian Supermarket at Tuggeranong or Gungahlin. If you are wondering what NESTUM™ is, it is a malt flavoured cereal popular in Malaysia and Singapore. It is manufactured by Nestlé but you can’t find it here except from select Asian grocers as it is imported from Malaysia. Malaysians love to eat it as breakfast cereal or as a coating for fried chicken or to make the base for cheesecakes. Try it – it really does have a beautiful aroma and taste!

NB: Apologies for the measurements of these biscuits – the recipe is quite old hence the reason for it being in imperial measurements (I have a dual measurement scales).

Ingredients – makes between 50 to 60 biscuits

8 oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup NESTUM™
4 oz butter – softened to room temperature (not melted)
5 oz caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
Glace cherries – cut into small pieces (for decoration)
Extra NESTUM™ for coating

Method

Preheat oven to 160°C (fan forced oven). Line baking tray with baking paper.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Blend in the NESTUM™.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time. Next add in the vanilla essence. Beat well to combine. Now combine the flour mixture into the butter. Mix well and form into small balls. If the dough sticks too much to your hands, you made need an extra tbsp or two of flour.

Roll the balls in extra NESTUM™. You may need to slightly flatten the balls here to get enough NESTUM™ to coat the dough. Top with a tiny piece of glace cherry. Make sure you press in the cherry firmly. Bake for 10 to 15 mins.