Snowballs

Felt extremely nostalgic whilst baking these snowballs, reminded me so much of my childhood growing up in Durban. I remember my late Grandfather would always feed me my body weight in wareings snowballs. They were so good!

He would always surprise us with a huge batch of these, whether he was popping by to say hello, or hoarding us all in his car for a drive to the beach. There was always snowballs no matter what the occasion.

Not sure if Wareings still exist, but I am very grateful for the good memories they’ve given me. Here is a family recipe for snowballs, sanwiched in a simple icing, glazed in syrup made with starwberry jam, and my favourite part is that it is coated in delicious coconut.

Snowballs

For the coconut coating:
300g desiccated coconut
Pink food colouring

Syrup:
200ml sugar
200ml water
250ml strawberry jam

Cake:
280g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup white sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
800ml self-raising flour

Icing/filling:
2 cup icing sugar
35mk water

Method:

Syrup:
Add the water, sugar and jam into a saucepan and boil until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup has thickened. Set aside to cool.

Icing/filling:
Mix the icing sugar and warer together until you form a spreadable paste and set aside.

Cake:
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in one egg at a time until combined. Add the vanilla essence.

Add in the flour and mix using a wooden spoon or spatula until a soft dough is formed. If the dough is too sticky add in a tablespoon of flour until the dough reaches the right consistency.

Divide the dough into 24 parts ( I weighed mine) and roll into balls.

Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, leave enough space between.

Bake for 15 mins at 170°C. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Spread equal amounts of icing on the six halves of the snowballs and sandwich with the other six. Allow the icing to set.

Dip each one into the syrup for a few seconds on each side until its well coated with the syrup, then roll each snowball in the coconut.

Store in an airtight container and enjoy!