You know the day!

If you're Australian, you know today is Australia Day. While some may enjoy the beach, have a barbecue, or indulge a few drinks - nothing feels more patriotic, than baking!

I'm not talking about your Lamingtons, Pavalovas, or even your favourite shrimp on the barbecue, garlic sauce recipe. I don't even want to see your grandma's favourite pumpkin scones! While ALL equally delicious, they're just not as patriotic as Bonza Biscuits.

If you don't have an Australia shaped, cookie cutter, yet, please accept my commiserations. Because you simply cannot bake these Bonza Biscuits, without them. It just wouldn't be patriotic. But feel free to bake them however you want, on any day, but this!

I've adapted a favourite recipe that seems to be kicking around the homemakers forums, a lot: Condensed Milk Biscuits. Only I've spiced them up, to taste more like Honey Jumbles!

Every Bonza Biscuit, must come with The Great Australian Bight...Bite! So you have to eat from the bottom of the biscuit, up. It's mandatory. Keep your teeth AWAY from the Top End. Okay. We're not invading the country, we're eating it! 

So maybe it's a little weird, consuming your own continent and all, on this great day of celebration. But dammit, Australia Day, is all about weird! It's in the constitution. Somewhere underneath the hopping rodent, and flightless bird.

Let me translate for my readers, abroad. The two animals on our National Coat of Arms, are a Kangaroo and Emu. They kind of like to stand around, guarding the six State badges, to keep them in line. Kangaroos are natural boxers, and Emus inherited their talons from velocoraptors. You seriously, don't want to mess with them. Seriously! I'm not pulling your leg.

Back to the Bonza Biscuits...

500g butter
1 can condensed milk (390-400g)
1 cup white sugar
4 1/4 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup custard powder
2 tabs Horlicks or Vanilla Sustagen (powdered milk, otherwise)
1 tab ground ginger
1 tab ground cinnamon
finely grated zest of 2 small-med, oranges.

1. Cream, first 3 ingredients together
2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, until dough is formed
3. Cut dough in half, wrap one and put in the freezer, for another day
4. With remaining dough, roll to 6mm thickness, and cut out shapes
5. Space on 3 trays, and bake 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius
6. Rotate and alternate trays, half way. Cool on wire racks


Icing:

1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 egg white
squeeze lemon juice
4 drops blue, food colouring

1. Place ingredients in bowl. Stir until slightly runny, and smooth
2. Add more liquid if too stiff
3. Dip biscuits in icing, or apply with a knife - depends how soft they are
4. Make a separate batch of white icing - reduce to 1 cup icing sugar
5. Place in piping bag: pipe around edges, Union jack and Southern Cross

It makes a lot of biscuits! If you're going to be having a lot of guests, you just might want to bake up the whole batch of dough. Otherwise, take it out of the freezer, for another days baking - and thaw before use.

So how are you celebrating Australia Day, that makes you feel patriotic? Or how do you celebrate your own national day? What I like about being Australian, is how we all talk funny. Even between our own States.

Queensland: "drink fountain". New South Wales: "bubbler". Now you know why the Kangaroo and Emu, are employed.


Disclaimer: Kangaroos are marsupials, not rodents. But the emu is still flightless. If they weren't, they'd sure give those drop-bears a run for their money!