Masi Samoa

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 200 gsugar
• 250 gbutter
• or margarine, softened
• 200 gdesiccated coconut
• or fresh grated coconut
• 1 teaspoonbaking powder
• 1/2 teaspoonsalt
• about 120 ml coconut milk
• or water

Sometimes added

• 1 teaspoonvanilla
• a little grated lemon zest
• a pinch of nutmeg

To serve

• with koko Samoa
• Samoan cocoa
• or tea
• for dunking

Directions

1. Reduce the liquid slightly if using fresh. Put the softened butter in a large bowl. Add all of the sugar in to it. Beat them together until pale and light. Give it a good three or four minutes. Take it out an hour beforehand. Do not melt it as a shortcut instead.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the salt in to them as well. Add the coconut to the dry mixture. Combining it takes a light hand. Add the dry mixture to the creamed butter. Work it in with your fingertips. Work it as little as you possibly can. Stop as soon as it comes together.
3. Add the coconut milk a little at a time. You may not need all of the liquid. Squeeze a handful in your palm. It should hold together when pressed. Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Press it together into a rough block. Roll it out to about one centimetre. This is a thick biscuit rather than a thin one.
4. Cut the sheet into rectangles or squares. Aim for about five centimetres across. Use a sharp knife and cut cleanly. Prick each biscuit with a fork. Make several holes right through it. That keeps the biscuit flat and dense.
5. Prick right through rather than just marking. Arranging them is straightforward enough. Lift them onto a lined baking tray. A small gap between is quite enough. Heat the oven to one hundred and seventy degrees.
6. Bake them for about twenty-five minutes. A hot oven browns them before they dry. Bake them longer rather than hotter. Judging them takes a careful look.
7. Leave them on the tray for five minutes. They firm up considerably as they cool. Pile them into a tin or a basket. Serve koko Samoa alongside them. Or serve strong tea if you have no koko.

Technique

• The biscuit is deliberately dry and crumbly rather than soft, and that dryness is the point: it soaks up the koko and softens without falling apart, where a soft biscuit would disintegrate. It also keeps for weeks without refrigeration, which is why boxes of it are sent to relatives overseas.
• Work the flour in as little as you can and stop the moment it comes together, since overworking develops gluten and makes the biscuit tough rather than crumbly. The dough should just hold when squeezed and crumble when released.
• Bake it in a moderate oven for a long time rather than a hot one for a short time: the low heat dries it right through, where a hot oven browns it before it dries. Pale gold is the colour to look for, not brown.

Substitutions

• Desiccated coconut works where fresh grated is unavailable; fresh gives more moisture, so reduce the liquid slightly.
• Strong tea stands in for koko Samoa, the thick dark local cocoa.

Variations

• Vanilla, lemon zest or a pinch of nutmeg go in in some households.
• The biscuits are pricked right through with a fork to keep them flat and dense.
• It is a mission-era adaptation, a British shortbread idea rebuilt around local coconut.

History

A mission-era baking adaptation now sold in every Apia shop and packed into boxes for relatives overseas.

Frequently asked questions

What is Masi Samoa?

Masi Samoa is a snack from Samoa: crumbly coconut shortbread biscuit, dry and lightly sweet; dunked in koko. A mission-era baking adaptation now sold in every Apia shop and packed into boxes for relatives overseas.

How long does Masi Samoa take to make?

Masi Samoa takes 25 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 biscuits. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Masi Samoa?

Yes, within limits. Desiccated coconut works where fresh grated is unavailable; fresh gives more moisture, so reduce the liquid slightly. Strong tea stands in for koko Samoa, the thick dark local cocoa.

What is the most important thing to get right in Masi Samoa?

Reduce the liquid slightly if using fresh. Put the softened butter in a large bowl. Add all of the sugar in to it. Beat them together until pale and light. Give it a good three or four minutes. Take it out an hour beforehand. Do not melt it as a shortcut instead.