Homemade iced vovos

Who invented Iced Vovos?

These yummy biscuits have been around since the late 1800s, claimed to be made first by a biscuit company from New Zealand before a company (which was eventually bought out by Arnott’s) started making them in Sydney. Arnott’s registered the name of ‘Iced Vovo’ in 1906 and are still going strong making these delicious biscuits today.

Fun fact

Sales of Iced Vovos soared in 2007 when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the following in his victory speech following winning the election:
‘Friends, tomorrow, the work begins. You can have a strong cup of tea if you want, even an Iced VoVo on the way through. But the celebration stops there.’ Good on you, Kevin 07!

Ingredients

Biscuits

• ½ cup salted butter
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups blanched almond flour
• 2 tablespoons dairy or almond milk
• 7cm x 5cm scalloped cookie cutter

Top tip: Blanched almond flour is ground up almonds with the peel removed, providing very little almond flavour. You can buy it from your local health food store. If you don’t have a cookie cutter in the size above, you can hand cut the biscuits to size.

Icing

• ½ cup powdered almond butter 
• 1 teaspoon pink pitaya (dragon fruit) powder
• 2 tablespoons filtered water
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Top tip: Buy powdered almond butter and pitaya (dragon fruit) powder from your local health food store.

Decoration

• ½ cup raspberry jam
• 4 tablespoons desiccated coconut

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Melt butter over a low heat and then whisk together with the coconut sugar until well combined and creamy in colour. Allow to cool.
3. Once cool add in the egg yolk and vanilla extract and whisk until mixed. 
4. Stir in the blanched almond flour and milk until the mixture starts to clump together.
5. Gather the dough and place on a lightly floured surface and roll with a rolling pin until approximately ½cm thick. 
6. Ideally, use a 7cm x 5cm scalloped cookie cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can (or alternatively, cut the biscuits to size using a knife), reforming and rolling the dough out again to form more biscuits as needed. 
7. Place the biscuits onto the baking tray as you go, 2-3cm apart.
8. Place the biscuits into the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until lightly golden. 
9. Allow to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. To make icing: mix all icing ingredients together until you achieve a smooth, thick consistency. Don’t be tempted to add more liquid, as you want it nice and thick.
11. Use a small spatula or a butter knife to spread a thin, even layer of icing over each biscuit.
12. To decorate: Using a small piping bag or a steady hand with a teaspoon, place a strip of jam lengthways down the centre of each biscuit over the top of the icing. Sprinkle each biscuit with desiccated coconut.
13. Allow the biscuits to set at room temperature (or in the fridge if you don’t have the patience to wait!)