What Lamingtons are to the English speaking world, are Coconut Chocolate Dessert Squares aka Scruffies (čupavci) to the people in Balkans. These busy, spongecake-like squares (first they swim in chocolate, and then drape themselves in coconut), are made in under an hour. And take even less time to eat.
Do you like brownies?
I like brownies. If brownies and steak end up being my last supper I’ll be good to go. And if you like brownies and you like coconut and you like spongecake, then you’ll LOVE scruffies. By the way, term scruffies was made up by yours only. It’s a lose translation of čupavci which literally translated means something like “the hairy ones.” All due to coconut jutting out from all ends of each square. And let’s face it, you probably wouldn’t eat something called “hairies.”
It was only later that I found out they’re eerily similar to Lamingtons or the famous Australian sponge cake plus coconut goodness!
Told by several people how easy these were to make, out of laziness or fear, I never ventured into it. When I finally gave it a shot I was half expecting (hoping?) to mess it up, in which case I’d console myself eating the remaining coconut flour. (Another quick chocolatey goodness to try making are the easiest in the world chocolate squares.)
During the siege, very rarely did we get sweets. Cookies were made on an even rarer schedule. But one afternoon, my friend Irena and I decided to make a trade that would ease our different cravings for a while. She was an addict of vegeta, a delicious spice mix. Meanwhile, I noticed a bag of coconut flour in her mom’s kitchen that sat there unused. I was ambivalent about it around that time, but take sweets away from a child for two months… and they might even start to like fruit, let alone sweet, crunchy, exotic, coconut flour.
Eventually, after the war, I discovered scruffies, and it was a dream come true. To this day I can’t believe how easy these are to make.
Let me know if you try these!
Coconut Chocolate Dessert Squares aka Scruffies Recipe (Čupavci)
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
Description
What Lamingtons are to the English speaking world, are Coconut Chocolate Dessert Squares aka Scruffies (čupavci) to the people in Balkans.
Ingredients
Biscuit
- 13 ounces white flour, plus a little more
- 2 eggs
- 10 ounces white granulated sugar
- 10 ounces milk
- 5 ounces oil, plus a little more
- 1/2 ounce baking powder
Topping
- 10.5 ounces milk
- 10.5 ounces dark (or baking) chocolate
- 5 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 7 ounces shredded coconut flour
One (approximately) 10×12 inches baking pan
Instructions
- (Biscuit) Heat oven to 200°F. Combine all biscuit ingredients in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer for 1-2 minutes (if mixing by hand then 3 to 5). Biscuit paste should be smooth, and without crumbs.
- Oil a baking pan, then dust with flour. Pour the biscuit in, and shake the pan to even the biscuit out. Place in the oven and turn the heat up to 395°F. (The oven will be warming up as the biscuit is baking, and the biscuit will rise evenly.)
- After 15 minutes bring temperature down to 355°F and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.* Use the toothpick method to see whether your biscuit is finished: take a toothpick and prick it in several places. If the toothpick comes out with crumbs, it needs more baking. If it comes out clean, the biscuit is finished.
- (Topping) In the meantime, combine all topping ingredients (except coconut flour) in a medium sized pot. Place on stove and heat over medium. Stir continuously until ingredients integrate being careful that the chocolate doesn’t burn. Remove from heat.
- Pour coconut flour into a large mixing bowl. Take the pan out of the oven, and cut biscuit into approximately 24 squares.
- (Combining) While the biscuit and the topping are still warm dip each square first into the topping and then coconut. Use an even, fast movement while dipping. To achieve the best taste squares should be covered with chocolate, but not drenched in it.**
- Store in the fridge on a plate covered with foil (or in plasticware) for up to a week.
Notes
*Total baking time will depend on your oven. If your oven warms up quickly, you can cover the biscuit with a baking sheet to protect it. Similarly, if your oven tends to heat slowly, bake the biscuit on 395°F the entire time. Generally the biscuit turns light brown, but not always. Use the toothpick method to know when it’s completely done.
**This is best done with fingers but if you’re sensitive, use a fork. If the topping starts to cool before you dip all the squares in, warm it up and continue.
For a slightly intensified taste you can add vanilla extract or rum into the biscuit or the topping.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 squares
- Calories: 591
- Sugar: 44.6g
- Sodium: 74mg
- Fat: 25.8g
- Saturated Fat: 10.6g
- Carbohydrates: 82.3g
- Fiber: 8.8g
- Protein: 10g
- Cholesterol: 45mg
Keywords: scruffies, lamington, lamingtons, balkan lamingtons, cupavci
These are ADDICTIVE!!! So delicious and so surprisingly easy to make! As usual, I’ll tell you how I did it 🙂 First, rather than mixing the paste by hand, I threw everything into my KitchenAid stand mixer and mixed it for about 30-45 seconds, until there were no lumps left. I started my oven at 200 F like you said, but because my oven tends to burn things anytime I set it higher than 450 F, I only changed the temperature to 400 F. My oven heats up quickly, and got to 400 F after only about 5 minutes. I baked the squares for 20 minutes, after which they were golden brown and perfectly baked through. Once the squares were baked, I turned them out onto a rack to cool for a few minutes, but I noticed that doing that affected how much chocolate the squares absorbed. Next time I’ll do it when they are really hot so more chocolate soaks into the cake. For the topping, I didn’t have dark chocolate, so I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead and left out the sugar because semi-sweet chocolate is sweeter than dark chocolate. I also melted the topping ingredients in a bowl set over simmering water rather than in a pot directly over the heat because it helps prevent the chocolate from burning, at least I find. Finally, with regards to the coconut, I only had shredded coconut which was much coarser than the coconut you have in your picture. So when I tried to roll the squares in it, it was too much. Instead, I topped each square with a sprinkling of the coconut. When I was at the store today, I found coconut flour, but it was ground as fine as actual flour, so I didn’t think it would work for this recipe. It looks like it needs a finely ground coconut, but the more coarsely ground one worked wonderfully as a topping. My Bosnian husband was very impressed, and so was I!
Oooo, that sounds great! I used to melt the chocolate the same exact way, but I admit, I got a little lazy. Glad you liked it. Going for the more coarse coconut over the flour coconut is the way to go. And I must say, I am lusting after one of those Kitchen-Aid mixers. But I’m worried it’ll stand unused next to my Vitamix. Do you find you use it a lot?
I do use it a lot. Almost every day actually. I have 3 kids and a big sweet tooth, so I am always baking up something – cookies, cakes, brownies, muffins, etc. But the machine is so versatile, I’ve also used it to make bread and pizza dough. Even my husband uses it when he makes palacinka (crepes) for the kids! It has other attachments you can buy too, like a pasta making attachment and even a meat grinder!
Impressive!
always wish there was an automatic conversion button
We do too. 🙂
Excus me,wath meens one cup??100gr??😬😬i waith yours answer!thanks
Ramona,
I have changed the terms to ounces, maybe that will help? Check out this calculator: http://www.metric-conversions.org/weight/ounces-to-grams.htm
Ohhhh! Čupavce! I have so many memories of these as a little kid. I remember my mom making the cake part and being so impatient to eat them bc they smelt so good! She’s always let me sneak one of the “ugly” squares but nothing more. Can’t wait to make these for my American husband! Just gotta find the right coconut flour…
Sweet memories! I too remember eating the “ugly” squares. 🙂 Hope your husband likes them.
OH! These are my childhood favorites. I too remember eating the ‘ugly’ squares my mother wouldn’t dare to serve the guests lol.
I have to admit, I’ve been using a shortcut for the dipping sauce. I use chocolate syrup + milk = warmed up in the microwave. Works just as great!
Irma thanks for a great tip. I’m a fan of shortcuts, especially if they’re just as good as the original thing!