Africano-Italiano

Jugu cake is the African version of Italian biscotti. Apparently, Italians brought the recipe to the continent where it was African-ized, given the ingredients that were available. I guess I have further Canadian-ized the recipe.

Biscotti are twice baked cookies. The name says it all, as "bis" means twice and "cotti" means cooked or baked.

Jugu cake is actually a once-bake cookie, which I have now brought back to its original roots. In Swahili, jugu or njugu means nuts; the preferred nut being the peanut (a.k.a. ground nut).

As with most baking recipes, combine and mix your dry ingredients in a bowl.

- 15 oz. flour (1 1/2+1/3 cups)

- 9 oz. sugar (1 1/8 cups)

- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Sidebar: You will notice that the measurements in this recipe are quite precise. Baking is a science, so don't cheat! Trust me.

Put the following wet ingredients in another bowl:
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 6 oz. milk (3/4 cup)
- 6 oz. (3/4 cup) peanut butter (I like to use the roasted "just peanuts" variety, as it does not contain any preservatives)

Stir the wet ingredients together until they become a homogeneous mixture.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry.

Combine all of the ingredients together to make a dough. You will need to use your hands.

Section the dough into flattened-logs on a greased, aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Bake the logs in a pre-heated 350° oven for approximately 30 minutes.

Remove the logs from the oven and let stand for approximately 5 minutes.

Cut the logs evenly into equal-sized biscuits. Flatten them, so that their inner parts are either touching the tray or exposed to the air, as below.

Place them back in the oven for another 10 minutes and they will be ready to serve.

You'll go nuts for the jugu!