Have you ever tried a new recipe for cookies, following all the steps with care, only to  end up with unmanageable dough? Well, that’s what happened to me when I first tried to make Zimsterne a.k.a. Cinnamon stars – a German cookie typically served at Christmas.

I don’t even remember where I found the recipe – probably in a magazine – I can only say that things went awry and I had to improvise…and these scrumptious, flavoursome little beauties are the result.

First, I forgot to buy oranges and the supermarket was closed, so I opted for tangerine, which turned out to be a great choice. The real problem came when I tried to roll the dough and cut stars out of it. The dough was so sticky that I just couldn’t do it.

I tried dusting my work surface with heaps of  icing sugar, and  sandwiching the dough between two sheets of parchment paper dusted with lots of icing sugar, but nothing worked.

I then added cornflour to the dough – more manageable, yes, but no way I could cut stars out of the dough. Eventually, I tried pushing small amounts of dough into a small star-shaped cookie cutter bought for the occasion – still no luck.

I didn’t give up though. Instead,  I went for the heart-shaped cookie cutter, pushing the dough inside, shaping it into a heart and then gently sliding it off the cutter: bingo!

Now I love these cookies. They’re soft, slightly chewy like a macaroon, with a delicious, perfect mix of spices, almond, sugar and tangerine. These cookies are just perfect for Christmas, and work well as a yummy, pretty gift.

I made a few more searches on the net, and I think the amount of egg whites is what made the dough so sticky. It turns out that you’re  supposed to  start adding only one egg white to the mix, and then add more until the dough reaches the right consistency…Well, maybe I’ll try it next year..this Christmas, these spicy almond & tangerine hearts will be more than perfect!

Tips & Notes

• To remove the skin from almonds: put almonds in a small pan, pour boiling water over them and boil for 2 minutes. Drain the water, then take each almond between thumb and forefinger and squeeze gently – the skin will easily slip off the almonds. Spread the almonds on a shallow baking tray, in a single layer, and let them dry in the oven at 80° (175° F) for about 10 minutes.
• I find freshly ground almonds very flavoursome, but if you’re in a hurry you can use store-bought ground almonds (almond meal), and still get tasty cookies.
• Use fresh spices to get the best result. Spices that have been opened for a long time (especially ground ones) lose their fragrance and become bland.
• Although I give the recipe for royal icing with both egg whites and meringue, I prefer using meringue for two reasons: it avoids the risk of getting salmonella that may come from using raw eggs, and the royal icing smells good (I hate smelling egg in food!). If you’re making these for children or pregnant women, I strongly recommend using meringue instead of egg white.

Spicy almond & tangerine hearts

(makes about 50 hearts)

300 gr. almonds, peeled and ground (10.6 oz.)

30 gr. cornflour (cornstarch) ( 1 oz)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice (or pumpkin pie spice)

Pinch of salt

2 medium egg whites

200 gr. vanilla sugar (7 oz)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grated zest of 1 tangerine

Icing:

2 tablespoons tangerine juice

2 teaspoons egg white (or 6 teaspoons meringue, crushed and reduced to fine powder)

120 gr. icing sugar (4.2 oz)

• Put the almonds in a food processor with cornflour, cinnamon, salt and mixed spice, and pulse until reduced to a fine powder.
• In a bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff, then slowly add vanilla sugar, vanilla extract and grated tangerine peel. Beat until fully combined., then stir in the dry ingredients, until you get a stiff, sticky dough.
• Preheat oven to 140° C (285° F) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Making the hearts requires a bit of patience. Dip a small heart-shaped cookie cutter (about 3 x 3.5 cm) in icing sugar, then wet your hands, take a heap teaspoon of dough, roll it into a ball and push it into the cookie cutter, until the dough is shaped into a thick heart. Gently push the heart out of the cookie cutter onto the baking tray. Repeat for each heart, taking care to keep your hands wet and the cookie cutter coated with icing sugar.
• Bake for about 20 minutes, until slightly golden but still soft; don’t over-bake or the cookies will become too hard. Let the hearts cool for 5 minutes in the tray, then remove and place on a rack to cool completely (and harden).
• Prepare the icing: beat the egg white until stiff, then add the icing sugar and the tangerine juice and mix well until you get a thick, creamy icing. If using the meringue crushed and reduced to powder, simply beat all ingredients together. You may have to add juice or icing sugar to achieve the right consistency. Use the icing immediately, or it’ll become too hard to use.
• Spread the icing over the hearts using a palette knife. In a few minutes the icing will dry and it will become hard and glossy.
• The hearts taste much better after a day, so try and resist eating them. Store the hearts in a tin box or airtight container, separating each layer of cookies with some wax or parchment paper, for about 10 days.

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Tagged as: baking, biscuits, cinnamon, cookies