today i made these delicious biscuits from breakfast lunch tea, the rose bakery cookbook; which happens to be my favorite bakery in paris. these were inspired by austrian star biscuits, which are popular around christmastime.
Makes 40-50 biscuits
4 egg whites
450 g (4 1/2 cups) confectioner’s sugar
juice of ½ lemon and grated zest of 1 lemon
320 g (3 1/3 cups) ground almonds
100 g (1/2 cup) finely chopped mixed peel – candied citrus peel
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
unsalted butter, for greasing
First make the meringue. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then, very gradually, add the sugar. When the mixture is very stiff, beat in the lemon juice.
Set aside 200 g (6 ounces) of the meringue for the topping and put the remaining meringue in a bowl.
Add the ground almonds, mixed peel, cinnamon and lemon zest.
Mix until you have a dough-like paste, then chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
Butter a baking tray and line it with parchment paper.
Dust your work surface with sugar and roll jthe paste out to make a sheet 1 cm (1/2 in) thick. Cut into your desired shapes (stars, squares or rounds). Because the paste is sticky it is tricky to cut, so add more sugar or some flour.
Brush the tops with the reserved meringue and leave to dry on the prepared for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4 and bake the biscuits for about 10 minutes until the bases are lightly golden. The tops should remain white and the bases must be soft and moist.
Cool and enjoy.
