Baking up a Storm........

Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Stars)
One of the more interesting things about having parents of different nationalities is that high days and holidays are celebrated with a mixture of the traditions from both countries. Not only does it keep both parents happy, but as a child I enjoyed the best of both worlds. I believe that it is the mother who marks out the traditions in the household, and fortunately for her, my English father was more than happy to celebrate Christmas German style, and wouldn't have had it any other way.
Celebrations started on Christmas Eve evening with the exchange of presents, as is the German way, with Christmas Day being a bit more low key. However, in keeping with British traditions, lunch was turkey and all the trimmings, followed by Christmas pudding, if there was any room.
We also had a mixture of English and German baking. Mince pies and Christmas cake nestled against Stollen and all the Weihnachtsplatzchen (Christmas biscuits) that my mother and I made.
In Germany, Christmas is absolutely not Christmas without a never ending supply of these specially baked goodies that women (and maybe a few men) spend hours making. These are not large flat cookies, or biscuits that you might dunk in your tea, but small, dainty mouthfuls of indulgence that are often decorated with chocolate, jam, or nuts. There are hundreds of varieties, and in Germany there is no end of magazines devoted to the platzchen in the run up to Christmas.
Each family has their own recipes, and they are often handed down. My mother still makes those that her mother made (and the ones I grew up with), and I make six varieties that have been tried and tested over the years since my late teens. For several years I would try a new recipe each year and if I liked it enough it would stay in my repertoire. If not, well, you live and learn - there is always next year. Add to that there are the two types of mince pies that I make, because I do also like to embrace my English side.
You might be thinking that all of this baking might seem a bit excessive given that in Britain mince pies and Christmas cake are the backbone of the Christmas tea-time table. It might be, if I was to eat them all by myself. But they are also gifted to special friends, as well as being exchanged with family.
The first two weekends in December are given over to baking. I must admit that some years I can get in the zone and bake, bake, bake. And other years it can be a labour of love. But one thing it always is, is worth it.
Zimtsterne (or Cinnamon Stars) are one of my favourites and an absolute classic. No biscuit assortment would be complete without them. I have been making them since my teens and if I can remember back that far, they were the first variety I made. The recipe came from one of the aforementioned magazines. In fact, I think all of my biscuit recipes were sourced from them. Where they are now, I have no idea, but that doesn't matter much now as I have them all written in a small book that gets dusted down every Christmas. I love these because although a little fiddly to make, the end result is a delicious mix of cinnamon, nuts, crunch and chew.
There is still time to make them if you fancy adding a little Continental flavour to your baking. Or if you want to give a personal hand made gift to someone, they would be very welcome, I am sure.
The original recipe uses only ground almonds, but I have always added ground hazelnuts because they add flavour, colour and texture. However, if you find ground hazelnuts hard to get hold of, and don't fancy making your own, it is absolutely fine to just use all ground almonds. Indeed, many recipes do.

Recipe
4 medium egg whites, at room temperature

350g icing sugar, sifted (plus extra for rolling out)

250g ground almonds

250g ground hazelnuts

2 tsp ground cinnamon

You will also need 2 - 3 baking trays, lined with baking parchment, and a star shaped biscuit cutter

This mixture makes about 60 biscuits

1. Whisk egg whites until stiff.

2. Add the icing sugar in 3 batches and whisk in each addition for a couple of minutes until thick and glossy.

3. Put aside 6 tablespoons of the mixture into a bowl and cover with cling film or foil.

4. Add the almonds, hazelnuts and cinnamon into the remaining mixture and using a wooden spoon stir until you have a dough. It can be quite sticky at this stage, so there is no harm in adding a little more icing sugar (especially on your hands), if necessary to make it easier to handle.

5. Wrap the dough in cling film or foil and put it in the fridge for about an hour or two until it firms up a little. Doing this makes the dough easier to handle, I find.

6. Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F / Gas 2.

7. When you are ready to make the biscuits take the dough out of the fridge and divide into quarters. Dust the surface of your work surface and rolling pin with icing sugar, and a quarter at a time, roll out the dough to a thickness of  5mm.

8. Cut out star shapes using the biscuit cutter and place onto the lined baking trays. Press the off cuts together into a dough again (do not knead) and re-roll and cut until you have used it all. Then use another quarter and do the same.

9. Brush each cookie with the meringue mixture that you have set aside and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the meringue is set. and hopefully not too coloured.

10. Leave to cool on the tray for about 10 minutes. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely and store in an airtight tin lined with foil.

Baking Notes

You don't have to make 60 biscuits. Halve the mixture and make a more manageable 30 if you prefer.

Ideally, the idea of the meringue is to stay white (to look like stars), but in the years I have been making these this has never happened. They usually turn a very light golden colour, which is fine for me. Just keep an eye on them though so they don't colour too much.

You will also find that the base of the biscuits don't look cooked. They are. As long as you can pick each biscuit off the paper easily, they are done.

I hope you will give these a try and I would love to know if you do and what you think of them.

 

Small but Perfectly Formed

Baci di Dama
I had intended September to be all about biscuits ever since a friend at work told me that it was National Biscuit Month. Well, that clearly hasn't happened since we are now a third of the way through this very month and it is only now that I am posting a biscuit recipe. This month is actually an American celebration, and their biscuits are more like our scones, rather than the snack that you might dunk into your tea (or not). However, a small matter of  how a word is interpreted, or geography, makes no difference to me if it means I can bake.
I don't make biscuits that often, other than at Christmas (when I make a LOT) but I really wanted to bring you the most delicious, melt in the mouth, hazelnutty morsels, Baci di Dama, or, 'Ladies Kisses'. These biscuits are traditional to the Piedmont area in the northwest of Italy and are so named because the two halves are like lips kissing. The beauty of these is that they use very few ingredients - butter, sugar, flour, chocolate and hazelnuts - to make something truly special.

I think you all know by now about my love affair with almonds in a cake. Well, hazelnuts have the same effect on me in a biscuit. They have such a sweet, buttery flavour which works brilliantly with so many different other flavours such as chocolate, apples, raspberries and coffee, and that flavour and scent only deepens upon heating. 

Toasting and grinding whole nuts creates an infinitely superior product to pre-ground and when a biscuit uses so few ingredients, every one needs to count.
These biscuits are fairly simple to make if a little time consuming but don't let that put you off, as the results are worth it. Every step is there for a reason, so please don't be tempted to deviate from the method. The butter and dough have to be cold and the oven cool as it is this what ensures the balls sink into the characteristic domes to be sandwiched together. Dark chocolate is usually used for the filling, but since I had a great big jar of chocolate and hazelnut spread in the cupboard I used that instead, and it was perfect.

 For the biscuits
(adapted from food52.com)

100g whole hazelnuts, shelled and blanched

100g cold unsalted butter, cubed

100g caster sugar (I used my favourite golden caster sugar)

100g plain flour, sifted

For the filling

100g dark chocolate (melted and cooled), or 4tbsp of chocolate hazelnut spread

This recipe makes about 20 - 25 biscuits

1. Start by preparing the hazelnuts. Put them in a dry frying pan over a low heat and toast  
until they turn golden brown and start releasing their oils and fragrance, about 5 minutes. I would recommend that you stir the nuts while toasting to encourage even browning and
avoid burning, which can easily happen if you don't keep a careful eye on them.

2. Leave the hazelnuts to cool completely, place in a food processor and blitz until they are 
very finely ground.

3. Put the ground hazelnuts into a bowl with the sugar and flour and give it a stir to combine. Add the cubed butter and rub in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. 

4. Press the mixture together until you have a dough. You should find that it comes together very easily, and requires virtually no kneading. 

5. Wrap the dough in foil and put in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight. 

6. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls. Place them onto baking trays lined with baking parchment, a couple of centimetres apart, and return to the fridge for a further couple of hours. 

7. Preheat the oven to 150C, and bake the biscuits for 15 minutes until the balls have become domes. They should be pale in colour. 

8. Take the biscuits out of the oven and leave to cool completely on the baking trays so they become firm enough to handle.

9. To assemble the biscuits, using a teaspoon place a small amount of chocolate or spread on the flat side of one biscuit, and then top with another biscuit to make a sandwich.

10. Keep in an airtight tin for 4 - 5 days. If they last that long.