Читать книгу Bakeland - Marit Hovland - Страница 20

CHOCOLATE ALMOND COOKIE EGGS

makes 25 cookies

The birds are chirping, and you can tell they’re happy spring is here. Siskins lay especially pretty eggs—white or light blue with brown speckles. I make the spots on these egg-shaped cookies with the help of a toothbrush and some cocoa powder. Covered in lemon icing, they’re just right for the season.

Almond cookies

1¾ cups (250 g) almonds

1⅔ cups (200 g) icing sugar

1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

zest of 1 lemon

1 egg white

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Grind the almonds in a nut grinder. In a bowl, stir together the ground almonds, icing sugar, flour, and lemon zest. Add the egg white and lemon juice. Using your hands or the dough attachment of a stand mixer, work the dough well until all the ingredients are combined. You’ll find instructions on how to shape the egg cookies on the next page.

Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Chocolate filling

5 oz (150 g) milk chocolate

When you get to step 5 on the next page, temper the chocolate (see page 187). Transfer to a piping bag.

Lemon icing

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1¼ cups (150 g) icing sugar

blue liquid gel food coloring

For step 6, you’ll need the lemon icing. In a bowl, stir together the lemon juice and icing sugar. Divide the mixture into two parts and add the blue food coloring to one part, using a drop at a time until it’s the color you want.

Spots

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

In a small bowl, stir together the vanilla extract and cocoa for step 7.

These chocolate-filled eggs make perfect Easter gifts. Save an empty egg carton and cover the label with fancy paper. Place a cookie egg in each dimple and tie a ribbon around the carton. Pick a small twig of pussy willows and attach it to the outside along with an Easter card.

1. Copy the egg pattern on page 198 onto a sheet of regular paper. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top. 2. Roll out little balls (around 2 tsp) of the almond dough. Narrow them at one end so the balls form an egg shape in accordance with the template. Flatten the balls onto the parchment paper so they cover the whole template. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. 3. Bake the cookies as instructed on page 25. 4. Find pairs of cookies that fit together. 5. Pipe out some chocolate onto one of the cookie bottoms and place the other cookie on top. Don’t pipe the chocolate all the way to the edge. When you put on the lid, the chocolate will inevitably be squeezed a little further out. Repeat with the remaining cookies. 6. Dip one side of each cookie in the lemon icing. Shake it well before you turn it over and set it down to dry for half an hour. Use the white icing for half the cookies and blue for the other half. 7. Dip a clean toothbrush in the cocoa mixture. Drag your finger over the brush to spray spots onto the cookies. You can also use any other small brush with stiff bristles. 8. Let the icing harden completely before you put the cookies in an airtight container.