Iced stars with almonds and candied fruit recipe (inspired by zimstserne)
Servings: 80 stars
Matériel
- 2 baking trays 40 x 30 cm
- 1 star cookie cutter, 4 cm wide
- sheets of baking paper
- 1 pastry roller
- 1 pastry bag fitted with a n°2 tip (optional)
Ingredients
For the meringue almond paste
- 400 g raw almond powder (unhulled)
- 225 g icing sugar
- 50 g d'écorces d'orange et de citron confites
- 3 egg whites - (from medium-sized eggs)
- 3 tsp cinnamon powder
For the royal icing
- 1 egg white
- 175 g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice - (optionnal)
Instructions
The stars
- Whisk the egg whites until frothy, then add 1/3 of the sifted icing sugar and continue to whisk until they are stiff and form bird's beaks. Add 1/3 of the sifted icing sugar, whisk for a further 1 minute, then using a flexible spatula, gently fold in the remaining sifted icing sugar.
- Finely chop or mix the candied lemon and orange peel.Note: make sure you don't leave any large pieces that would interfere with the cutting of the stars.
- Gently fold in the almond powder, cinnamon and chopped peel with a spatula, lifting the mixture until smooth.Note: the dough should be sticky but still form a ball. If not, you can add a little almond powder.
- Place the pastry on a baking sheet such as a silpat or on baking paper and cover with a second baking sheet. Using a pastry roller, roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 1 cm. Place the pastry between the two sheets in the fridge for 12h00.
- The next day, remove the foil covering the pastry and cut out the stars using the cookie cutter. Place them as you go along on a baking tray lined with baking paper.Note: to make this step easier, you can run the cookie cutter under a trickle of water as soon as it starts to stick.Repeat the operation until you have used up all the dough, forming a ball from the scraps and rolling out again.Note: If the dough is too sticky at this stage, sprinkle with a little icing sugar and almond powder.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C fan oven.Place the stars in the oven and bake for around 10 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.Note: the stars should be slightly golden but very soft, they will harden as they cool.
The icing
- Prepare the icing by lightly beating the egg white with a fork until frothy. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar, whisking vigorously until you reach the desired consistency: if the icing is too liquid, continue adding icing sugar; if it is too compact, adjust the consistency with a few drops of lemon juice. The icing is the right consistency when it is smooth and thick and forms a ribbon as it falls.
- Using a small spoon or a piping bag fitted with a fine tip, carefully pipe the icing onto the top of each star.
- Leave the stars to dry on the grill in the open air for at least 1 hour.Once the icing has dried, these stars can be stored for several weeks in an airtight tin.