Almond Stars

When the mum-in-law was 13 years old, she got this book as a gift from the Rumford company. As you can see, it is in shreads. I guess the paper was cheap, and handling it makes my air pipes itch, so this is not an heirloom I will volunteer to be in charge of. However, the recipes are still great, and simple, as I don´t suppose there was a multitude of ingredients in the 1930´s, not in the interior of Swedish Lapland anyway. The recipe for almond cookies is the one that has been most popular over the years, and the mum-in-law will make it/have it made for as long as she lives. And as long as I live, it will continue to be made for Christmas, that´s for sure.

It´s easy enough.

Take 6 bitter almonds and 30 sweet almonds, blanched and peeled, and grind them through an almond grinder. Stir 100 g of butter with 100 g of caster sugar in a bowl. Pass 300 g wheat flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder through a sieve, add 2 tablespoons of cream and 1 egg, mix all the ingredients.

The dough is then rolled out thinly and the cookies are cut out with a pastry-cutter. If you don´t like stars, I´m sure hearts taste just as good! Or, if you don´t have a designated cutter, use a drinking glass. Put them on a non-stick oven paper (you´ll need about four for this batch, which will give you two full jars of cookies), brush the cookies with a beaten egg and sprinkle pearl sugar and minced almonds on top. Bake in a medium hot oven, 200 - 225 degrees Celsius, for about five minutes, or until they are turning slightly golden.

The mum-in-law proudly quotes my sister about these: "not only are they delicious, they are addictive". So beware, I guess.

Update. for anyone wondering what an almond grinder looks like (photographed with a matchbox for size reference):

Chocolate Cuts

I try not to bake cookies too often - I end up eating them all myself, pretty much immediately. I am a cookie monster, I confess. I have tried keeping them in the freezer, only to find that frozen shortcrust cookies are a real delicacy. Nowadays, we only buy what we are going to eat on that day; I simply can´t store sweets at all. The husband, who likes a cold chocolate digestive with his tea, has managed to hide them in the fridge from me, but since I hate cold chocolate (a waste of taste!) they are relatively safe from me (unless it is an emergency).

These chocolate cookies, Chokladsnitt (= chocolate cuts), are a Swedish classic, very popular. You find them in most cafés and traditional patisseries, but they are so much better when you make your own from real butter and good cocoa, which I personally prefer to over-dose heavily. The recipe I use:

200 g butter, softened in room temperature
200 ml sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon baking powder
500 ml wheat flour
slightly beaten egg white & crushed loaf sugar (we call it pearl sugar)

Mix the butter and sugar - I use the food processor - add cocoa, vanilla, yolk and water. Mix the baking powder with the flour before adding that to the mix. Make four long buns on a piece of oven paper, paint them with eggwhite and sprinkle pearly sugar over them. Bake for 12 minutes in 200 degrees Celsius (392 F) and cut them immediately while hot. Then leave them to cool on the baking plate.

You don´t really need to worry about how to store them. Just put them on a plate and share. Or eat them straight from the baking plate, which is probably what I did since I have not photographic evidence that says I didn´t...