Ronds de Saint Nicolas aux amandes {#4 Xmas 2016}

Up to French

I have often spoken about Normandy on this blog, because part of my family lives there and this is where my Dad comes from, I don’t speak so much about Nord Pas de Calais, the region in the North of Francewhich is where my Mum grew up and my parents studied. As Saint Niclaus’ Day approachs – December, 6th, I am taking this opportunity to present to you the Ronds de Saint Nicolas or Ronds de Calais. They are from Calais, a city in the North of France, and you can only find them from December the 6th to Christmas, which is a shame because hey are really good XD They are almond cookies covered with icing – like sugar cookies. The icing allows to keep them very moist in the middle and crispy on the edges. They are then decorated with a “N” for Saint Niclaus. I hope you will give them a try! You still have 2 days to actually make them and drop them in front of your kid’s door – this is a tradition from the East of France and Germany ^^

RECIPE

For about 15 almond cookies

1. Ingredients:

Cookies

• 2 1/4 cup (7 oz., 200 g) almond meal
• 1 2/3 cups (7 oz., 200 g) confectioner’s sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 tablespoon (1/3 oz., 10 g) softened butter
• 3/4 cup (3.2 oz., 90 g) all-purpose flour
• Some drops of almond extract

Icing

• 1 tablespoon (6 g) meringue powder*
• 1 4/5 cups (8 oz., 225 g) confectioner’s sugar
• 2 1/3 tablespoons (35 mL ) water
• Red, blue, green and yellow food coloring pencils

* I use meringue powder for the icing because I find it less risky than using raw egg whites. I took this habit in the US where I was working with several pregnant women, who can’t eat raw eggs.

2. Directions:

• In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until you get a smooth dough like for a sweet shortcrust,
• Make a ball with the dough and shape it into a thick flat disk, cover it with film and set aside in your fridge for about 30 minutes,
• Preheat your oven to 390°F (200°C, gas 5),
• Roll the dough into a flat disk about 1/4-in. (3-5 mm) thick, between 2 sheets of baking paper,
  If the dough has stayed enough in the fridge, it should not stick. If it is not the case, use some flour on your work surface.
• Using a 2- to 3 1/2-in. (5 to 8 cm) cookie cutter or a large glass, cut disks out of the dough,
• Transfer to a baking tray covered with baking paper,
• Bake for 7 to 10 minutes,
  Edges must be golden brown, but the center of the cookie needs to stay really pale, if not the case, they will be really tough to eat.
• Let cool for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack,
  If they keep sticking to the parchment paper, add one or 2 drops of water between the tray and the baking paper, it should help releasing the cookies without leaving half of them on the baking tray.
• While the cookie cool on the wire rack, prepare the icing, whisk with an electric mixer meringue powder, confectioner’s sugar and water that you will add only half a teaspoon at a time, stop adding liquid when the a spoon of icing poured over the bowl disappear from the surface, melting in the whole icing in 7 seconds,
• Transfer the icing into a pastry bag with a very small round tip,
• With the icing, draw a circle on top of the cookie, following the edges, then fill in some icing and using a needle, smooth the icing and remove air bubble that may be on the surface,
• Once all cookies are iced, write a large “N” on top of the cookie, using the colored food pencils,
• Let dry at least 2 hours at room temperature.

To store them, keep them in a metal airtight container. The icing allows to keep those cookies up to a week – this is also a reason why I don’t like to use raw egg whites for the icing.