Drizzled with rosewater and dusted with icing sugar, this divine snow looking pastries are melting in the mouth!
ingredients for about 25 biscuits (cost about 8 € for the whole preparation)
- 200 g butter
- 25 g icing sugar + extra for dusting
- 1 yolk
- 15 g kumquat liqueur (or brandy)
- 65 g almonds, blanched, toasted and chopped
- 250 g pastry flour
- 2 g baking powder
- 1 g baking ammonia
- 1 g salt
- rosewater
Kourabiedes are Greek Christmas pastries of Middle East origins. They are butter based, full of almonds, generously sprinkled with rosewater and dusted with icing sugar. The key for their success is to make them very tender. Therefore, the butter should be well beaten for a long time and of very good quality, because that gives them all the flavor. In our version, we also clarify the butter, and we add a little alcohol (liqueur in this case), both to increase the biscuit´s inside tenderness.
So, to make them, we begin by clarifying the butter. We place it already diced in a double boiler and we let it melt completely, without stirring. With a metal spoon, we remove the foam, created on the surface. We transfer to a glass container and we let it chill in the fridge. While it chills, the fat will be separated from the water, it will rise on top and it will solidify a bit. When this happens, we make a hole on the fat and we strain the water underneath. Then we remove the butter with a spoon and we use it to prepare the pastry dough.
We beat the butter for about 10 min, until it becomes white and creamy, then we slowly add the sugar and we continue beating for another 10 minutes, until the mixture gets airy and fluffy, like a whipped cream. We add the yolk, we continue beating, until it is completely incorporated and then we slowly add the liqueur, while beating.
Once the liquid is fully integrated, we add the almonds and we gently incorporate them with a spatula. Finally, we fold in the flour, already sieved with the baking powder, baking ammonia and salt. We work in batches just until the flour is well absorbed by the mixture.
We transfer the dough to a working surface and we knead it briefly with our hands to make it soft and pliable. We form a ball, we wrap it with cling film and we let it rest for about 30 minutes in the fridge.
We shape the kourabiedes, by cutting pieces from the dough and weighing them to be about 20 g each. We form them gently in our palm into round flat biscuits, about 3cm in diameter, and we place them on baking sheets lined with parchment, leaving enough space between them, because during baking they will expand. We press them lightly from above with our palm to make the surface a little flatter and with our thumb we press it gently in the middle to make a light puddle.
We bake in a preheated oven at 170o C – static function (or 150o if using fan function) for about 17-19 minutes (13-15 minutes, if using the fan function), or until lightly browned.
We transfer them to a wire rack and we let them cool completely. We then spray each one with rosewater on both sides. After they are completely dry from the rosewater, we arrange them on a plate and we generously dust them with icing sugar, until they are completely covered on top.
