Or as a translation to English might be: Syrup Diamonds. Basically because they’re meant to be shaped like men’s cuff (hence the name in Norwegian) but actually look like the diamonds you find on playing cards. Well, they’re meant to. Mine just looks, er…, odd. But they taste good, and that is the most important thing, right?
These are also the kind of Christmas cookies that have been a staple in my home – chiefly because my grandmother has been making them. My mother, who makes almost every Christmas cookie under the sun, have yet to attempt them. For that reason, but also because the recipe said they were complicated to get right, I’ve been stalling over whether or not to make them. It did take some extra care, but I am glad I did, because I got lots of positive feedback on the taste. Including from my Dad, who, I swear, is the world’s pickiest Christmas cookie eater.
It takes about two days to make, so that is something to take into plan.
This recipe has been adapted from 7×7 Slag by Tove Diesen.
Ingredients
2 dl light syrup.
1 1/4 dl sugar
1 dl heavy cream
225 g butter
1 egg, whisked
The zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp powdered cloves
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper
ca. 500 g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp Ammonium bicarbonate/crushed hartshorn
For decoration
Scalded almonds. (White almonds)
Day 1
1) Bring syrup, sugar and the cream to boil in a saucepan
2) Pour the hot caramel mixture over the butter, so that it melts it.
3) Whisk until the mixture is cold and airy.
4) Add the whisked egg, the spices and the flour with hartshorn.
5) Let the dough stand in cold temperature (We used the fridge) until the next day.
Day 2.
1) Take only as much of the dough as you can comfortably roll out at the time. The warmer the dough is, the harder it is to work with, so use small portions. Leave the rest in the cold temperature-space.
2) Put the oven on, at 200 degrees celcius.
3) Roll the dough out fairly thin (how thin you roll should depend on whether you want soft cookies or crisp. Roll thin for crisp, and a bit thicker for soft.)
4) Cut out diamond (as in cards) -shaped cookies from the dough by using a cutting wheel. Or simply a cookie cutter.
5) Add the diamond shaped cookies to baking trays.
6) Paint the cookies with a bit of egg white, and add half an almond to the middle.
7) Bake for anything between 6-10 minutes, depending on oven. Ours were done after 6 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown, but not have black edges.
8) After the cookies come out of the oven, make sure they stay flat until they turn cold. Otherwise they will get a funny shape.
I had a bit of trouble getting the “proper” diamond, or cuff shape, of the cookies, so a few of them ended up as triangles, or squares.
