German Christmas baking
Zimtsterne (Cinnamon stars)
You will need: A good size mixing bowl A couple of smaller bowls A sieve A rolling pin Star-shaped cutters Baking paper (to line the baking trays) Clingfilm (for rolling out) OR a board/pastry sheet for rolling out An electric whisk A wooden spoon) A knife for spreading Decorations (optional!)
Zimtsterne (Cinnamon stars) Ingredients: 170g icing sugar (plus plenty of extra for dusting) 2 Egg whites (medium size eggs) A pinch of salt 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon 235g ground almonds (skin on)
If you aren’t sure how to separate eggs, you could watch this video: https://www.deliaonline.com/cookeryschool/techniques/how-to-separate-eggs
Zimtsterne (Cinnamon stars) Step 1: Sieve the icing sugar into another basin.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff.
Zimtsterne (Cinnamon stars) Step 3: Gradually whisk the icing sugar into the egg whites.
Step 4: Put aside 4-6 tablespoons of this mixture (you’ll need it later!)
Zimtsterne (Cinnamon stars) Step 5: Add the cinnamon to the ground almonds and mix them together.
Step 6: Now use a wooden spoon to fold the ground almond mixture into the egg white mixture, until it forms a dough. If the dough seems a little runny, add some more icing sugar. If you aren’t sure how to fold in ingredients, you could watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7To3giV62rg
Zimtsterne (Cinnamon stars) Step 7: If you wish, you could put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then knead it briefly, on a pastry board dusted with icing sugar. Then dust your rolling pin with plenty of icing sugar. Roll out the dough on the pastry board. Alternatively, you could roll it out between two sheets of clingfilm.
Step 8: When you have rolled the dough out, cut out star shapes and put them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Then rollout the remaining dough again. Repeat this process until you’ve used up all the dough.
Zimtsterne (Cinnamon stars) Step 9: Spread the egg white and sugar mixture on to the top of each star (quite a thick layer)
Step 10: Put the stars into a pre-heated oven (conventional 150°c, fan 130°c) and cook for 15-20 minutes until they have set. Leave them on the baking sheet to cool completely. Optional: You could decorate your biscuits with edible pens! Don’t forget to share a picture of your baking in the Christmas baking channel on the Linguistica Team!