The Pétrin

Historically, I dream of a large kitchen Gustavian bathed in natural light, warm and welcoming, the chest filled with bonbonnières transparent revealing full of sweets to chew: there were meringues, sketches .. and especially especially small shortbread.
Because sanded so evocative of childhood croquent any occasion, bitten by the children for a snack gourmet dipped into a glass of milk or filled with jam ..
Because shortbread with wonderfully large tea ..
Because with the same recipe, one can satisfy his desire to taste vanilla, lemon or orange, almonds or pistachios, because in some occasions you want to breathe festive and comforting flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg or anise ...
Because sand is good especially when the recipe comes from Christophe Felder and that can be manipulated at will by his fantasies as I do every batch!

(for a fifty sablés)

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, almond powder, yeast and spices. Add the soft butter, cut into small pieces and finely grated zest and incorporate the dry ingredients, working the dough with fingertips, then with palms to get a texture of fine sand.
Pour the egg yolk and perfumes and mix with a wooden spoon until a dough mixed. Pour on the work plan, the pulp mill for smooth by pushing upward with the palm of the hand by small quantities. Gather dough into ball should be smooth and homogeneous, the disk and overwrite the food wrap film. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven th.6 (180 ° C).

On a lightly flour work, spread the dough to a thickness of 3-4 mm. Cut shortbread with a round cookie cutter or fantasy and place as on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or simply buttered and floured. (keep space enough sand will be spread a bit during cooking). Gather excess dough (removing excess flour with a brush or a brush special) and repeat the operation until the dough.
Brown sand with a brush with egg yolk diluted in a little cream.
Oven and bake 10 to 14 minutes depending on your oven: The sand shall have a uniform golden brown. Cool on a rack in gently transferring the sheet of paper or parchment by moving sand with a palette.

My method: cutting biscuits

Prepare dough the same way as before. Divide the ball into 2 equal pieces and shape each half into pudding regular 4-5 cm in diameter, making sure to press from time to time the 2 ends to the center to eliminate any air bubbles.
Wrap each sausage of dough in the film and book food cool for several hours for the dough stronger (the ideal being to prepare the day before).

Cut the rolls into slices 5-8 mm regular with a pastry cutter or a knife (possibly reshape the slices to give them a rounded appearance way trade) and continue the recipe as prédemment.

Note: I also tested this recipe with the robot multipurpose double blade, it works very well. You just need to ensure work by brief pulses particularly when mixing butter to flour: it must remain streaks of butter in the dough to keep the sand texture subtly puff

These shortbread will keep several days in an airtight container (but I have not had time to check).

If you love almonds and oranges, I defy you to be able to resist these delicious little biscuits which are mixed in the flux of sand, the scent of citrus and crispy almond.
Me in any case, I do not know if I have almost 3 weeks to finally realize it is not lack of desire but because it is the time it took me to find organic oranges, untreated or coated with wax (!!).
Dan Lepard, the author of this festive recipe explains that these sands are very close to kourabiethes, Greek almond biscuits made in the traditional holiday season and other special occasions, traditionally rolled in icing sugar, put in pyramid on a plate and sprinkled with powdered sugar again.
The first time I've done, I admit that I skipped blithely step coating for fear of overdose and shortbread was perfect for my taste: not too sweet.

And then yesterday, watching the snow continued to fall and cover the garden of his thick white coat, I had a mad desire to grate the zest of orange, shape small balls of dough and dip the shortbread in a Wednesday icing sugar ...
... I can assure you, I cheated time a picture: if my walnut shortbread, I preferred the cover with a veil and let it rest on a bed .. Snow!

(for a forty kourabiethes)

Add the orange zest finely grated and icing sugar and stir vigorously until a creamy and light.
Add the egg yolk, vanilla and Cointreau (or other orange liqueur) and add to the device.
Coarsely chop the almonds with a knife (there must be large pieces), mix quickly to incorporate the device and then spoon the flour and yeast in order to obtain a smooth paste and barely sticky.

Take small pieces of dough about 20g (size of a large walnuts), give them the shape of a crescent (classic) or a slightly flattened ball and place as the cooking taking care to leave a 2-3 cm space between each.

Note: At this point you can freeze the cookies shaped cooking for Later

Oven and bake about 20 minutes or while the sands have taken a golden color. Cool on sheets 2 or 3 min and then coat the kourabiethes in sifted icing sugar in a soup plate and let cool completely on a tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle again with icing sugar before serving.

The kourabiethes keep well in an airtight container.