When I was a girl, these shortbread style cookies were traditionally baked and served at Christmas time. Nowadays, they are on sale all year round in some of the larger towns on the island. Similar biscuits (cookies) are made all over Greece and the Middle East. This recipe is from a family recipe of one of my schoolfriends.
8 oz unsalted butter
2 oz caster sugar
1 large egg yolk
1-2 tablspoons brandy
4 oz whole almonds - I buy them with skins 'on'.
2 tablespoons cornflour
orange flower water or rose water
Cream the butter and sugar and incorporate egg yolk and brandy. Blanch the almonds in boiling water and then chop them coarsely (I remove the skins, some bakeries have the annoying habit of leaving them on and you end up with hard pieces of skin in the middle of the biscuit!) Add almonds to the butter mix and then work in the cornflour and enough of the plain flour to make a firm but soft dough.
Break off small pieces the size of a large walnut. Shape into crescents or roll into balls and flatten slightly with your hand.
Bake in a mod slow ove Gas mark 3-4, 325-350F for about 20 minutes. Do not allow them to brown. Remove from the oven and leave on tray for at least 10 mins to cool.
Dip each biscuit into the orange flower or rose water and then roll in icing sugar until they have a fairly thick coat of dry sugar.
These are great eaten on the day you make them, but if stored in an airtight container for a couple of days, the orange water and almonds taste much more intense.
8 oz unsalted butter
2 oz caster sugar
1 large egg yolk
1-2 tablspoons brandy
4 oz whole almonds - I buy them with skins 'on'.
2 tablespoons cornflour
orange flower water or rose water
Cream the butter and sugar and incorporate egg yolk and brandy. Blanch the almonds in boiling water and then chop them coarsely (I remove the skins, some bakeries have the annoying habit of leaving them on and you end up with hard pieces of skin in the middle of the biscuit!) Add almonds to the butter mix and then work in the cornflour and enough of the plain flour to make a firm but soft dough.
Break off small pieces the size of a large walnut. Shape into crescents or roll into balls and flatten slightly with your hand.
Bake in a mod slow ove Gas mark 3-4, 325-350F for about 20 minutes. Do not allow them to brown. Remove from the oven and leave on tray for at least 10 mins to cool.
Dip each biscuit into the orange flower or rose water and then roll in icing sugar until they have a fairly thick coat of dry sugar.
These are great eaten on the day you make them, but if stored in an airtight container for a couple of days, the orange water and almonds taste much more intense.
