Ruby Medallion Shortbread

It's up to you.

14 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Weigh and separate ingredients

   Weigh 220 g of flour, 60 g of ground almonds and 80 g of icing sugar in a large bowl. Keep the 20 g of icing sugar finish in a separate cup: they do not go into the dough. Cut 140 g of cold butter into small 1 cm cubes; also prepare a small bowl, fork and spatula.

2. Rub the butter into the flour until crumbly

   Mix the dry ingredients with a spoon, then add the cold butter cubes. Quickly rub the mixture between your fingertips, lifting and dropping the crumbs in the bowl, for 2 to 3 minutes. Stop when the whole looks like coarse sand and there are no more large pieces of butter left; do not yet try to form a ball.

3. Break and stir in the egg

   Break the egg in the small bowl, remove a possible piece of shell and beat it 15 seconds with the fork with the teaspoon of vanilla. Pour this mixture into the bowl. Stir with the spatula, then press the dough between your hands to gather the crumbs; stop as soon as it forms a whole, without kneading it like a bread dough.

4. Let the dough firm up

   Flatten the dough into a disk about 2 cm thick between two sheets of baking paper. Wrap it or place it in a closed box and leave it in the refrigerator for 1 hour. The dough must be firm and cold to the touch; this wait makes it possible to cut the biscuits without deforming them. Prepare during this time two baking tray filled with baking paper.

5. Spread to a regular thickness

   Take out the dough and leave it at room temperature for 5 minutes if it is too hard for the roll. Spread it between its two sheets of baking paper up to 3 mm thick, regularly turning the whole by a quarter turn. Preheat the oven to 170 °C in conventional oven setting (no fan). If the dough becomes sticky or soft, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes instead of adding flour.

6. Cut out the funds and their windows

   With a round cookie cutter of 5 cm, cut 36 discs and lift them with a small spatula to place them on the plates, spaced 2 cm. Keep 18 whole discs; cuts in the center of the other 18 a round window of 1 to 1.5 cm with a small piping tip. Gather the drops without kneading and re-spread them once if necessary; keep the excess dough cold for small additional cookies, cooked separately.

7. Cook without coloring too much

   Bake one baking tray at a time mid-height for 10 to 12 minutes. Start looking at the edges at 10 minutes: they should be barely golden, while the center remains clear. Take out the plate with oven gloves and leave the biscuits on it for 5 minutes before moving them; as long as they are warm, the windows and edges break easily. Cook the second baking tray the same way.

8. Cool before garnishing

   Slide a spatula under each cookie and place them on a wire rack, without superimposing them. Wait about 20 to 30 minutes, until the underside is also at room temperature. Put the 150 g of raspberry jam in a bowl and stir with a spoon to soften them. Prepare two rows of 18 cookies, whole bottoms on one side and openwork tops on the other.

9. Assemble the 18 sandwiches

   Sift the 20 g of finishing icing sugar over the openwork biscuits, in a light layer; recover the surplus fallen on the paper to accompany the falling biscuits. Spread the 150 g of jam between the 18 bottoms, about 8 g per bottom, spreading it with the back of a small spoon without going to the edge. Place a perforated top on each bottom and press very lightly on the perimeter, without pressing on the window.

10. Stabilize the cookies before the decor

    Leave sandwiches flat for 30 minutes on the worktop. The jam should hold the top when you gently move a cookie. In order for the chocolate to adhere afterwards, it only removes the excess sugar on its future trace with a dry food brush; it must remain apparent cookie. Keep raspberry windows fully clear during decoration.

11. Melt the white chocolate and prepare the fasteners

    Chop 60 g of white chocolate and put them in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan containing a little hot water, keeping the bowl clear of the water. Melt over a very low heat, stirring. Remove the bowl when the chocolate has almost melted and stir off the heat until smooth. Wipe the bottom of the bowl; no drop of water should fall into the chocolate. Place the 18 whole almonds in a cup, at the rate of one per cookie; they will remain lying down, without hole or support.

12. Draw the circle of medallions

    Pour the warm chocolate into a small baking paper cone or piping bag, fold up the top and cut an opening of 1 to 2 mm. Try the flow on a piece of paper before tracing on the cookies; press gently and regularly, keeping the tip just above the surface. Draws a rather thick circle near the edge of each of the 18 biscuits, about 4 mm from its outline. Leave the raspberry center visible and do not pour chocolate into the window. Reserve a few drops in the bowl for fasteners.

13. Attach an almond to each medallion

    Place a drop of the remaining chocolate on the cookie, near the top of the circle, then lay an almond flat on top. Hold it for 2 or 3 seconds with the tip of your finger so that it adheres, without pressing on the fragile cookie. Repeat for the 18 medallions; the decor evokes a pendant fastener, but no almond should stand.

14. Allow to be taken and served

    Let it take 20 to 30 minutes in a cool room or briefly in the refrigerator if the room is hot. The chocolate should be firm and the almond should no longer slip when you move the cookie. Serve the medallions flat and store any remaining chocolate in small pallets on paper; the baked drops of dough and these pallets can accompany the dish.