THE FESTIVAL CARNET
Mailänderli: Swiss Lemon Biscuits
Prepare Mail nderli with lemon zest, cut into circles or thick stars, with cold rest and gilding with egg yolk, without white icing.
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Prepare Mail nderli with lemon zest, cut into circles or thick stars, with cold rest and gilding with egg yolk, without white icing. This version is designed for a home kitchen, with weighed quantities and visual cues. Prepare the ingredients before starting and reserve the indicated cooling time: it is part of the recipe.
Read the whole steps before working on the dough. The durations remain indicative; a raised dough must actually swell, a cookie must cool before being handled and a wet filling requires a cool storage.
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The preparation step by step
Weighing and preparing the plate
Weigh 250 g of flour, 125 g of butter and 100 g of sugar in three bowls. Cover two baking paper baking tray. Take a roll and the indicated cookie cutters. The dough must be ready before turning on the oven, because its cool rest is essential.
Work the butter without melting it
Cut the 125 g of soft butter into cubes. Mix it with the 100 g of sugar spatula for 2 minutes: the preparation becomes creamy. Do not heat the butter to the point of liquefying it, otherwise the dough would spread more during cooking.
Add egg and aromas
Casse 1 medium egg in a small bowl, check that there is no shell left and beat with a fork. Stir in butter cream twice. Add the fine lemon zest. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to distribute the aromas and avoid an unscented part of the dough.
Gathering without working too hard
Pour the 250 g of flour. Mix with the spatula and then bring the crumbs together with the hands. Stop as soon as the dough stands: do not knead it like a brioche. If it sticks a lot, use a sheet of baking paper rather than a handful of flour in addition.
Firming the dough
Flatten the dough into a disc 2 cm thick, pack and refrigerate 1 hour. This rest facilitates a clean cut. If it becomes very hard, wait 5 minutes at room temperature before spreading it; do not force it with the roller to the point of breaking it.
Roll to an even thickness
Lay the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll to 7 mm thick. Moves the roller from the center to the edges. Check several places: a thin leaf on one side and thick on the other would give cookies cooked unevenly.
Cut out the forms
Cut out stars or circles of 5 cm. Collect the offcuts only once, without working on them for a long time. Place the shapes on the plates keeping 2 cm between them. Place each plate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm the dough.
Prepare oven and finish before cooking
Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Mix the the yolk with the teaspoon of milk. Pass a thin layer of gilding with a brush over the cold biscuits, avoiding puddles on the edges.
Cook one baking tray at a time
Bake at mid-height for 12 to 15 minutes at 180 °C. The edges should be barely colored and the center taken, without strongly browning. Turn the baking tray if your oven only colors one side. A subsequent plate that is still cold may take a minute more.
Let the cookies firm up
Go out with oven gloves and wait 5 minutes on the plate. Then move the cookies on a rack with a flat spatula: they break more easily when they are hot. Wait at least 30 minutes before putting them away.
Finish without multiplying the sets
Cookies simply keep their yellow gilding and lemony scent. No sugar icing is added.
Range after drying
When the cookies are completely cold, store them in an airtight box. The egg gilding is already cooked; no icing should dry. Do not mix these cookies with wet cakes.
Conservation. Store 2 days in an airtight box, after full cooling. Freeze in portions for up to 1 month for longer storage.
Recipe proposal with quantities and step by step. Times vary depending on the material: follow also the markers of texture and cooking.
The benchmarks for success
Respect the texture
Stop mixing, lifting or cooking at the mark described in the step by step. The indicated time remains an estimate: the temperature of the room and the power of the oven can change it.
Packs only cold
Let the indicated cooling finish before stowing. A box closed too early traps the steam and softens the surface.
Questions Before You Start
Should I add lemon juice?
This paste is scented with fine zest only. Do not add the lemon juice: it would change the humidity and spread of the cookies.
How to recognize the Milanese?
This version remains thick, scented with lemon zest and golden with egg yolk. It does not receive white icing after cooking.
Should the shapes be cooled before cooking?
Yeah. The 15-minute switch in the refrigerator firms the butter and helps the stars keep their contours.
Baking tips for this recipe
- Work the dough just enough to combine the ingredients after adding flour; avoid prolonged kneading.
- Respect the temperature of the butter and the indicated rest. If a cutting paste becomes sticky, cool it before shaping.
- Keep a regular thickness between pieces of the same batch and monitors the edges at the end of cooking. Let cool before garnishing.
Substitutions and variations
To vary a zest, choose another citrus fruit washed and intended for this use, keeping the same amount. Does not automatically replace juice, whose acidity can change the preparation.
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