Cinnamon Snowflakes

It's up to you.

14 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Prepare whites without trace of yolk

   Prepare a bowl and whisks the beater perfectly clean and dry. Break the eggs one by one over a small bowl, separate the yolks and pour the whites into the bowl after each egg; weighs 60 g of whites in total. Keep the yolks in the refrigerator for another preparation. Any trace of fat or egg yolk can prevent the egg whites from whipping properly.

2. Weigh sugar and almonds separately

   Weighing 160 g of icing sugar for meringue, 250 g of ground almonds, 6 g of cinnamon and 10 ml of lemon juice. Keep the 20 g of icing sugar for display in a small container apart: they do not go into the bowl. Prepare a small box or bowl to reserve the surface meringue.

3. Start whisking the egg whites

   Whisk the 60 g of whites at medium speed until they become frothy and white, about 1 minute. Slightly increases the speed and then adds the 160 g of icing sugar in several spoonfuls, without stopping the mixer. Wait until each addition is incorporated before the next to limit powder splashes.

4. Get a meringue farm and reserve a share

   Continue whipping until you get a thick and shiny meringue. Stop the beater, raise the beaters: the preparation must form a tip that holds without flowing immediately. Take 3 tablespoons of meringue from the small bowl, cover it and keep it in the refrigerator; this portion is reserved for the top of the 24 cookies.

5. Form the cinnamon paste

   Pour 250 g of ground almonds, 6 g of cinnamon and 10 ml of lemon juice into the remaining meringue. Mix with the spatula by passing under the preparation and then folding it towards the center. Scrape the edges until there is no more dry almond pouch; the dough is dense and sticky, not liquid.

6. Firming the dough

   Gather the dough into a thick disc and place it on baking paper. Fold the paper over and put it in the refrigerator for 45 minutes to make it easier to spread. Prepare a baking sheet covered with baking paper and the 5 cm hexagonal cookie cutter, or a knife and a clean template of the same size.

7. Spread to a regular thickness

   Turn the oven on at 150 °C in conventional oven setting (no fan) and place the oven rack in its lower part. Saupouper two sheets of baking paper with a portion of the 20 g of display icing sugar, then place the dough between them. Roll over 8 mm; check several edges so as not to have very fine cookies in one place and thick in another.

8. Cut out twenty-four hexagons

   Remove the sheet from the top and cut out 5 cm hexagons. Slides a spatula underneath to move them on the plate with 2 cm of space between them. Collect the drops, spread them again to 8 mm and continue up to 24 pieces; use the rest of the display sugar only if the paste adheres to the paper or tool. If dough remains after 24 pieces, cook it separately in small cookies of the same thickness or keep it cold-packed for the next batch.

9. Ice the tops in a thin layer

   Take the 3 tablespoons of reserved meringue. Place a small amount in the center of each hexagon and spread it with the back of a spoon in a regular film, almost to the edge. Spread the entire reserve between the 24 cookies; the layer must remain thin to dry without masking the shape.

10. Cook gently without browning the top

    Bake in the bottom of the oven for 12-14 minutes. The sides must be taken and the surface must no longer appear liquid; the top remains clear and the center remains tender. If you cook on two baking tray, make two successive batches at the same level rather than squeezing the cookies; monitor each baking tray from 12 minutes.

11. Let firm on the plate

    Take out the plate and let the cookies cool completely on it, about 40 minutes. Do not lift them hot: their paste rich in almonds is still fragile and firms when cooling. Once cold, gently peel the paper under each; if an edge hangs, slip a flat spatula rather than pull on the cookie.

12. Preparing the white branches

    Chop the 40 g of white chocolate and put them in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a saucepan, heat until it simmers and then lower the heat. Set the bowl over the pan without letting it touch the water. Stir with a spatula and remove as soon as the last pieces melt. Wipe the bottom of the bowl: no drop of water should fall into the chocolate. Let cool for a few minutes and then fill a small cone. Cut an opening of about 2 mm: the branches must be thick and simple, without fragile lace.

13. Draw the six arms of each flake

    Put the hexagons in front of you, icy face up. Draws a first line of chocolate from a top to the one opposite, then two other lines that cross at the same center; three lines thus create six arms. Spread the 40 g on the 24 cookies, stopping the lines slightly before the edge to avoid brittle tips.

14. Allow to be taken and served

    Let the chocolate strokes take 20 minutes in a cool room. Check that they are firm before storing the cookies in a dry box, separating the floors with baking paper. The flakes remain flat; the decor comes only from the three thick lines laid on the white icing.