Spritz Broken Chain

It's up to you.

13 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Soften the butter and prepare the plates

   Take out the 200 g of butter about 1 hour before you start, then cut them into cubes in a bowl. Butter should crush easily with a spatula, like an ointment, but should not be melted or oily. Cover two baking paper baking tray and sets the oven to 170 °C, conventional oven setting (no fan).

2. Separate the egg and weigh the white

   Break the egg over a small bowl and separate the white from the yolk, gently transferring the yolk between the two half shells. Weigh out 30 g egg white. Reserve the yolk and any remaining white for another recipe. Beat the measured white for a few seconds at the fork to liquefy it, without riding it in snow.

3. Cream butter and icing sugar

   Whisk or beat the butter softly for 1 minute. Add the 80 g of icing sugar in two, mixing first slowly so as not to throw powder. Scrape the walls with the spatula and continue until a smooth cream; it does not need to be very swollen.

4. Add white, vanilla and salt

   Pour the 30 g of white beaten twice over the sweet butter, mixing well between the two additions. Add the vanilla teaspoon and the pinch of salt. If the cream seems slightly separated, scrape the bottom and mix gently again: do not add milk or flour at this stage.

5. Stir in flour without kneading

   Pour the 230 g of flour into the bowl, in two additions. With a spatula, crush the dough against the walls and then bring it back to the center, just until the powder disappears. The dough should be thick but supple; a prolonged mixture would make the biscuits harder.

6. Filling the piping bag properly

   Place a 12 mm fluted sleeve in a solid piping bag, then fold the top of the piping bag over a large glass to keep it open. Fill it half-paste with the spatula, unfold the edges and flush the air by pushing the dough towards the piping tip. Close the top by twisting it; keep the remaining dough in the covered bowl.

7. Check the flexibility before Pipe

   Tests a short line on the plate: it must come out regularly under the pressure of the hand placed at the top of the piping bag. Guide only the piping tip with the other hand. If you have to force a lot, leave the dough and the pouch for 5 to 10 minutes at room temperature, then gently knead the pouch; do not add liquid to loosen it.

8. Pocher twenty-four rings

   Hold the piping tip almost vertical, about 1 cm from the paper, and press regularly by drawing a circle of 5 cm of outer diameter. Leave a central hole of about 2 cm and joins the two ends with slight pressure to close the ring. Form 24 rings, spaced 3 cm on the two plates, distributing the remaining dough between the last; do not try to fit them raw.

9. Cook and cool without lifting them too early

   Cook one baking tray at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edge of the grooves is slightly golden. Leave the rings 5 to 10 minutes on the baking tray out of the oven, then slide a spatula underneath to deposit them on an oven rack. Wait about 30 minutes, until they are cold and firm before soaking.

10. Wrap half of each ring

    Chop the 100 g of dark chocolate with a knife and put them in a perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a small saucepan, heat to a gentle simmer and then lower the heat. Set the bowl over the pan without touching the water and stir with a spatula. Remove while a few small pieces remain and stir off the heat until melted. Wipe the bottom of the bowl and do not pour any water into the chocolate. Pour the warm chocolate into a small bowl to soak the cookies. Hold a ring by its upper half, submerge its lower half then let fall the excess a few seconds; lay it flat on baking paper and start again.

11. Let the chocolate harden

    Leave the coated rings immobile for 30 to 45 minutes in a cool room. Check that a slight pressure on the chocolate does not leave any imprint before handling them. If there is chocolate left at the bottom of the bowl, scrape it on paper in small pallets to be served next to, without excessively thickening the coating of the cookies.

12. Create six broken links

    Choose six rings and place them on a board. With a small serrated knife, gently saw two notches spaced 1 cm in the uncoated part of each ring, then remove the small section between them. Keep the cookie near the cut to limit breakage and keep all fragments.

13. Present the chain flat

    Aligns the 24 rings on a large flat, with slight overlaps and the six open links distributed in the chain. Place the fragments next to the openings to make the breakage visible. Cookies do not fit into each other and should not carry weight; keep them in an airtight box in a cool, dry place.