Snow Maiden

Ingredients for 12 servings:

• 5 eggs
• 300 g powdered sugar
• 500 g margarine
• 150 g brown sugar
• 250 g flour
• 1 tsp, leveled baking powder
• 75 g hazelnuts
• 50 ml milk
• 10 g fresh ginger
• 1 handful of cranberries, or similar
• n. B. Spice(s), e.g. nutmeg, black pepper, vanilla, clove(s), cardamom, orange zest

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 15 minutes

small winter spice desserts (inspired by Russian fairy tales)

For the Swiss meringue buttercream and the meringue edge, separate four of the eggs. Chill the egg yolks. Beat the egg whites with all the icing sugar over a double boiler on low speed until the egg whites reach 70°C and are thick and glossy. (This will take a while, but it’s worth the effort.) Then remove the bowl from the water and beat the egg whites at an increasing speed until very stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled. Mix half of the mixture for the edge with spices (I used cloves, cardamom, and orange zest). Beat the other half with 250g margarine until very fluffy and add spices (nutmeg, black pepper, and vanilla). Chill the cream until ready to use. For the ginger base, chop the ginger and heat half of it with the milk. Crush the other half in a mortar and pestle. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/convection oven. Take the egg yolks out of the fridge, add the last egg, and beat with the remaining 250g margarine and sugar until frothy. Add the flour, baking powder, and hazelnuts, then mix well with the ginger milk and crushed ginger. Line a baking tray with baking paper, spread the dough, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Cut out 12 circles from the cooled dough. Pipe small heaps of meringue for the edges and flambé them until light brown. Let cool briefly, then place the cranberries in the center and pipe the Swiss meringue cream on top. Decorate with cranberries, chill, and serve as soon as possible.