My Food Geek

Last week Jef (aka the foodie) made the very rich Sarah Bernhardt pastries which he posted about. Something that was not mentioned there was that the almond macaroons that make the base of the pastry are wonderful cookies in their own right. I happen to be an enormous fan of anything flavored with almonds, so this simple almond cookie is one of my very favorites.

The texture of the cookies is light, airy and smooth, with a crisp outside and a slight chewiness on the inside. They have lots of almond-y goodness inside and out. These are the sort of cookie that it is very easy to lose track of exactly how many you’ve eaten!

Almond Macaroon
(makes about 60)

400g almond paste
200g sugar
3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 375°F

Beat almond paste and sugar in an electric mixer

Add egg whites, one at a time, and mix until smooth

Pipe small mounds (about 2cm) on silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet

Bake at 375°F for 10 min or until lightly browned

Let cool on silpat/baking paper

Turn paper over and peel off the back of cookies

A friend of mine on IRC commented on the macarons I made a few weeks ago. He was saying they reminded him of a Swedish almond cookie, the biskvit. I did a little bit of research, and learned that these cookies are more commonly known as Sarah Bernhardts.

These pastries were invented by a Danish pastry chef who wanted to honor the actress. The classic recipe consists of a chewy almond macaroon with a chocolate mousse filling, all dipped in a chocolate glaze. I strayed a little bit from the classic recipe; I used chocolate French buttercream for the filling and tempered chocolate for the coating instead of the glaze that is suggested. Here is my interpretation of the pastry.

Sarah Bernhardts

Almond Macaroon
(makes about 60)

400g almond paste
200g sugar
3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 375°F

Beat almond paste and sugar in an electric mixer

Add egg whites, one at a time, and mix until smooth

Pipe small mounds (about 2cm) on silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet

Bake at 375°F for 10 min or until lightly browned

Let cool on silpat/baking paper

Turn paper over and peel off the back of cookies

French Buttercream

300g sugar
100 ml water
6 egg yolks
600g butter, room temperature

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and heat to 240°F

While sugar is cooking, place yolks in bowl of mixer and mix at high speed

When sugar reaches 240°F, turn the mixer to low, remove sugar from heat and

Pour in a slow, steady stream into mixer

Continue mixing until mixture turns pale yellow and is cool to the touch, about 10 minutes

Turn mixer to low and add butter in three or four parts

Continue mixing until smooth

Assembly

Flip macaroons over so the flat side is up

Place buttercream in pastry bag with a plain round tip (size of tip is not important)

Pip a small dome of buttercream on each cookie

With a soup spoon, smooth buttercream into a dome

Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until buttercream has hardened

Dip each cookie in tempered dark chocolate

Cookies will keep in the refrigerator for about a week or the freezer for a few months.