These biscuits with currant jam, the Milanesi or Mailänder, also have a story. Bought in one of the most famous Viennese patisseries, Demel (click here for the review), I have given them as gifts many times because they are so delicious and beautiful. I have been circling the recipe for a few years and I got there by asking directly at the source, the ladies at Demel. And after a few attempts, here they are, ready for foodmetender!
They are delicious cookies, small almond and cocoa shortbread filled with currant jam and decorated with icing and jam.
Ingredients (for 50 biscuits)
- 200 g of 00 flour
- 200 g of butter
- 80 g of icing sugar g of dust sugar
- 75 g of almonds with the skin (finely chopped)
- 10 g of bitter cocoa
- 1/2 medium egg (lightly beaten)
- 150 g of redcurrant jam (puree)
For the topping (icing + jam)
- 1 egg white
- 75-100 g of icing sugar
- 60-80 g of red currant jam (puree) and slightly warmed
Cut the cold butter into small pieces and mix with the icing sugar, egg, chopped almonds, cocoa and almost all the flour in a food processor (leaf hook) or simply knead everything by hand.
Add the remaining flour and knead until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough (shortcrust pastry). Wrap in a cloth or film and leave to rest in a cool place for an hour (fridge).
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a floured surface to a thickness of about 3 mm, and cut out round biscuits with a diameter of about 3.5-4 cm (I used the base of a piping bag nozzle as a cutter).
Place the biscuits well separated on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake at 160°C fan-assisted until golden brown (10-13 min, they must not brown, please, otherwise they will taste a little burnt) and leave them to cool completely.
Strain the redcurrant jam and put it in a piping bag with a 1 cm/1.5 cm nozzle (or a syringe) or carefully with a teaspoon. Assemble the biscuits in pairs by placing a small amount of redcurrant jam in the middle and sticking them together by rotating them slightly (without letting the jam come out).
While the biscuits are “gluing”, prepare the icing by mixing the egg white with the icing sugar with a spoon until you get a nice white, consistent icing (it should not drip, it should be a little resistant). Put it in a piping bag with a fine smooth nozzle (diameter 2-3 mm) and draw a spiral on each biscuit, be patient, it will take a little time. Put them in a hot oven (140°C) for 3-5 minutes to dry the icing.
Fill a piping bag (2-3 mm smooth nozzle) with the strained and slightly warmed redcurrant jam and complete the biscuits with a spiral of jam obtained by placing a little jam in the “empty” spaces left by the meringue spiral.
Let dry well. They are even better 2-3 days later. Store 10-15 days in a tightly closed metal box.
Aren’t “Milanesi biscuits” beautiful? And you haven’t tasted them yet, a mouth-watering thing!
