These two-color spiral biscuits are the twins of the chessboard biscuits, the twins… colored!
The novelty is that they are built differently, creating a two-color spiral, and they are very cute as Christmas cookies.
Consider that my idea of pastry has very high degrees of freedom and therefore you will be free to make colored chessboard cookies and black and white spiral cookies.
Ingredients:
- 375 g of 00 flour
- 70 g of potato starch
- 125 g of icing sugar
- 250 g of soft butter
- food coloring (I used the purple one)
- granulated sugar or large crystals to decorate.
- 1 pinch of salt
In a large bowl mix the butter cut into pieces with the icing sugar and salt until you create a soft cream. Then add the sifted flour and starch a little at a time, mixing with your hands. You will obtain a soft and elastic mixture that must not “stick”: if necessary, add a little more flour.
Divide the dough in two: wrap one half in cling film and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Add the food colouring (use liquid or gel) to the other half – I used the purple one – working it with your hands until it is completely absorbed and you get a homogeneous intense lilac dough (or the colour you want) (add more colouring until you get the shade of brown you prefer). Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Take the doughs and work them quickly on the surface: start with the white dough (so as not to dirty the work surface) and roll it out to a thickness of 0.5 cm.
Do the same with the lilac dough. Brush the white dough with water and place the lilac dough on top, making sure it adheres. Cut the edges of the doughs to obtain a rectangle.
Brush the two-tone dough on the surface and start rolling it lengthwise (roll it delicately, but so that it is “tight”) until you obtain a compact cylinder. Cover with aluminum foil and put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes, until it becomes solid.
Once removed from the freezer, cut it into slices about 1 cm thick.
Place the spirals on a baking tray and bake at 180°C for about 12-15 minutes until cooked, but without browning.
Take them out of the oven and, while still hot, brush them with water and sprinkle them with granulated sugar or crystal sugar. Here I used some beautiful purple crystal sugar found by castroni.
Here are the two-tone spirals! Every year I try to vary them…one year I made them purple, last year green!
And with the leftovers of the dough mixed together and rolled out again you can always create beautiful “melange” biscuits.
