Zimtsterne
Cinnamon stars of ground almonds and egg white meringue with a white glaze, left to dry for 1 hour and baked for 15 minutes.
Photograph credit: Zimtsterne - Flickr - Stiller Beobachter by Stiller Beobachter from Ansbach, Germany · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Making Zimtsterne Ahead
Keeps for 3 weeks in a tin.
How to Make Zimtsterne
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Whisk the egg whites and salt to stiff peaks, gradually whisk in 150 g of the icing sugar. Set aside 3 tablespoons of this meringue for the glaze.
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Fold the almonds and cinnamon into the rest to make a sticky dough.
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Roll out 1 cm thick between sheets dusted with icing sugar. Cut stars with a cutter dipped in water.
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Whisk the reserved meringue with the lemon juice and brush it over the stars. Leave to dry for 1 hour.
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Heat the oven to 150°C / 300°F. Bake the stars on lined trays for 15 minutes. Cool.
Tips for Success
- Dust the work surface with icing sugar, not flour.
- Dip the cutter in water to stop it sticking.
- Do not overbake, or the stars turn hard.
Behind the Recipe
Compare these to a meringue and you will find the same glossy white top, but under it a chewy almond biscuit scented with cinnamon. Zimtsterne are a German Christmas classic with no flour and no butter, and they are naturally rich and dense.
The dough is ground almonds, icing sugar, cinnamon and egg white, and it is very sticky. Roll it between two sheets of baking paper that have been dusted with icing sugar, not flour, which would dry the biscuits out. Cut the stars with a cutter dipped in water, otherwise the sticky dough clings to it. Then brush the tops with a glaze of whisked egg white and icing sugar.
Leave the stars on a tray to dry at room temperature for 1 hour, which sets the glaze. Bake at 150°C / 300°F for 15 minutes, until the glaze is firm and white and the biscuits are still soft underneath. Overbaking makes them hard. Store in a tin with a slice of apple to keep them chewy.
Good Alongside
Coffee · Mulled wine · Tea
Quick Answers
How long does Zimtsterne take to make?
30 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour of Drying, so allow 1 hour 45 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 30.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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