thepassionatecook: Pistachio, almond & semolina pears

Every Christmas I am on the look-out for new cookie recipes. When Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess recently organised a cookie swap for the November IMBB, I realised just how much variety Austria has in terms of Christmas baking. The very fact that the host herself chose cookies originating from my hometown speaks volumes!
For this year, I tried a recipe I found in an issue of "Food & Travel". They are Greek-inspired cookies made of nuts, semolina and egg whites - no flour involved! I just fell in love with their cute shape, they look absolutely stunning, not just in the magazine, they were quite easy to recreate - but judge for yourselves!
It's Christmas Eve - no snow in sight. I will be disappearing now to prepare things - not a Christmas dinner, because although the evening of the 24th is the main event for us Austrians (with the Christmas tree and presents being brought by the Christkind, aka little baby Jesus), our traditional dinner is quite plain: sausages and sauerkraut, which we only eat once a year in my family, but hardly something you slave over in the kitchen! I will be cooking over the weekend, though, maybe not something traditional, but delicious nontheless - so stay posted and Merry Christmas!

Pistachio, almond & semolina pears
(makes about 20 pieces)

130 g ground almonds
130 g roasted, but unsalted pistachios (ground)
90 g sugar
zest of 1 (unwaxed) lemon
40 g semolina
3 egg whites
20 cloves (to decorate)

Preheat oven to 170 C (fan).
Combine the ground nuts with the sugar, then add the lemon zest and semolina. Pour in the egg whites and work into a smooth dough.
Form little pears out of the mixture, roughly a tablespoon full of dough per pear. Stick a clove (head down) into the pears "neck" to form a stalk. (You could also use pistachio halves to form a leaf).
Place on a non-stick baking tray and bake in the oven for 15 - 17 minutes. While still warm, dust generously with icing sugar.

Comments

Just lovely, they look so delicious. Can`t wait to prepare them. I think they would be a great gift----Happy Holidays from Panama City :) Melissa

Posted by: CookingDiva | Dec 24, 2004 at 10:27 PM

Are you sure you just didn't decorate some pears? I mean damn, you can barely tell the difference. Is there a shaping technique you used (no, natural ability is not a "technique").

Posted by: acM | Dec 25, 2004 at 03:23 AM

god no - i am pretty useless at this normally... at kindergarden, the other kids would always laugh at my attempts with playdough! I have to say that the prettier ones out of that lot were probably shaped by my Mum, but I tell you, the dough is really easy to form, so even I managed to make some decent ones!

Posted by: johanna | Dec 25, 2004 at 12:15 PM