Viennese Cookies - For the Holidays

Happy Holidays to everyone. We have included a delicious cookie for you to sample for the whole family. It is a cookie version of the wonderful Viennese Punschtorte. We used artificial rum but you can also omit it by substituting with more apricot preserves. Enjoy the long weekend!!

(Makes 24 sandwich cookies)

VIENNESE COOKIE DOUGH

16 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup (100grams) slivered almonds, finely ground in the food processor

21/2 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING

Baked cookie dough scraps

1/3 cup apricot preserves, strained

50 grams semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

2 tbsp artificial rum

2 tsp finely grated orange zest

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

ICING

2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted after measuring

2 tbsp artificial rum

2 tsp water

1 drop liquid red colouring

METHOD:

1.  Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 180 deg C.
2. For the dough, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle on medium speed until soft and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the ground almonds.
3. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the flour with a large rubber spatula, mixing until the dough is smooth. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 3 equal parts.
4. Flour the surface and the dough and gently roll it to about 1 cm thick. Use a plain cutter to cut out 2- to 2.5inch (5- to 6-inch) cookies and place them on the prepared pans 2.5cm apart on all sides. Reserve the scraps from cutting the cookies in a bowl. Roll and cut the remaining 2 pieces of dough, reserving the scraps from the rolling and cutting with the others.
5. Bake the cookies until they are firm an dull looking, 15 to 20 minutes. After the first 7 to 8 minutes, place the pan from the lower rack on the upper one and vice versa, turning the pans back to front at the same time. If you know that your oven gives strong bottom heat, stack the pan on the lower rack on top of a second one for insulation. Slide the parchment papers off the pans to cool the cookie.
6. While the cookies are baking, arrange the scraps in a single layer on a parchment- or fooil-lined pan. Bake as for the cookies and cool on a rack.
7. To make the filling, break up the cooled scraps and place them in the bowl of food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse to grind coarsely. Add the preserves, melted chocolate, artificial rum, and orange and lemon zests and pulse until the filling holds a soft shape.
8. To fill the cookies, turn half the bases over so that the flattest sides are facing upward. Spread a little less than 1 tbsp of the filling on the cookie base to within 3mm of the edge. Top with the other cookies, gently pressing them together.
9. For the icing, combine the confectioners' sugar, artificial rum, water and food colouring in a medium saucepan. Stir until smooth. Place over low heat and cook the icing until it is just lukewarm, about 45 degC. Use a small offset spatula to spread a thin coating of the icing on top of each cookie.

For storage: Keep the cookies in a cool place between sheets of wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.

Hope you enjoyed this wonderful recipe. Have a great weekend!!