Cinnamon Stars Recipe - Cooking Index
Cinnamon Stars Recipe - Cooking Index
| 1/2 lb | 227g / 8oz | Packaged all-butter puff pastry |
| 2 cups | 474ml | Whole milk |
| 3 | Cinnamon sticks | |
| 1/2 cup | 99g / 3.5oz | Granulated sugar |
| 3 tablespoons | 45ml | All-purpose flour |
| 3 tablespoons | 45ml | Cornstarch |
| 4 | Eggs | |
| 4 | Egg whites (large) | |
| 5 1/2 cups | 1089g / 38oz | Powdered sugar |
On a sheet of parchment paper, roll out the puff pastry into a paper-thin rectangle. Prick it deeply all over with the tines of a fork. Slide the paper and pastry onto a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap; chill for at least 2 hours.
Prepare the pastry cream: In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and cinnamon sticks. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, then immediately remove from heat. Cover; let sit for 5 minutes. Strain, discarding cinnamon sticks.
In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour and cornstarch; whisk to blend. In another bowl, whisk whole eggs until frothy, then add them to the dry ingredients. Whisk the mixture vigorously, and while whisking, pour the hot milk into the bowl. Return the mixture to the saucepan; place over medium heat. Whisk without stopping until the pastry cream comes to a boil; cook 1 minute longer. Pour the cream onto a piece of plastic wrap laid on a baking sheet. Cover with more plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Prepare the royal icing: In a mixer with a paddle attachment, or by hand with a whisk, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. Gradually add powdered sugar; beat until the icing is shiny and thick as taffy.
Remove puff pastry from the refrigerator. Using an offset spatula, spread the royal icing evenly over pastry. Set aside at room temperature until the icing dries, 1 to 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Release the cookies from the cutter by blowing into the cutter. Put the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; place in the oven. Immediately turn the oven off and bake until the icing tops separate from the puff pastry bottoms. Remove from oven; return oven to 400 degrees. Carefully pull icing tops off pastry bottoms; place tops on a large plate and set aside. Return bottoms to oven; bake until pastry is golden and caramelized, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a rack.
To serve, whisk chilled pastry cream to loosen it; put in a pastry bag with a star tip. Pipe a little pastry cream onto each pastry bottom (or put on a small dollop with a spoon). Cap with a royal icing top.
Yields about 60 cookies.
Source:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - 12-07-1998
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