Nigella Lawson borrowed and adapted a traditional Dutch recipe for her latest creation which is an ideal recipe for an alternative festive desert- and couldn’t be easier to make
Kitchen queen Nigella Lawson has given fans a taste of a new pasty recipe which couldn’t be easier to make.
The gourmet expert reckons other countries’ Christmas traditions are also worth celebrating, such as a Dutch log made from almond paste and wrapped puff pastry. But she suggested adapting the traditional Dutch recipe On her site Nigella.com she said: “Rather than make long logs (or, indeed wreathes or letters, as they do in the Netherlands) I cut them into short lengths before baking, which rather gives them a look of sweet sausage rolls.
“They should, in this form, a Dutch friend tells me, more properly be called ‘banketstaafstukjes’, though I’ve settled on Banket Bars instead. They make a great alternative to mince pies for those who shudder at the very idea of dried fruit, and a most desirable addition for the rest of us.”
She insisted they are simple to create with no need to make puff pastry. However, she says you will need to make your own almond paste which can be done in a food processor.
She added: “The only thing you need to remember is to make it a day (or up to 3 days) before you go a-baking, but since the puff pastry is best thawed for a day in the fridge, too, you can have both in the fridge ready and waiting for you at the same time.”
INGREDIENTS
Almond paste filling
- 250 grams blanched almonds
- 250 grams caster sugar
- finely grated zest of an unwaxed lemon (you’ll need the juice for the glaze)
- ⅛ teaspoon / drop or two of rosewater
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
Banket bars
- 1 large egg
- pinch of salt
- 325 or 320 grams ready-rolled all-butter frozen puff pastry (which has been thawed overnight in the fridge)
- 2 x 270 grams logs of almond paste
Apricot glaze
- 2 tablespoons apricot jam
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 30 grams flaked almonds
Icing glaze
- 60 grams icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
METHOD
Before you start, tear off a piece of baking parchment about 45cm/17inches long and place it on the kitchen counter with the short side facing you
Smash the blanched almonds into the bowl of a processor, add the sugar, and process until finely ground. Whole almonds makes for a much more luscious texture. And adding the sugar with the almonds stops them clumping while mixed
After nuts are ground, add the lemon zest, rosewater and salt, crack in the egg, and blitz again until the mixture forms a thick grainy paste in the processor bowl. Tip out the sticky mixture and divide into two pieces with your hands. Sit one of the pieces on the baking parchment and form into a rough sausage shape the width of the baking parchment.
Place the almond paste horizontally on the baking parchment- about 5cm/2inches from the bottom. Cover it with the bit of parchment closest to you. Place the flat of your hands gently over it and roll up and down, until you have a fairly slender log (around 3cm/1¼inches diameter) of almond paste which comes to each end of the parchment.
Wrap this covered log the remainder of the parchment as a first layer, then wrap in cling film and put in into the fridge until needed, where it can stay for up to 3 days. Repeat exactly the same process for the second piece of almond paste.
The day before you plan to turn these lengths of almond paste into Banket Bars, take the puff pastry out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw. When you want to bake them, heat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC Fan/425ºF and line a flat baking sheet with parchment.
Crack an egg into a cup or little jug and make an egg wash, then brush at the same time. The thawed puff pastry should be unrolled from its packaging and cut lengthways before putting one of the halves back in the fridge and taking one of the almond paste logs out at the same time.
Take the rectangular piece of puff pastry horizontally and dust a clean a flat surface with flour. Unroll the almond paste log and lie it horizontally, in the middle of the puff-pastry sheet. The exposed surface of puff pastry should be painted with the egg wash before covering the almond paste log with it. The seam should be pressed gently with your fingers to stick it down before excess pastry is cit from the ends
With a sharp and preferably serrated knife, cut this long log into 8 pieces. Place the rolls carefully seam-side down onto your lined flat baking sheet and paint with egg wash, then pop the tray into the hot oven to bake for 15 minutes by which time they should be plump and puffy and golden on top.
Slide the paper off with the little banket bars on it onto a wire cooling rack. And I should say that one of the reasons I like to cut the banketstaaf into short lengths before baking, is that this way the almond paste at each end slightly scorches, taking on the taste of deeply caramelly marzipan.
While the Banket Bars are cooking, mix the apricot jam and lemon juice together in a bowl (removing any pieces of apricot) and have the flaked almonds ready in another. In another bowl, whisk the icing sugar with a 15ml tablespoon of lemon juice to create a thick but still flowing icing.
As soon as they have come out of the oven, paint them immediately with the apricot jam and lemon mixture, then sprinkle each roll with about half a teaspoon of flaked almonds. After using a teaspoon zig zag each Banket Bar with some of the lemony icing, and leave on the baking parchment to cool.