Cherry Cinnamon Stars (Zimtsterne)
Freya created this dish for Great British Bake Off ™ Season 12. This German Week Signature challenge combines traditional zimtsterne (cinnamon stars) with a British cherry bakewell twist through the addition of glacé cherries. Paul Hollywood praised that's lovely and noted how the cherry acidity makes the whole thing lighter. Mary Berry loved the favors of both and said you've done really well. However, Mary critiqued the texture as so tough, offering me out for a fight, noting these cookies should be quite crisp on outside but not rock-hard throughout. This improved version addresses the texture issue through proper 1/4-inch thickness (not rolled too thin) and careful 12-15 minute baking time, creating the authentic zimtsterne texture: crisp meringue topping, slightly crisp exterior, and chewy-firm interior when fresh that naturally becomes uniformly crisp after 1-2 days as Mary correctly observed.
- Time: 180 min
Source: Relaxed Recipes
Ingredients
- MAKE THE COOKIE DOUGH
- In large bowl, whisk together almond flour, powdered sugar, ground cinnamon, gro
- In separate clean, grease-free bowl, whip room temperature egg whites with almon
- Gently fold whipped egg whites into almond flour mixture using large spatula, fo
- Fold in finely chopped, patted-dry glacé cherries until evenly distributed. Frey
- Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnig
- ROLL AND CUT THE COOKIES
- Preheat oven to 300°F . Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or sil
- Generously dust clean work surface with powdered sugar, not flour - this is flou
- Dust top of dough generously with more powdered sugar. Using rolling pin, roll d
- Cut out stars using 2.5 to 3-inch star-shaped cookie cutter, dipping cutter in p
- Gather scraps, press together, and re-roll once to cut more stars. Dough can be
- MAKE THE MERINGUE ICING
- In clean, grease-free bowl, whip room temperature egg whites with electric mixer
- Gradually add sifted powdered sugar about 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium-h
- Beat in fresh lemon juice and almond extract until just combined. Icing should b
- Reserve small amount of plain icing in separate bowl if desired for piping decor
- ICE AND BAKE
- Using offset spatula or back of spoon, spread meringue icing on top of each unba
- If decorating, gently press small piece of glacé cherry or few flaked almonds in
- Bake 12-15 minutes until meringue icing is set, dry to touch, and still pure whi
- Let cookies cool completely on baking sheets without moving them. Cookies will f
- Once completely cool, carefully transfer to airtight container. Mary noted: As t
- UNDERSTANDING ZIMTSTERNE TEXTURE
- Traditional German cinnamon stars have unique texture evolution. When fresh, the
- CHEF'S NOTES
- Mary's texture feedback addressed: So tough, it's offering me out for a fight -
- Praised flavors preserved: Paul said that's lovely and specifically praised how
- German tradition honored: Traditional zimtsterne are flourless almond cookies to
- Freya's innovation celebrated: Adding glacé cherries creates British cherry bake
- Texture evolution explained: Mary correctly noted these cookies should be quite
- German Week context: Week 5 Signature challenge in Season 12 celebrating German
- TROUBLESHOOTING
- Dough too sticky to roll: Chill longer or use significantly more powdered sugar
- Cookies spread during baking: Dough wasn't chilled long enough before baking. Re
- Cookies too hard throughout: Rolled too thin or baked too long or at too high te
- Meringue icing cracks or browns: Oven temperature too high or baking time too lo
- MAKE-AHEAD TIPS
- Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days before rolling and cutting. Bring to cool
- Unbaked cut cookies can be frozen on baking sheets, then transferred to airtight