Almond Tassies
A rich buttery crust holds a meringue filling flavored with almond paste. They are a pretty looking cookie.
2 cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Filling:
1 can (8 ounces) almond paste
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Almonds to garnish (the original recipe required 1/2 cup chopped pecans, but I changed it to sliced almonds)
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and egg yolks. Gradually add flour and salt. Divide dough into fourths. Roll each portion into 12 small balls. Press each ball onto the bottom and up the sides of greased miniature muffin cups; set aside.
For the filling: combine almond paste, 1 cup sugar, egg yolks and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; beat in vanilla and remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Beat into the almond mixture.
Fill prepared cups three-fourths full. Garnish with sliced almonds (or sprinkle with pecans as in the original recipe). Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully remove Tassies from pans.
Yield: 4 dozen.
I enjoyed making them but had a bit of difficulty due to using two different miniature muffin pans. The first pan I used they came out great - non-stick and a better-quality baking pan I'm thinking. The other pan wasn't non-stick, and even though I greased both thoroughly, the second set just fell apart when I tried to remove them.
You have to like Marzipan to enjoy these. They are a bit fiddly to make but I took them over when I got together with a group of friends for coffee. They all enjoyed them and there were none left, and everyone asked for the recipe.
Thanks for looking, have a great week
and Bon Appétit!
