Abricotines

After using all the egg yolks for the pastry cream I made for the fruit tart, I had leftover egg whites. Instead of making macarons, I thought I'd try something different...
So I went for another recipe in my new Laduree cookbook!

This time, I was intrigued by a recipe for abricotines.. I was a bit worried since the name sounded like apricots (and the English translation was abricotines) and I didn't have any... but there was a note at the bottom that said you could use a raspberry jam filling instead.


It's made exactly like macarons, except it incorporates some cake flour and sliced almonds on top. Mine came out a bit thinner and less puffy as in the photo but still yummy. 

Joe thought these were so pretty, as French desserts often are! They were very crunchy straight out of the oven and and then the jam filling softened them up a bit.
I must admit though, I prefer these on their own with no filling at all but that's just a matter of preference! After I tasted one a day later, they were so much more delicious with the filling... They're like a soft slightly sweet cake sandwich...


Either way, they were simple and delicious, which is how I like most of my recipes :)

Abricotines
Makes 30


1 1/2 cups plus 1 TBS (170g) powdered sugar
2 1/4 cups (215g) almond flour
1/4 cup (35g) cake flour
6 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 TBS granulated sugar
3/4 cup sliced almonds
Apricot or raspberry jam


Whip the egg whites to a foam. Add in the vanilla and the granulated sugar and whip till it's firm and glossy. Sift in the powdered sugar and the almond flour, along with the cake flour.
Use a spatula and fold all this together until you have a smooth, homogenous mixture.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
Transfer the batter to a piping bag with a round tip and pipe small disks onto a baking sheet. 
Sprinkle with sliced almonds. 
Lower the oven temperature to 340 degrees F and bake the disks for 12-15 minutes.
Let cool completely and dust lightly with powdered sugar
Match the cookies/biscuits and fill with jam, sandwiching them together!


Place the biscuits in an airtight container in a fridge and allow a resting period of 12 hours before tasting.