Preparation | Resting | Cooking | Start to finish |
---|---|---|---|
1 hour 5 min. | 2 hours | 30 min. | 3 hours 35 min. |
1 | Put into a food-precessor bowl: 125 g flour, 50 g icing sugar, 100 g butter cut into small pieces, 1 Egg, 1 pinch fine (or table) salt, 5 drops food colouring, and the juice and zest of 1 lime. | |
2 | Knead on slow speed until evenly mixed. | |
3 | Tip the dough out onto a sheet of stretch plastic film. | |
4 | Fold the film over and press the dough into a flat cake. Refrigerate for 2 hours. This cooling time is essential as the dough is very soft at room temperature. The time in the fridge will firm up the dough. | |
5 | After this time, roll out the dough with a rolling pin to just under 1 cm (0.4 inch) thick. | |
6 | Now comes the tricky momnt: cutting out the "alien" shapes. I used a calisson cutter for the pointed end. | |
7 | Then I cut the top of the head using a normal round cutter. But you can cut them out perfectly well with a small knife. | |
8 | Shape the rounded part if necessary by pushing around the edge with your finger. | |
9 | Make the eyes with 2 whole almonds, the pointed end towards the centre. Press them lightly into the dough to make them stick. | |
10 | Use up all the dough like this, placing the cookies on a baking sheet as you go. Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). | |
11 | Put the offcuts onto a baking heet, shaped or not. Here I've made Star Trek logos (yes, I know, this is an American TV series recipe...). | |
12 | Bake for around 30 minutes. Watch carefully for colouring towards the end of the cooking time to keep the lovely green colour. So don't overcook them. |