Bethmännchen
Traditionally served during the Christmas period, Bethmännchen are chewy, soft, nuggets of rose-scented marzipan joy. Lightly caramelised in the oven, they are decorated with 3 almond halves, which add a wonderful crispy crunch with a hit of roasted almond flavour.
Ingredients
- 200g marzipan. I use shop bought.
- 100g ground almonds
- 50g icing sugar
- 20g plain/all-purpose flour (use gluten free, if necessary)
- scant ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ – 1 teaspoon rose water, to taste. I use ¾ teaspoon.
- 1 egg white
Topping –
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon milk. Use your milk of choice, I use dairy.
- 70g peeled, whole almonds, halved
Instructions
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Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients and preheat oven to170°C/325°F/Gas 3 (fan 150°C). Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.
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Make the Bethmännchen: roughly chop the marzipan into cubes and tip into a food processor with the ground almonds, sugar, flour, salt, rose water and egg white. Pulse until the mixture comes together and is mixed well.
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Tip out onto a board dusted with icing sugar. Press into a small rectangle and cut into 24 cubes.You can either roll these into balls straight away or, as I like to do, I weigh each ball to check they are the same size, before rolling into a ball. Each ball should weigh 16g – 17g. Trim and adjust, if necessary.
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Topping: very carefully split each almond into 2 halves using a sharp knife. Some may break or splinter, but the amount in the ingredients, takes this into account.
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Beat the egg yolk with the milk and brush each marzipan ball with the mixture.
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Stick 3 almond halves equally around each ball: the pointed end of the almond pointing upwards. Brush again with the egg wash.
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Transfer onto baking parchment lined baking trays. Leave a little space between the cookies, as they will expand a little whilst cooking. Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. They should be very lightly starting to caramelise when cooked. Cook for slightly longer if you prefer a darker finish.
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Leave to cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes and then lift off with a palette knife. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
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Serve with a cup of tea, as an after dinner treat or, as is often the case in Germany, package them up and give them as a gift at yuletide.
Recipe Notes
Equipment:
- kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- chopping board and knife
- food processor
- baking trays lined with baking parchment
Rosewater:
Rosewater is a classic and traditional ingredient in this recipe, but if you’re not a rose water fan, you can simply omit it. They will still be delicious.
Whole almonds:
You may not need all of the almonds but when splitting whole almonds, you may have a few casualties. They can splinter or break quite easily. Any broken halves can be chopped, or ground in a food processor, and used in baking.