Back home and baking

Since yesterday I'm back home. I have unpacked my luggage, my knives, my chefjackets, even the one with the hole made it home. I didn't have the heart to throw it in the rubbish bin. Will keep it as Ballymaloe exam souvenir.
I decided to continue my blog, eventualy I will change the name, but not for time being.  I write in English especially for the former students of Ballymaloe Cookery School and my friends in Ireland.
Christmas is around the corner, people are rushing and very busy. Presents have to be bought and wrapped, cookies and other traditonal biscuits and cakes to be prepared. It has been snowing the last few days and the  landscape looks like a huge cake decorated with icing sugar, the air is clean and crisp and the sun made it look even more beautiful today.
I started to bake the first Christmas cookies. We call it Mailänderli, it's the most traditional cooky, nobody knows who brought it to Switzerland but we gather it's an adaption from an Italian biscuit from Milano.

The recipe
250 gr butter (unsalted) beat until soft add
250 gr sugar continue beating until fluffy
then add 3 large eggs and beat until nice and foamy
then add grated zest of 1 organic lemon and a pinch of salt
stir and add 500 gr sieved white flour, do not knead,  put it all together, cover dough with clingfilm and let it rest for at least 1 hour in the fridge.

It's not puff pastry!

Prepare a baking tray, put a greasproof paper on it. Preheat oven 200°
Then roll out the dough approx 3-4 mm thick. Now cutters are needed, stars, angels, santas what ever is found in your kitchen drawer.

Put the cookies on the baking tray and eggwash them

and bake them for approx 10 min at 200° in conventional oven. They should be golden.
Store them in a tin, they keep for a week but are best eaten within 2 days, they usually never last that long anyway.