Almond and cinnamon stars under a thin white meringue: soft, flourless, the real Zimtsterne of Christmas in Alsace and Germany.
Zimtsterne are the queens of the Advent cookie tin in Germany, Switzerland and Alsace: a cinnamon almond dough with no flour or butter, built on a meringue and topped with that same meringue, which stays snow white. The inside is tender, almost like marzipan, the top barely crisp.
Their reputation as a tricky cookie comes from the dough, which is sticky. Three rules beat it: dough rested in the cold, rolled between two sheets on a bed of sugar and almonds, a cutter dipped in water for every cut, and a short, gentle bake. The top should come out white: if it browns, it was too hot.
Good to know · Cinnamon stars are made almost entirely of ground almonds: they're not suitable for anyone with a tree nut allergy. If you give them away, say so clearly.
Beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy, then add the powdered sugar a spoonful at a time, without stopping. Add the lemon juice and keep beating on high for 5 minutes: the meringue is ready when it's very thick and glossy and holds a firm peak on the whisk.
Take out 4 heaped tablespoons of meringue (about 60 g) and set them aside in a small bowl, with cling film pressed onto the surface: this will be the white icing for the stars.
Add the ground almonds, cinnamon and zest to the rest of the meringue, and fold with the spatula until you have an even, soft, sticky dough. If it really sticks to your fingers, add up to 30 g more ground almonds. Wrap it and chill for 1 hour.
Mix the powdered sugar and ground almonds for rolling. Dust a sheet of baking paper with some, set the dough on it, dust again and cover with the second sheet. Roll out to an even 8 mm.
Peel off the top sheet and spread the reserved icing over the whole surface of the dough in a thin, even layer with the small spatula. Dip the cutter in water, cut a star in one clean press, and set it on a lined tray. Dip the cutter in water again for every star.
Let the stars dry for 30 minutes in the open air at room temperature: the icing forms a thin crust that keeps it from browning and cracking. Preheat the oven to 150 °C (300 °F), conventional heat, in the meantime.
Bake one tray at a time, in the lower third of the oven, for 10 to 12 minutes. The stars are ready when the icing is dry and still white (barely ivory) and the bottoms come away from the paper. The inside should still feel tender under a finger: it firms up as it cools.
Let the stars cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then slide them onto a rack. Store them in a tin once cool: the next day, they have the ideal texture, soft in the middle.
Check off every step to celebrate.
In a tightly closed tin, cinnamon stars keep for 3 weeks and stay soft. If they harden, put an apple wedge in the tin for a day (then take it out). Don't mix them with crisp cookies, which would take on their moisture.
Nothing: that's how it is. It needs to rest in the fridge, be rolled between two sheets with a mix of powdered sugar and almonds, and the cutter needs to be wet for every cut. If it's really runny, add ground almonds 10 g at a time.
The oven was too hot, or the stars didn't dry before baking. At 150 °C (300 °F) low in the oven, after 30 minutes of drying, it stays white and smooth.
Yes, the recipe has no flour. Just check the labels on the ground almonds and cinnamon, which may contain traces.
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