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Anise Seed Cookies (Springerle)
Beat 2 eggs very light, add 1 cup sugar slowly, and beat the two 15 minutes. Add grated rind 1 lemon, 2 cups pastry flour mixed and sifted with 3/4 teaspoon baking powder and pinch salt.
Add 1 or 2 teaspoons anise seed and beat mixture another 15 minutes. Roll on floured board to 1/4 inch thickness, press a wooden springerle mold down hard on dough, then cut out the little squares and let stand 12 hours on greased and floured tins.
Bake in moderate (375 degrees) oven for 18 minutes.
A traditional Springerle worked by hand: the two long beatings are what make the batter stiff enough to hold a mold impression, and the overnight rest is what sets the design. Neither step can be shortened.
- The hinge: beat, then restThirty minutes of beating in total (15 minutes with the sugar, 15 more after the flour) builds the dense, meringue-like structure that keeps the printed pattern from slumping. A stand mixer on medium handles it; the dough should end up stiff, pale and glossy.
- Oven temperatureThe recipe's "moderate (375 degrees)" is on the hot side for Springerle. Many modern recipes call for 300-325F for 15-25 minutes so the cookies stay ivory-white and keep their crisp relief; at 375F the raised design is more likely to brown and blur before the base is dry.
- Pastry flourPastry flour is lower in protein than all-purpose. Two cups all-purpose with about two tablespoons per cup removed (roughly a quarter cup in all), or a mix of all-purpose and a little cornstarch, gives a similar tender crumb.
- Anise seedWhole seed gives speckles and mild flavor. For the sharp anise taste associated with these cookies, many recipes use a few drops of anise oil (not extract) instead; if you use both, cut the seed back to one teaspoon.
- The moldSpringerle molds are carved wooden boards or rolling pins. Dust the mold, not the dough, with flour, press straight down with real weight, lift cleanly, then cut the squares apart with a knife or pastry wheel.
- The 12-hour standDrying uncovered at room temperature forms a skin on the surface so the pattern holds and the cookies develop their characteristic hard top and softer base. A cool, dry room is better than a humid kitchen; cutting the drying time short risks the design distorting in the oven.
- Greased and floured tinsParchment on a heavy sheet works better and prevents the bottoms from taking color. Some traditional recipes scatter a few whole anise seeds on the pan under each cookie.
- Yield and keepingAbout 3 to 4 dozen small squares, depending on the mold. They are meant to be stored a week or two in a tin, where they soften and the flavor rounds out; eaten the day they are baked they are almost too hard.