Athertonia Nut Biscuits and Nut Roll

This season there is a shortage of bunya nuts but an abundance of Atherton Nuts. After collecting the nuts in between Jack jumper ants nests, their beautiful skin needs removing. The cracking is best done with a hammer or a rock. After blanching, the nuts are ready for use.

Here are some more pastry wonders from Jan and Ross. The nut roll is filled with pure nuts and honey. The small pastries are reminiscent of the famous Frankfurt pastry Bethmännchen (German for "a little Bethmann") which are made with almonds and sugar. Not being bankers, there is only one nut on top. They are pure nuts with honey and they are delicious.

Almond chocolate balls - Marzipankartoffel

Get
300g organic almonds
1 tbsp honey (Prickly box honey, Bursaria spinosa)
2 tbsp organic cocoa powder

Do
Blanch almonds.
In a saucepan or bowl, use a puree stick to make a smooth paste from the almonds and the honey. Kneed the paste to marzipan. Cool for some time in the fridge.
Put the cocoa in a bowl.
Roll into small balls and roll them in the cocoa.
Place them on a baking tray.
Put into a preheated oven and bake at 180°c for about 10 minutes on the second shelf from the bottom.

By keeping the amount of honey small, the marzipan is dry. If it is too moist the powdery cocoa becomes moist and the outcome is more like truffles. They should feel powdery to the touch. Refrigerate.

Baked Marzipan Biscuits

These biscuits are pure nuts and honey. They can be very brittle.

Get
300g organic almonds
2 tbsp honey (Prickly box honey, Bursaria spinosa)
Some (macadamia) nuts for decoration
2 tbsp organic cocoa powder optional
1 egg yolk

Unglazed

Do
Blanch almonds.
In a saucepan or bowl, use a puree stick to make a smooth paste from the almonds and the honey. Kneed the paste to marzipan. Cool for some time in the fridge.

Take a clean (pure linen) tea towel and role out the ball of marzipan. Use cookie cutters to get the desired shapes or make a roll and cut into pieces and decorate with nut pieces. Mix the egg yolk and paint biscuits. Put into a preheated oven and bake at 180°c for about 10 minutes on the second shelf from the bottom. They should be golden.

One traditional shape is little cones, called Bethmännchen ("a little Bethmann"). They have been around since 1393 on Christmas markets in Frankfurt. They usually contain powdered sugar, rosewater, flour and egg as well.

Click to enlarge

For our cones we made a ball, flattened it with an indentation in the middle, and added a fresh macadamia nut in the centre. Pinch the top to close around the nut.
When little bits are left over that cannot be rolled out at the end, cocoa was used to hand kneed them into shapes.
Refrigerate if done anywhere on The Mid North Coast at this time of the year.

Macadamia confectionary

GET
300g organic raw macadamia nuts
1 meyer’s lemon
2 tbsp light clear honey.
all organic

DO
medium grate 300g macadamia nuts into a bowl.
Add finely grated rind of a Meyer lemon and the juice of half a lemon. Mix.
Add 2 tbsp clear honey (Mallee honey). Mix well.
Press and compact the mixture with a spoon. Knead it. Press down and leave it in a cool place for 2 hours.
Cut into small portions and serve.
Store wrapped in greaseproof paper.

Marzipan, varieties and origin
Marcipane or "The bread of Marcus" originated from Persia. It is based on almonds and made its way via the 13th century crusades to Europe. Since 1809 Königsberg marzipan is known for its flamed confectionary surface, which results in a golden-brown finish. It contains almonds, rose water and jam.

Frankfurt Bethmännchen cookies are made from marzipan with almond, powdered sugar, rosewater, flour and egg. Since 1393 they have been sold at the Frankfurt's Christmas market. After one and a half centuries of manufacturing, its form and recipe has never been changed.

In the land of macadamia it is obvious to adjust these old cultural traditions to a contemporary and geographic setting.

Image:
Lovis Corinth, Königsberger (Kaliningrad) Marzipantorte, (marzipan cake), 1924

See also
Finger lime macadamia confectionary

Baked Macadamiazan

get

organic macadamia nuts - any amount
lemon juice
light agave syrup
water

do
 
Preheat the oven to 150°c.
Grate the nuts coarsely into a bowl with a medium hand grater.
Add lemon juice, agave syrup to taste. Mix.
Stir in enough water to make a moist but solid mixture.
Knead and form into a dough.
Butter a baking tray.
Cut the nut mixture into cookie sized pieces and form into suitable shapes.
Place on the baking tray and bake for about 25 minutes until golden.
Remove from oven and cool
Cover and store in a tin.

Yellow-shouldered Hover Fly in macadamia flowers

This recipe depends on your taste as regards sweetening, and amount of lemon juice. If you like it very lemony, leave out the water and take a lot of lemon juice. If you like it very sweet, leave out the water and take more agave syrup. Vary the amount of nuts according to your needs.

Baked honey marzipan

get
500g insecticide-free almonds
3 tbsp good quality honey
a little spelt flour

do
Pre-heat the oven to 190°C.
blanch the almonds, dry them in the sun and grate them finely with a hand grater. Add the honey. Mix and knead to a thick mass of marzipan. Cool for at least 30 minutes.
Sprinkle very little flour on a linen tea towel to prevent sticking. Turn a rolling pin in the flour so it becomes dusty.
Place the marzipan on the tea towel and roll it out. It should not be too sticky. Roll it out quite thinly, as much as possible given that it is more sticky than pastry, but avoid mixing too much flour into the marzipan. Stamp out biscuit shapes and collect the off-cuts for the next batch.
Place the marzipan shapes on a buttered baking tray and bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden.
Cool.
Store in a paper-lined tin.

Baked honey marzipan is a simple recipe and depends greatly on the quality of its ingredients. The result is easy to chew sweet nuts. Make sure the honey you use is one you really like. I prefer it to be mild but aromatic for this recipe with almonds, such as organic coastal Australian heath honey
Image: Flegel, George, still life with parrot and mouse, 1610, via Zeno