Cinnamon and Cardamon Palmiers

Palmiers are one of the simplest biscuits to make, they only ask for puff pastry and sugar.

I like to add some warmth and spice with ground cinnamon and a few cardamon pods.

If you don’t like cardamon, which you can only taste a hint of, you can always just stay with the cinnamon, the biscuits will be equally irresistible.

For about 16 palmiers:

• 1 sheet (250-280 g) of all-butter puff pastry
• 90 g of caster sugar
• 3/4 of a teaspoon (or a scant teaspoon) of ground cinnamon
• 6-8 green cardamon pods (you will need the seeds)

Grind the cardamon seeds with a teaspoon of sugar. Combine it with the rest of the sugar and the cinnamon, stir well. Put a tablespoon* of the spiced sugar into a small cup, you will need it for baking.

Take the pastry out of the fridge and let it soften first for a few minutes before handling.

Roll the pastry out to a rectangle about 35cm x 25cm.

The aim is to gently press all of the spiced sugar (less one tablespoon*) to the rolled out pastry on both sides.

I find it to be the easiest by sprinkling a working surface with half the sugar first – roughly the size of the puff pastry, then pressing the pastry onto it and sprinkling it’s top with the other half of the sugar. I do have to turn the pastry a couple of times, pressing the spiced sugar into it with my palms. Don’t apply too much pressure, a few turns of the pastry should be enough.

To fold:

Lay the rectangle of your sugared pastry with its long side facing you and trim the edges to neaten.

Fold the sides towards the centre so they go halfway towards the middle.

Fold again so they very nearly meet at the middle, like the pages of an open book.

Now fold one side over the other to close like a book.

Try to incorporate the spiced sugar left on the work surface as you go along, and also press it to the outside of the roll (there will probably be still some left over).

Cover loosely with a baking parchment (left from the puff pastry packaging) or aluminium foil and leave in the fridge to set for 20-30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 210 C / 190 C Fan.

Line two baking trays with baking parchment.

Cut half of the pastry roll into 1cm slices and lay them cut-side down on the baking sheet (put the remaining pastry back into the fridge) leaving a lot of space around them. Sprinkle the slices with some of the spiced sugar.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the palmiers start turning golden on top.

Use a spatula to carefully turn each palmier over, sprinkle again with some of the spiced sugar and bake of further 5-10 minutes, until the edges turn caramelised and golden brown in colour.

Repeat exactly the same baking process with the remaining pastry.

Transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

You can keep the palmiers in a tin for up to a week, but they never manage to last that long, at least in our home.

Enjoy ! xx