Paul Hollywoods Christmas Kransekake Recipes

PAUL'S KRANSEKAKE

Steps:

• Place the ground almonds and icing sugar in a large electric mixer. Add the egg whites and almond extract and mix with a dough hook. This could be done by hand but is easier with a mixer due to the large quantities. Cover the bowl with cling film and chill in the fridge for a minimum of two hours, or preferably overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/400G/Gas 6.
• Lightly brush the insides of the kransekake moulds with vegetable oil. Sprinkle a little semolina into each mould and tip the moulds to distribute the semolina evenly around the inside, shaking out any excess.
• Divide the chilled dough into six equal-sized pieces.
• Divide one of the pieces of dough into three different-sized pieces: one small, one medium and one large. Dust a work surface lightly with flour and roll each piece out into finger-width lengths that are long enough to wrap round the kransekake moulds.
• Fit the longest piece of dough inside the largest kransekake ring, pressing the ends together to seal. Do the same with the medium-sized and smallest pieces of dough. Repeat this process with the remaining five pieces of dough.
• Bake the kransekakes in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until golden-brown, then remove from the oven and set aside to cool in their moulds until hardened. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, for the icing, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until frothy. Gradually whisk in the icing sugar a spoonful at a time, until stiff, glossy peaks form when the whisk is removed.
• Spoon half of the icing into a separate bowl and add the red food colouring. Whisk until the icing is bright red, then spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a small plain writing nozzle. Spoon the white icing into a separate piping bag fitted with a small plain writing nozzle.
• To assemble the kransekake, sort the cooked rings into size order.
• Pipe a few dots of white icing onto the base of the largest ring and stick it to a large serving plate.
• Pipe zig-zag patterns onto the largest ring using first the white, then the red icing, overlapping the two. Sprinkle with red, green and silver edible glitter.
• Place the second-largest ring on top of the largest ring and repeat the icing and decorating process.
• Continue to stack the rings in decreasing size order until you have a tower of 18 iced and glittery rings. Allow the icing to set (this will stick the rings to each other), then serve.