Islere (Romanian Sandwich Cookies)

Name: Islere (Romanian Sandwich Cookies)
Prep time: 55 min
Cook time: 2 h 5 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 25 pieces
Ingredients: 300 g all-purpose flour; 150 g lard at room temperature (or 200 g butter at room temperature); 150 g ground walnuts; 150 g sugar; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1-2 tablespoons sour cream (optional); chocolate cream; 125 g sugar; 200 g dark chocolate (50%); 200 ml heavy cream (35% fat)

April 8, 2015

Easter Recipes Desserts

Recipe: Islere (Romanian Sandwich Cookies)

Tender sandwich cookies made with lard and walnuts, filled with a chocolate and caramel cream.

Ingredients

300 g all-purpose flour
150 g lard at room temperature (or 200 g butter at room temperature)
150 g ground walnuts
150 g sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1-2 tablespoons sour cream (optional)

Chocolate Cream

125 g sugar
200 g dark chocolate (50%)
200 ml heavy cream (35% fat)

How to prepare islere (romanian sandwich cookies)

Rub the lard (or butter) a little to make it creamy. Add the flour and mix with a fork. Add the walnuts, sugar, baking powder and beaten egg on top, and knead lightly with your hand until the dough comes together. Try to roll it out on the work surface and if it is crumbly, gradually add a little sour cream until it becomes easy to roll out without being sticky. The amount of sour cream depends on how soft your lard is.
Divide the dough into two pieces and on a floured surface roll each piece into a thin sheet about 3mm thick. With a round cutter, cut out the cookies (whatever size you want, though they look better smaller; I cut them at 4 cm diameter).
Take the cut disks and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. The dough scraps can be kneaded, rolled out and cut again until all the dough is used. You will have about 3 trays of cookies.
Bake the cookies at 180C for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake, or they will become hard.
Remove them from the tray carefully, they are fragile, and let them cool.
In a deep saucepan, melt the sugar and caramelize it until you smell a pleasant caramel aroma and see it lightly smoking. Pour in the hot cream and stir with a wooden spoon. The cream will bubble up significantly, so keep your face away to avoid burns. Let the caramel cool a bit while you prepare the chocolate.
Melt the chocolate over a water bath, keep it on the steam and start pouring the caramel into the chocolate in a thin stream while stirring constantly. If the chocolate seems to be hardening, just reheat the caramel slightly. Let the cream cool, then refrigerate until it thickens a bit and becomes spreadable (about 1 hour).
Sandwich pairs of cookies together using the chocolate cream. Place the assembled cookies on a platter or tray.
Put the remaining cream in a thick plastic bag (like a zip bag) and cut one corner. Decorate the cookies with the cream. Let the glaze set for a few hours.