The Gilded Springerle

Directions

1. 1
   Dissolve hartshorn in the buttermilk and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. 2
   Beat eggs until they become thick, lemony in color, and almost four times bigger in volume.
3. 3
   Beat in the powdered sugar slowly, followed by the butter.
4. 4
   Add the hartshorn/milk mixture, then the cinnamon oil, salt, zest, fennel, and optional lavender. Do not eat the dough raw with the hartshorn (baker's ammonia).
5. 5
   Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Turn dough onto a floured surface and add the remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Knead in enough flour so the dough will make a good impression with the molds.
6. 6
   Roll out the dough to about 5/8 inch thick. Dust the molds with flour. Roll the dough on top of the molds so it is about 1/4 inch thick (but if you have a mold with depth, then it can be thicker). Peel the dough off. Follow the imprinting and release directions for your particular molds. Let the cookies dry for 12-24 hours preferably in a 65 degree area. If you want to use these as decoration, you can make a hole in your cookie, as some examples show.
7. 7
   Bake on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets in a 300 to 325 degree oven for 10-30 minutes, depending upon the cookie size. They should only brown very lightly on the bottom. Cool on cookie rack.
8. 8
   With fine paintbrushes dip into the gold luster dust. Then dip into the cinnamon schnapps to create your paint. Brush on the cookie. I have used the schnapps almost plain to give a varnished background to some of the cookies. When dry, store in air-tight containers. The cookies will taste best in 3 weeks. If they harden too much add a bit of apple on a piece of bread to the container. They should soften. Photos show some before baking, some after baking, some after gilding. Food coloring is also used on some with gilding. Enjoy!