Tortas de Aceite
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:45 am
I don't know if these delicious olive oil biscuits/cookies ever came across to the Spanish-influenced culture of the southern US, having first met them in Andalusia. Sugary, flaky and aniseed flavoured. Delicious with an aperitif, perhaps as the last bite of your tapas. They are also easy to make, if a little labour intensive. It is worth the effort, and what you make will be better than the commercial brands like Ines Rosales.
In readiness:
-Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
-Lightly grease two baking trays, or use silicone baking sheets like a sensible person.
-Sprinkle sugar evenly over the baking sheets (use a sifter if you have one).
Dry:
-Mix 1½ cups all-purpose or cake flour with 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp aniseed (This can be fennel seeds, or ground-up star anise, which is better).
Wet:
-Mix 2/3 cup warm water, 1/3 cup olive oil, 3 TBSP sugar and 2 tsp dried yeast. Keep the mixture warm and stir occasionally until it is getting foamy as the yeast activates. Don't wait too long - you want some of the CO2 available later to inflate the layers of the final biscuit.
-Separate an egg and whisk the white, keeping it for later.
Mix:
-Pour the liquid into a well in the dry ingredients and mix together.
-Turn out onto a floured surface and divide into twelve balls of dough.
-Using as much extra flour as required (the oily dough will need at least a generous pinch for each ball) flatten and roll them into rounds about 1/8 to 1/4" thick.
-Place each onto the sugar-sifted baking sheet and press gently so as to impress the sugar into the underside.
-Brush the upper side with the whisked egg white
-Sprinkle on more sugar
Bake:
- bake for 6-12 minutes at 450ºF. My oven with both trays on the top shelf effectively blocking air circulation takes all 12 minutes. Yours might be quicker. All that sugar means that when they burn they do so suddenly. The first time you do it set a timer for six minutes and have a look. Then look every two minutes. You want a bit of browning on the top, but not overmuch around the edges. When done place on racks to cool.
Serve:
Nibble with café con leche, a glass of sherry or indulge your pan-Mediterrannean instincts with a Campari-soda.
In readiness:
-Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
-Lightly grease two baking trays, or use silicone baking sheets like a sensible person.
-Sprinkle sugar evenly over the baking sheets (use a sifter if you have one).
Dry:
-Mix 1½ cups all-purpose or cake flour with 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp aniseed (This can be fennel seeds, or ground-up star anise, which is better).
Wet:
-Mix 2/3 cup warm water, 1/3 cup olive oil, 3 TBSP sugar and 2 tsp dried yeast. Keep the mixture warm and stir occasionally until it is getting foamy as the yeast activates. Don't wait too long - you want some of the CO2 available later to inflate the layers of the final biscuit.
-Separate an egg and whisk the white, keeping it for later.
Mix:
-Pour the liquid into a well in the dry ingredients and mix together.
-Turn out onto a floured surface and divide into twelve balls of dough.
-Using as much extra flour as required (the oily dough will need at least a generous pinch for each ball) flatten and roll them into rounds about 1/8 to 1/4" thick.
-Place each onto the sugar-sifted baking sheet and press gently so as to impress the sugar into the underside.
-Brush the upper side with the whisked egg white
-Sprinkle on more sugar
Bake:
- bake for 6-12 minutes at 450ºF. My oven with both trays on the top shelf effectively blocking air circulation takes all 12 minutes. Yours might be quicker. All that sugar means that when they burn they do so suddenly. The first time you do it set a timer for six minutes and have a look. Then look every two minutes. You want a bit of browning on the top, but not overmuch around the edges. When done place on racks to cool.
Serve:
Nibble with café con leche, a glass of sherry or indulge your pan-Mediterrannean instincts with a Campari-soda.