Today marks the end of my Hans Christian Andersen recipe series, which started in January. We’ve constructed delicate meringue swans from The Ugly Duckling, chilled mini ice cream cakes from The Snow Queen, and created sea foam marshmallows from The Little Mermaid. You may have noticed a sugary theme here.
Completely by accident, this has been a desserts-only only blog for all of 2020. It just seems like every time I encounter an Andersen story, inspiration draws me in the direction of something sweet. We’ll get back to savories soon, I promise…just not this week! 😉 The dessert I’m sharing today pairs too perfectly with its story to swap for something savory. And maybe there’s a reason for that.
Almost all of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales have a warm glow of hope about them. The duckling grows into a swan; Kai’s icy heart melts; and even the ill-fated mermaid is given a second chance at a happy ending. Such stories pair well with something sweet, and today’s story is no exception. It’s the Andersen classic, Thumbelina.
There isn’t much food in this story, but that didn’t bother me much. I already knew I wanted to make a recipe modeled after fairy wings, since getting her wings is such a big moment for Thumbelina in both the story and the movie. Originally my plan was to make wing-shaped sugar cookies decorated with royal icing, but plans changed for the better, as they often do when I’m allowed to turn them over in my head awhile.
As I tried to figure out a way to incorporate flowers into the recipe (since Thumbelina marries the king of the flowers), I thought of switching the topping to homemade floral jam. Then it hit me: THUMBprint cookies!
This was perfect for 2 reasons:
1) Since I’m only posting on a monthly basis this year, I try to make my recipes pull double duty whenever possible. Making thumbprint cookies means I can share recipes for cookies AND jam in one post.
2) With Illinois’ current shelter-in-place order cutting down my grocery trips and making certain ingredients hard to source, this recipe only uses ingredients I already had on hand.
These floral flights of fancy are just right for Easter or Mother’s Day. Though I wouldn’t fault you for just enjoying them with a cup of tea and a book of fairy tales in a patch of long-awaited spring sunshine while you wait for the long days of quarantine to be over.
After all, times like this are what fairy tales were made for.
 A
Thumbelina’s Fairy Wing Thumbprint Cookies: An AWR Original Recipe
“Then all the flowers opened, and out of each came a little lady or a tiny lord, all so pretty it was quite a pleasure to look at them. Each of them brought Thumbelina a present; but the best gift was a pair of beautiful wings, which had belonged to a large white fly, and they fastened them to Thumbelina’s shoulders, so that she might fly from flower to flower.”
— Thumbelina
INGREDIENTS:
- For the Jam
- 1 lb frozen raspberries
- 1 Tbsp food-grade dried lavender buds
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- a pinch of salt
- For the Cookies
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup ground almonds (To make, toast 1/2 cup sliced almonds at 325° for 3-5 minutes, stirring halfway through. Allow to cool, then crush with a rolling pin. May yield slightly more than you’ll need.)
- Edible dried flowers or sprinkles, for decoration
Makes 8 thumbprint cookies and 1 cup of jam
INSTRUCTIONS:
-
- To make the jam, place all the ingredients in a medium sized pot. Break up the raspberries with a spatula. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain through a wire mesh strainer into a sealable container and allow to cool, uncovered, on the counter until the jam reaches room temperature. Cover and chill until ready to use.
- To make the cookies, preheat oven to 375°. Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer on medium speed until fluffy, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl if necessary. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then the almond extract. Gradually beat in the flour, then the ground almonds, stopping to scrape the bowl if necessary.
- Divide the dough into 32 balls of equal size (they should weigh 1/2 oz and measure approx. 1/2 inch across).
- Press your thumb into one ball. Remove thumb and pinch the bottom of the ball. Place thumb or index finger back inside the indentation and pinch the top. Use thumb or index to deepen the indentation and refine the shape. Repeat with 3 more balls. On an ungreased baking sheet, join the bottoms of the balls together, pressing well to adhere, making a joined pair of wings. If you have a bit of leftover dough (you most likely will if you weigh them out on a kitchen scale to get exact 1/2 oz balls), you can press a small circle of dough over where the cookies are joined. This will strengthen the bond and make the joint look a little cleaner. I didn’t think to do this until after the fact, so mine don’t look quite as tidy.
- Repeat Step 4 for remaining balls, keeping finished shapes at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheet (you may need 2 baking sheets). Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are set and just beginning to brown along the edges, rotating the pans halfway through.
- Remove cookies from oven. If the indentations have puffed up, press them down again with a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes. Using an offset metal spatula, gently remove cookies to a wire rack.
- Fill each indentation with 1/2 tsp raspberry lavender jam. To decorate, sprinkle crushed edible dried flowers or sprinkles over the jam. Allow to cool completely on the rack.
With flowers
With Sprinkles - Serve to a tiny fairy princess!
If decorating with flowers, make sure the flowers you use are food safe and free of pesticides. All I had were dried rose petals and a few leftover lavender buds from the jam, but I think using more lavender on top makes the flavor too overpowering. Instead, I recommend using something more mild like cornflower or marigold.
Check out my other fairy tale recipes! 🙂
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