Crunchy biscuits filled with white chocolate and mastic cream

A delicious little sweet treat to serve your guests or to accompany your tea and coffee any time and in any season! The cream is light and so fragrant thanks to the distinctive but elegant aroma of the mastic which makes these macaron-like biscuits really special!! Just a small but useful tip from Mr. Parliaros to make the cost lower: the store-bought ground almonds come cheaper than to buy blanched almonds and then ground them at home. The main reason is that the companies selling the ground almonds have already taken out the precious oil these nuts have (for other uses)!!

Recipe of Stelios Parliaros,

a prominent Head Confectioner

from "Gastronomos" magazine of "KATHIMERINI" newspaper (2010)

Ingredients (for about 700gr.)

For the biscuits:
135gr. of blanched ground almonds
230gr. of granulated sugar

10gr. cocoa powder, unsweetened
120gr. of egg whites (from 4 medium eggs)
icing sugar to dust

For the filling:
200gr. of good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
120gr. of crème fraîche (35% fat)
4 drops of mastic oil or 1/4 tsp of ground mastic

Method:

For the filling:
Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl.

In a saucepan warm the crème fraîche and the mastic oil (or ground mastic) on medium heat and when it comes to the boil pour it over the chocolate.

Stir the ingredients with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth mixture. Leave the bowl in the fridge until the mixture is settled having the consistency of butter.

For the biscuits:
Preheat the oven to 180° C. Line an oven tray with baking paper.

In a large bowl mix well the ground almonds with 180gr. of the granulated sugar, the cocoa and 60gr. of the egg whites.

In another bowl beat with a whisk (or a hand mixer) the rest of the egg whites with the rest of the granulated sugar into a stiff meringue. Incorporate the meringue into the first mixture, gently mixing with a spatula.

Empty the mixture into a pastry bag and form on the tray round discs of about 3-4 cm diameter (you can also use a teaspoon but in that case the biscuits will not be so equal in size).

Sprinkle the biscuits with the icing sugar and put in the oven. Bake for 12 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave aside to cool completely on a rack.

Then stick two biscuits together (the flat side inwards) with the filling in between to create small sandwiches.