Kinuskikissa’s Runeberg Cakelets

Recipe

Dough
75 g gingerbread cookies
4 dl wheat flour
2 1/2 dl almond flour
1 1/2 dl almond flakes
1 tbsp ground cardamom
2 tsp baking powder
250 g butter
3 dl sugar
4 eggs
2 dl light cream
1/4 tsp bitter almond essence

Filling
400 g raspberry jam

For Greasing
Soft butter
Almond flour

For Soaking
2 3/4 dl water
2 tbsp sugar
1 dl lemon juice (or rum or almond liqueur)

For Piping
1 1/2 dl whipping cream
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar

Bows
Kinuskikissa’s soft pink vanilla fondant (250g)

Instructions

Dough
Grind the gingerbread cookies in a food processor or with a mortar, or rolling pin. Mix the cookie crumbs with the wheat flour, almond flour, almond flakes, cardamom, and baking powder. Whisk the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, beating well between each addition. Gradually add the dry ingredients and cream alternately, mixing until smooth. If desired, flavor the dough with bitter almond essence.

Baking
Grease the mini cake tin with soft butter using a silicone pastry brush. Dust with almond flour or breadcrumbs. Spoon the dough into the tin, spreading it evenly. Add the raspberry jam on top, ensuring it stays inside the dough. Cover the jam with more dough.

Bake
Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then invert onto a cooling rack. Clean the tin and bake the remaining dough in the same way.

Soaking
Place about 1 dl of the water needed for soaking in a small saucepan with the sugar. Heat until the sugar dissolves, then add the rest of the cold water and lemon juice (or rum or almond liqueur). Soak the cakes by gently dipping them into the soaking liquid. Let the cakes rest on a serving plate.

Decoration
Place the cream and sugars in a bowl and whisk into soft peaks (for this nozzle, the whipped cream should be slightly softer than usual for piping). Transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a fine-star tip. Pipe small rosettes onto the cakelets.

Roll the pink fondant into a thin sheet and cut into narrow strips with a knife. Shape the strips into small bows to decorate the cakes.