Saint’s Bones, marzipan treat – Huesos de Santo

Instructions

FIRST DAY

Prepare marzipan.

1. In a bowl, add ground almonds together with powdered sugar, lemon zest, honey and 3/4 parts of water. Mix.
2. Observe the marzipan and continue kneading with your hands. Add the remaining amount of water, if necessary, and continue mixing. We must obtain a manageable almond paste that does not crumble. The final amount of water will depend on the degree of drying of the almond, the older it is, the more water it will need.
3. Form a cylinder, cover with cling film and let stand for 2 hours, ideally overnight in the refrigerator.

SECOND DAY

Prepare yolk pastry cream.

1. In a bowl mix the sugar with the cornstarch. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, add the eggs together with the water and mix very well with a whisk.
3. Pour into a medium saucepan through a strainer to remove the dense part of the eggs.
4. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture, place over medium-low heat, and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. It will take about 8-12 minutes.
5. Once the mixture begins to thicken, it will do so very quickly. For your guidance, the mixture will be ready when it has a temperature between 199º-204ºF/93º-96ºC.
6. Remove from the heat and pour the cream into a large bowl. The larger it is, the less time it will take to cool.
7. Cover with cling film and let it cool completely at room temperature. Once cool, refrigerate until the next day.

Prepare ganache.

1. You can see how to prepare chocolate ganache in this post.

Shape huesos de Santo.

1. Take the marzipan out of the refrigerator 2 hours before proceeding to form Saint's bones.
2. Cut half of the piece and cover the other half with film to prevent it from drying out.
3. Stretch with the help of an adjustable rolling pin to a thickness of 6 mm.
4. With the help of a square cutter of 6 cm, cut squares.
5. Sprinkle well with powdered sugar on both sides and place on the gnocchi board. Pass a rolling pin over it, the thickness of the marzipan will be reduced to 3-4 mm.
6. Cut again with the square cutter and remove the excess. This, we will join it to the rest of the marzipan that we have reserved.
7. With the help of a wooden stick of 1 cm in diameter, or the handle of a wooden spoon, roll the marzipan. We will do it carefully and trying not to remove the textured. Pay attention to the lines, they must be horizontally placed when we roll it, not vertically.
8. Once rolled, seal the joint well. We can roll, carefully, on the wooden rod itself.
9. Remove and place on a rack.
10. Repeat the same process with the rest of the pieces.
11. Once all the pieces are formed, let them dry overnight at room temperature. In my case, I left them uncovered for 6 hours and when I went to sleep, I covered them with a little film (only on top). We can use a cotton cloth if we prefer.
    

THIRD DAY

Filling huesos de Santo.

1. Put the fillings in piping bags with a smooth nozzle of 1 cm in diameter.
2. Place Saint's bone "upright" or straight, rest it on a plate or scraper (when we fill it, the filling will touch the work surface) and fill it with the piping bag.
3. If you wish, you can smooth the filling at both ends with the help of a spatula.
4. Place on a rack.
5. Repeat the same process with the rest.

Prepare the sugar glaze and frost.

1. In a bowl add the powdered sugar together with the water, depending on the desired density, add 4-5 tablespoons.
2. Mix very well with a whisk until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
3. Place a saint's bone in the glaze, cover well on all sides. You can help yourself with 2 forks to move it and take it out.
4. Drain the excess glaze very well and place on a wire rack. Keep in mind that icing will continue to drip until it dries.
5. Repeat the same process with the rest of the pieces.
6. Let dry at room temperature for 2-3 hours. Drying time will depend on the temperature and humidity in your home.
7. Carefully remove from the rack and serve.
8. To keep them, store them in an airtight container and refrigerate them.
   

Notas

• Marzipan can be made and used on the same day, if desired. Letting it rest helps to enhance the aromas, as well as allowing the almonds to hydrate well.
• When you stretch the marzipan and observe that cracks form, it is a sign that it needs more water. No problem, add a little more water, mix very well and stretch again. Another point that will allow us to know if our marzipan is too dry, is when rolling them. If they crack when we roll them on the wooden stick, we must hydrate the marzipan more. Be careful when integrating the water, do it little by little, kneading very well and observing how it behaves. We can always add more, but it is not easy to remove the excess. It can be done by adding more almonds and icing, but this would force us to calculate the quantities to maintain a good proportion.
• As we stretch, remove scraps, join... The marzipan will dry out. Most likely, you will need to add a little water. You can do it with your hands, a coffee spoon or a bottle.
• Originally Saint's bones are shaped with a special rolling pin. If you use to make them a lot, you may find it useful. In my case it is an elaboration that I make seasonally, so I use my gnocchi board (the stripes are closer together, but the result is nice). If you don't have this little board, you can mark the lines with the help of a wooden skewer.
• We must let the marzipan dry to be able to manipulate and fill it. In this case it is not necessary to bake it because it does not contain egg whites.
• I recommend mixing the cornstarch with the sugar before adding it to the egg mixture. This process avoids the risk of lumps forming.
• Yolk pastry cream has a very simple process of elaboration, but it requires care and patience when we are cooking it. Do not stop stirring the cream constantly to avoid lumps form or part of the cream sticks to the base and starts to burn, as this would spoil the texture and flavor of the would spoil the final texture and flavor. Maintain a medium low temperature during the whole process.
• They can be filled with whatever you like, in my case I leave you two options; yolk pastry cream and chocolate ganache. But they can be filled with candied spaghetti squash, sweet potato cream, pastry cream, pumpkin and spice pastry cream, coconut cream, any variety of ganache ....
• The outside glaze is very important, it helps to preserve the freshness of Sait's bone and helps the marzipan to remain very tender inside and crispy on the outside.
• Depending on the filling they contain, they will last longer or shorter. With yolk pastry we can keep them for 3 days in the refrigerator, with ganache, on the other hand, they can be kept for 6-7 days.

Archivado en

• Almonds
• Black Chocolate
• Lemon
• Yolk pastry cream