Snowman Cookie

Mixing childish whimsy with all-grown-up sophistication, these gorgeously decorated cookies by Ricardo Rosas, head pastry chef at Faubourg (faubourg.com), are sure to impress. Note that the measurements below are in imperial volume and, as is typical of professional bakers, metric weight — it’s worth investing in a digital scale if you plan to do a lot of baking. Also note that fondant is available at some craft stores and specialty food shops such as Gourmet Warehouse.

Sable Breton:
2 1/2 cups (325g) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. (10 g) baking powder
½ tsp. (3 g) salt
1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter
1 cup, plus 1 tbsp (212 g) granulated sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, just seeds
6 large egg yolks (110 g)

Meringue:
½ cup (100 g) sugar
¾ cup (100 g) icing sugar
4 large, fresh egg whites (120 g)
1 tsp. (5 g) white vinegar
1 ½ tsp. (5 g) cornstarch

Chocolate royal icing:
1 ½ cup (200 g) icing sugar
¼ cup (30 g) cocoa powder
1 large egg white (30 g)

Decoration:
Orange fondant (or marzipan)
Black fondant
¼ cup (60 g) melted dark chocolate

Make the sablé reton: Sift flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.

Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla bean seeds in a mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add egg yolks one at a time until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Do not over mix.

Wrap dough in cling wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C).

Roll out dough to ¼-inch (0.5 cm) thick and cut out circles. Bake for about 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Make the meringue discs: Preheat oven to 265 F (130 C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine sugars and set aside. In the immaculately clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites to a soft peak. Gradually stream in sugar on medium speed, taking care not to get it all over the place. Turn to high speed and whip until glossy and stiff peaks form. This will take 6 to 8 minutes.

Gently fold in vinegar followed by cornstarch. These additions help ensure a better meringue in texture and look. Pipe flat circles onto parchment paper. To remove those unwanted centre peaks, just dip a finger in cold water and gently smooth them out.

Bake 45 minutes or until meringues slide easily off the parchment without breaking. A good meringue should also stay white. Allow to cool completely.

Make the chocolate royal icing: Combine ingredients until smooth.

Decorate the cookies: Spread chocolate royal icing over each cookie with a baker’s offset metal spatula. Top with a meringue disc.

Make a carrot nose out of marzipan dyed with a little orange food colouring or out of fondant. ("I prefer marzipan as it is much more tasty to eat!" says Rosas.) Fix it with a dot or melted chocolate. Pipe on eyes and mouth from melted dark chocolate. Add a scarf made out of black-coloured fondant.

Makes 24 cookies.

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