The saying goes that to know what Murcian history tastes like, it is enough to eat a cordial. And this is so, because the cordial are one of the most characteristic Christmas desserts in the Region of Murcia, especially in areas such as the Cartagena fieldTorre Pacheco or Beniel, among others, and one of the snacks that cannot be missing from the Christmas tables in this region.
The almonds and angel hair are the main ingredients of this Christmas sweet that every year fills the houses of Murcia, and whose birth, like other sweets, was created within the walls of a convent, although its origin is lost in the history of the region between its Jewish and Arab roots .
The cordials are a delicate dessert, where sweet flavors are balanced in such a way that they are an exquisite snack.
We’ll start in a bowl mixing the almond flour and granillo. Add the sugar and lemon zest. Mix everything with a spatula. Add the slightly beaten egg and begin to mix all the ingredients well with very clean hands until a thick but homogeneous mass is formed.
To form our cordials. Go scooping up small portions of dough and we shape it into a ball with our hands, as if it were a meatball. we crush it with our hand a little by making an incision in the center. In the hole that is formed, we put a teaspoon of angel hair.
We are closing the ball so that the filling is completely covered. We place some wafers on an oven tray, or we do have individual mass wafers, one for each cordial formed. We place each cordial on top of the wafer, with the closure facing down. We mold the ball in the shape of a pyramid.
Sprinkle a little sugar on top of each cordial and bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.
Once baked, we remove the excess wafer with our fingers, so that only the wafer remains at the base of the cordial.
We can sprinkle them again with icing sugar if we have a sweet tooth.
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With what to accompany the cordial Murcians
The Cordial Murcians They are a sweet that can be consumed during the after-meal meal, accompanying coffee and liqueurs. Being a Christmas dessert, it is usually served together with other typical sweets of the time, such as marzipan, sugared almonds, shortbread and nougat.
The cordials can be enjoyed throughout the year, yes, once you prepare them, it is recommended consume them within five days after their completionsince having a very humid filling, they spoil easily, softening and losing their sweetness.
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