Diamonds

If you haven’t heard of diamonds yet, then it’s high time you tried this recipe! They are so crispy, airy and especially vanilla… Their shape actually resembles the top part of a diamond. They shine with their delicious crystal sugar crust and reassure with their rich and fragrant smell. They are the dry petit fours par excellence, of the jewels of French pastry.

The name alone makes my mouth water!

I first prepared them when I was thirteen, before leaving for a school trip to London. I had a bunch of them in my backpack. I searched and compared several recipes before discovering later that their crumbly, almost flaky texture (like other dry petit fours) was due to a certain amount of butter (yes, they are rich!) but also and especially to the way the dough was worked. It must be homogeneous but above all not overworked.

Recipe for “diamonds”:

-100g of sugar

-1/2 teaspoon liquid vanilla

-1 vanilla bean

-90g of salted butter

-150g of soft butter

-325g of flour

-crystal sugar (to coat the diamonds)

Start by mixing the sugar and soft butters. The easiest way is to prepare the dough in the bowl of a Kitchenaid or Kenwood food processor. There is a reason for this, the diamonds will have this lightness, will be almost flaky if the dough is mixed quickly. And the advantage of the robot is that this operation is very fast! But you can do it manually!

If you have a robot, you have to use the “sheet”.

Add the liquid vanilla.

And the vanillin contained in the pod.

Bernard’s advice
You can keep the emptied pod and put it in the hermetic box where you will keep the diamonds. They will then have an even richer fragrance.

Mix well to obtain a creamy consistency.

Add the flour all at once, this is when you don’t want to overwork the dough.

The flour must be just incorporated, you must not insist more.

Form the dough into 2 balls of 3 cm in diameter, and wrap them in cling film. It is perfectly possible to freeze these puddings, or just one of them at this time.

If not, let the dough rest in a cool place for 30 minutes, then take it out 10 minutes before using it. This way, it will be firm on the inside, but a little more pliable on the outside. This is what we want, because the dough is coated with crystal sugar.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Place granulated sugar on the work surface. I make it on a parchment paper.

Roll the boudin in the sugar evenly. The shape of the sausage can then be improved by rectifying its disparities.

Cut slices of 1 cm.

Bernard’s advice
It is absolutely necessary to make slices of 1 cm and not less, because it is this thickness which confers this so particular diamond shape. If the petit fours are too thin, they will look like classic shortbread.

Place diamonds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Space them at least 3 cm apart.

Bake at 200°C for 13-14 minutes, watching regularly at the end. They should be lightly browned.

Let cool on a rack before eating.

The diamonds keep very well in a perfectly sealed box (with the vanilla bean emptied for more vanilla!).