Leipziger Lerchen - Leipzig Larks

Leipziger Lerchen (Lerchen means larks in German) are a small shortcrust pastry filled with nuts and strawberry jam. The pastry cross on top symbolize the cross ties used to bind the stuffed animals and red berry jam symbolize either the heart or the blood of the bird. The name originates from a delicacy popular in the Leipzig, Germany until the 1870s. The dish used the lark which was roasted with herbs and eggs and served as a filling in a pastry crust. By the end of the 19th century, however, the larks population had so decreased that the shooting of larks was officially banned. A clever confectioner from Leipzig had the idea of helping preserve the larks by creating a new, sweet version of Leipziger Lerchen filled with nut cream and jam. He and his team consoled the saddened gourmets with this sweet treat, which has survived to this day. In addition to original Leipziger Lerchen, you can also find Lerchen made with different nuts and jams in bakeries.

Shortcrust Pastry	Filling
250 g Plain flour 125 g Unsalted butter, diced, and kept cool in the fridge 50 g Erythritol or sugar 1 pinch Sea salt 1 Medium egg 1 tsp Brandy	4 Medium eggs 120 g Erythritol or fine sugar 125 g Unsalted butter, softened 1 tbsp Plain flour 1 tbsp Cornstarch 200 g Ground almonds A few drops Bitter almond extract 150 g Jam of your choice

For the shortcrust pastry, sift the plain flour into a large bowl. Add in butter. Using your fingertips, lightly rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the erythritol or sugar and salt. Beat the egg and brandy together. Using a table knife, stir in the beaten egg mixture to make a rough dough, then turn out onto a lightly floured board and bring together into a ball. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
For the filling, separate one egg and set aside the yolk. Cream the butter and erythritol or sugar together. Add the egg white and the remaining 3 eggs and beat until fluffy. Add the flour, cornstarch, ground almonds and bitter almond extract and stir everything until combined.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Lightly brush 11-12, tartlet forms (6 cm in diameter) with little softened butter.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 4 mm and cut out 11-12 circles, roughly 9 cm in diameter. Form the remaining dough into a ball, roll it out and cut it into 6 cm long and 0.5 cm wide strips.
Press the dough circles into the greased tartlet forms and fill each one with 1 teaspoon of jam. Spoon the filling on top of the jam, then place the prepared strips of dough in a cross pattern on top of the filling.
Whisk the reserved egg yolk and brush the cross. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove the Leipziger Lerchen from the oven and leave to cool briefly. Remove from the forms and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.