Almond Crescents

These crescents ended up being perfect for our Esbat celebration! :) I first felt drawn to them because they are so small so they can be eaten practically in one bite during any ritual. But the symbolism of almonds also goes well with full Moon celebrations since several past cultures saw the almond, or rather the almond flower as a symbol of fertility and as you may well know, the full Moon represents the most fertile phase of the Goddess - the Mother aspect. In addition to this, almonds themselves resemble the yoni symbol (a Hindu symbol of femininity and the female sex organ). And it is unnecessary to discuss the symbolism of the crescent shape in Paganism. All of these factors affected my decision of choosing this cake for my last two Esbats. Since all the feedback I got was positive, I decided to share the recipe with you. :D

You Will Need:

• 200g butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 90g powdered sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 100g ground almonds
• 1 vanilla pod (or 1 bag of vanilla sugar i.e. 9g)
• 300g plain flour
• orange zest (from 1 orange)
• 80g sugar

How To Prepare:

1. Using an electric mixer, mix together softened butter, yolk, powdered sugar, salt, almonds and vanilla in a bowl (if this is your first time using vanilla pods, if you have decided on them rather than the vanilla sugar, it's important to note that you don't put the whole pod into the mix. You first have to cut the pod in half lengthwise, open it up and scrape out the vanilla beans into the mix). Add flour little by little and mix it all well.
2. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for half an hour.
3. In the meantime, grate your orange and mix the zest with the sugar.
4. Heat your oven up to 175°C.
5. Line your baking tray with baking paper.
6. Get the dough out of the fridge and form small crescents (their size depends on your preference).
7. Bake the crescents for 10-12 minutes until they get golden-brown (but be careful, they can get very brown very fast on the bottom and can remain quite pale on top so just take care not to let them burn on the bottom).
8. When they are done, roll the crescents int he orange-sugar mix. If you leave them to sit in it overnight then they will really absorb the aroma nicely. 

I recommend you serve some milk or orange juice to go with these cookies. They are great and can stay soft for days, although I don't doubt that they'll be all gone by tomorrow. ;)