I still remember sometimes at the end of a Chinese banquet, we would get these round Chinese almond cookies with an almond embedded into them(when it wasn’t orange slices and/or fortune cookies). This recipe was my homage to those, but also combining it with a salted duck egg-creme brulee-type of situation. I had salted duck egg yolks on hand, and I love the combination of the rich, salty flavor with burnt sugar, something I have seen in a lava salted egg tart. When you add in the nuttiness of Chinese almonds, and you get something that embraces Chinese flavors, but is whimsical and slightly different. Chinese almond powder, which is kind of what almond extract tastes like, it made from apricot kernels, giving them a warming sweetness, unlike your standard almonds. The cookies themselves are made from shortbread dough that uses almond flour and Chinese almond powder, just to give them an undeniable almond flavor, and they are pressed with a mooncake mold to give them a different shape. That and by pressing out your shortbreads, you don’t have any wasted dough, unlike when you have to roll and cut out the cookies. I dusted the cookies with confectioner’s sugar, and bruleed them to give them a nutty, toasted flavor, while simultaneously a burnt sugar situation to temper any excess sweetness. These cookies were delicious, addictive, and while the recipe only makes 24 of them, trust me when I say that you might want to make a double batch since they are quick to go. One tip though, when you are bruleeing the cookies, make sure to do that on tin foil – I made the mistake of doing this on parchment, it became a game of how long can I get away with bruleeing before I set paper on fire.

Makes 24 cookies:
For the dough:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp Chinese almond powder
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 salted duck yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
whole almonds
confectioner’s sugar

In a bowl, mix flours, baking powder, almond powder, 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, duck yolk, and vanilla to form a dough. Chill the dough for 10 minutes before dividing into 24 pieces. Using a plastic mooncake press, press the dough into individual cookies. Transfer to a lined sheet tray. Brush the tops with some beaten egg yolk, then press on top of each a whole almond. Dust the tops with more confectioner’s sugar and bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes. Then using a blowtorch, toast the tops of the cookies until the sugar begins to caramelize.