I made these hedgehogs filled with angel hair (a Spanish sweet preserve made from squash) with a lard shortcrust pastry and very little sugar. The pastry goes beautifully with the filling, which is very sweet: crisp on the outside and tender inside.
Although angel hair keeps for a long time, I wanted to use up some I had left over from this recipe (in Spanish), and to try out my new hedgehog cutter.
Ingredients for 18 angel hair-filled hedgehogs
Lard shortcrust pastry
- 250 g plain flour
- 100 g lard
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 small glass of cold water
- 1 pinch of salt
Put the flour in a large bowl, mix in the baking powder, sugar and salt, then add the lard in small pieces. Rub together until it looks like sawdust; it’s best not to use your hands so the dough doesn’t warm up. Add the egg and the water in three additions, form a ball, cover and leave somewhere cool. Place the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll it out to 3–4 mm thick. Cut out with a hedgehog-shaped cutter.
Filling
- 2–3 heaped tbsp angel hair
Use a cocktail stick to mark an eye on half of the hedgehogs, and place the other half on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Put a teaspoon of angel hair in the centre of each biscuit, as in the photo, and moisten the edge. Cover with the marked halves and press the edges to seal so the filling doesn’t escape.
Finishing
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3–4 walnut halves
Chop the walnuts finely with the sugar in a coffee grinder or mini chopper. Brush the hedgehogs with a little water and scatter the chopped walnuts over the top.
Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 12–15 minutes, until lightly golden, then cool on a wire rack.
