Steps

• Mix the slightly softened butter in a bowl.

  

• Add the egg yolks passed through a sieve or strainer, the fine salt, vanilla, and powdered sugar.

  

• You need to obtain a well-mixed cream.

  

• Now add the flour and cornstarch. Mix first with a fork or spoon, then knead it with your hands on a pastry board. You need to obtain a soft ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge for at least half an hour.

  

• Take the dough out of the fridge, place it on a floured parchment paper and roll it out with a rolling pin to a height of about 1/5 inch.

  

• Cut out the shapes on the parchment paper. The hat has a brim about 6.5 inches wide and is about 6 inches high.

  

• The broom is 3.5 inches wide and 4.7 inches high, the handle is 4.7 inches long. This is just to give an idea of the sizes of the shapes. Place them on the rolled-out dough and cut them out with a knife.

  

• In addition to the broom and hat, I added candies, a candy cane, and Ovis Mollis cookies. Decorate the broom, hat, and other items with different colored jams, as in the picture or following your creativity.

  

• Preheat the oven to 338°F, bake and cook for about 10 minutes. Check the baking, it might take a little longer for the Ovis Mollis cookies. Take them out and once cooled, decorate with a gray or black water glaze, some details as in the photo. To prepare the glaze, dissolve a tablet of vegetable charcoal in very little water, add it to the powdered sugar and mix well. Add a little water at a time until you get a consistency that is neither too dense nor too runny.

  Befana is coming!