The Sweet Tree of Life is a composition of shortcrust pastry cookies of various sizes to celebrate love.
In fact, the tree that has always symbolized rebirth, prosperity, and the strength of life that is born, grows, and reproduces is often given as a gift in the form of small plants or objects when celebrating a union or a special occasion .. a baptism .. a graduation .. a job promotion, etc. .. in short, it is a symbol of good fortune.
Making one with your own hands is really simple and fun to do .. I would say almost relaxing .. because all you have to do is draw the trunk on a sheet of parchment paper and then cut out the shape on the rolled-out shortcrust pastry. With heart-shaped cutters of various sizes, you create what will be the foliage of the Sweet Tree of Life, and once cooked, they are filled with creams and jams and assembled as desired.
I had frozen part of the shortcrust pastry, about 9 oz, when I made the sweet nachos (before adding the colored sprinkles), and so to celebrate Valentine’s Day, I thought of creating this sweet composition I saw a long time ago online.
If you also want to have fun and make a different but very appreciated gift, follow me in the kitchen where I’ll show you some steps to make the Sweet Tree of Life.
READ THE NOTES AT THE END OF THE RECIPE
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2 to 4 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 340.39 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 48.88 (g) of which sugars 20.51 (g)
- Proteins 5.56 (g)
- Fat 14.46 (g) of which saturated 9.04 (g)of which unsaturated 5.17 (g)
- Fibers 0.91 (g)
- Sodium 13.75 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 1 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 egg
- as needed vanilla (extract or pulp)
- orange zest (or grated lemon)
- red food coloring (a pinch)
- Nutella® (as desired)
- mixed berry jam (as desired)
- pistachio spread (as desired)
- pistachio granules (as desired)
- powdered sugar (as desired)
Tools
- Cookie Cutters
Steps
The steps for making the basic shortcrust pastry can be found by clicking here
To make the red shortcrust pastry, after making the basic one, take a small piece (depending on how many little hearts you want to make), roll it out and put a pinch of powder colorant in the center; fold it several times until it becomes evenly red.
– Place the parchment paper template of the trunk (the written side should not come into contact with the dough) on the rolled-out shortcrust pastry to about 1/8 inch and cut out. Also, cut out hearts of various sizes.
– Place the trays in the fridge and preheat the oven to 350°F. Once the temperature is reached, bake for 12/13 minutes at most, being careful not to let them brown too much.
– Once the cookies are baked and cooled, do a trial on the plate to see how the composition will look and take a picture of it.
– Then position the trunk in the center of the plate/tray and fill the cookies as desired, repositioning them as in the photo taken previously.
Notes for the Sweet Tree of Life:
– The cookies can be filled as desired with just one type of filling, and some can be left plain.
– It’s not necessary to color the shortcrust pastry red; I had the colorant and tried it. Just a small pinch is enough. (Unfortunately, the phone was dead, and I couldn’t take pictures of the steps, but it’s simple like working with clay).
– You’re sure to have leftover cookies unless you decide to make a big tree. The trunk of my Sweet Tree of Life is approximately 5 inches long, and I drew it freehand.
