Panallets / Panellets - Little Sweet Potato Bread

Similar to mazapan with a slightly soft sweet potato filling, panellets, a traditional dessert of the All Saints holiday in the Catalan Countries, date back to the 18th century, when they were used as blessed food to share after some holy celebrations. From www.eatcatalunya.com, posted for ZWT 5.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 4  ounces sweet potatoes
• 1  large egg
• 2  cups  ground almonds
• 1  cup  caster  superfine sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1  small lemon rind, finely grated
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 4  tablespoons pine nuts
• 4  tablespoons pistachio nuts, chopped
•  butter, for greasing

Directions

1. Dice the sweet potato, and cook it in a pan of boiling water for 15 minutes, or until soft. Drain and leave to cool. Preheat the oven to 400°F Line one or two baking sheets with foil and grease well with butter.
2. Put the cooled sweet potato in a food processor and process to make a smooth purée, then work in the egg yolk, ground almonds, sugar, lemon rind and vanilla essence to make a soft dough. Transfer the dough to a bowl and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Spoon walnut-sized balls of dough on to the foil, spacing them about 2,5cm/1 in apart, then flatten them out slightly.
4. Lightly beat the egg white and brush over the cakes. Sprinkle half the cakes with pine nuts, slightly less than 1 tbsp esach, and half with pistachio nuts. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Leave to cool on the foil, then lift off with a metal spatula.