Eiffel Tower Cookies

I suppose you could consider this somewhat of another trip post, although I did make these cookies here at home. While I was away, I went into a beautiful kitchenware store (actually one of many) that sold a vast selection of unique cookie cutters. Among them was the Cologne Cathedral and one of my favorite famous landmarks, the Eiffel Tower. It's funny because this store actually was not in France at all, but in Germany. However, I assure you I did soon after visit the actual site of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In Paris, you can buy just about anything with the Eiffel Tower on it, or shaped as such - from plates to towels, to snowglobes, clothing, dry pasta, bedding - you name it! The Eiffel tower is surely a beautiful and iconic landmark. Therefore, Eiffel Tower merchandise is available in many places outside of Paris as well. Come to think of it, upon my return home I've begun to notice while shopping here how many Eiffel tower things there are to purchase here as well. An Eiffel Tower shirt definitely does not signify you have been to Paris. I can now say I have, but I must admit, I had Eiffel Tower luggage before my trip.

Getting back to the cookies, this cookie cutter makes a lovely decoration. It stands up by itself or could also be hung from a string and displayed. such as on a Christmas tree. Although it's main purpose is to cut cookies, I wasn't sure the cookies would stay together with the intricate shape, but just had to try. Also on my list of things to try were linzer cookies, which are basically jam-filled butter sandwich cookies in shapes such that the jam appears through a small hole in the cookies. I've had these cookies before but never made them myself. 

So I whipped up a batch of dough and tried the cutter. At first the cookies weren't working, which is why you see one Eiffel Tower placed on top of a circle shape, but I think I had rolled the dough too thin. Next, the top half and the bottom half of the tower would not stay together in all the cookies, so I made these the top cookies in order to expose some of the jam. Finally I got the hang of it, by dipping the cookies cutter in flour between each cut, and cutting out the small diamond in the middle for the jam to show through. So the cutter does work well, though I'm not convinced the Cologne Cathedral cutter would have fared as well.