Nougat Stars

Place the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the egg and scatter the butter, cut into small pieces, on top.

Quickly knead all ingredients into a smooth shortcrust pastry.

Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven: fan 160 °C (conventional 180 °C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Roll the dough out on a floured work surface to about 4 mm thickness and cut out stars.

Place the stars on the tray with some space between them.

Bake the stars for about 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely.

Melt the nougat in a bowl over a warm water bath and let it cool briefly until it is pipeable but not too runny.

Fill the nougat into a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip and pipe onto the cooled stars.

Decorate with a cocktail cherry if desired and allow the nougat to set.