Amerikaner - an old German pastry

It may be an odd name for a delicious piece of pastry. And it does not originate in America.

It is a light crumbly pastry  in a UFO shape which was made with the Ammoniumcarbonate as the leavening agent. The first name of this pastry was Ammoniker, no one could remember that. Someone came up the name Amerikaner, because the helmet of the soldiers during WWI looked a bit like it.

Pumpkin is usually not used in baking this pastry. But a little veggie in a sweet pastry is great for the conscience.

recipe for 25 mini or 8 regular size ones:
250 g pumpkin peeled and chopped into cubes
water and salt for cooking

100 g room temperature butter
180 g sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla paste
250 g flour
2 tsp Ammonium Carbonate or Cream of Tartar
1 pinch Raz al Hanut
1 pinch nutmeg

glaze:
200 g icing sugar
2- 3 tbsp milk
1 tsp cinnamon

Cook the pumpkin in a small pot for 15-20 min. Drain and mix the pumpkin into a puree.
Cool down.
Heat up the oven to 180 C.
In a big bowl beat the butter until White and creamy, add the sugar. Then egg and vanilla paste. Now fold the pumpkin puree in. In a small bowl mix the rest of the ingredients and add to the other bowl. The dough should be thick and gloopy.

Use a baking sheet with baking paper and an ice cream Scoop. Put dollops on the paper and space them one Inch at least.
Bake for 12 min, they should be yellow brown but not dark. Cool them on a wire rack.

Make the glaze and paint the flat side thick. You can add a bit of cocoa powder to some of the glaze and make some colourings. Let that dry.