Christmas Cookies: Spritz or Cookie Press
Not such a secret: when you buy your cookie press, there will be recipes inside.
Here is an old faithful recipe from The Joy of Cooking, a very dry cookbook with solid gold information when you are an inexperienced cook. The ingredients and instructions are from the book, but the explanations I am adding for clarity. Ask questions if it doesn’t make sense!
Although learning how to use a cookie press may seem hard, it’s about as hard as painting your toenails – you figure out the tricks as you go along. The cookies LOOK so fantastic, and you look so clever for making them . . . don’t tell how easy it is.
And remember, one reason we do these cookies is because we can make the dough a day or two ahead when we have a couple minutes, and stick it in the refrigerator in an air-tight container, and then just cook up a batch when we have the time.
I personally think they look better when you use strong food coloring, so don’t skrimp on the green or the red. It helps make your cookie platter look more festive.
Try one batch this year, just to get the hang of it. Double or triple next year, when you have more confidence in your cookie-press skills.
Heat oven to 350 F/180 C.
Sift together:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising, not whole wheat)
3/4 cups sugar (the finest sugar you can find, if it is too coarse, grind it finer if you can because big sugar will give you problems getting through the press)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Blend in, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs:
1 cup butter
(The best thing for “blending in” would be a food processor, or an pastry blender.)
Break one egg into a 1/4 cup measuring cup. If the egg does not fill the cup, add water until it equals 1/4 cup.
Stir egg into crumb mixture, and add 1 teaspoon vanilla. This is also where I add the food coloring.
Beat well, then chill. Put about a cup and a half dough into cookie press and press onto UNGREASED cookie sheet. The dough should be pliable, but if it becomes too soft, re-chill it slightly. Don’t get discouraged at first . . . it takes a little while to get it to come out right, and to stick to the pan . . . keep at it. You’ll get it, just keep trying. Once you know how, you never forget.
Bake at 10 – 15 minutes.
These beautiful cookies in the photo are courtesy of about Southern food.com.
Christmas Cookies: Russian Tea Cakes
Note: Americans call these cookies. My British friends call them biscuits. Either name, they taste wonderful.
Who knows where these cookies really came from? The first cookbook I used to make them called them Mexican Wedding Cakes, later I have heard them called Swedish Tea Cakes, Sugar Nut Balls, Pecan Sandies . . . I bet there are more. Russian Tea Cakes is just the name I like the best.
These cookies are the easiest. If you only do one cookie this year, this one is it. They store easily – you can even store them in layers, as long as you use a piece of waxed paper between the layers, otherwish the moisture in the cookie will soak into the powdered sugar. And they melt in your mouth.
You will need at least two cookie baking sheets (flat or low lipped metal pans you find in the baking goods area) and two or more racks for cooling the cookies on. (A food processor helps this recipe go very fast. Chop the nuts first, empty into a bowl, then cream the butter and sugar.)
You will need powdered sugar, also called confectioners sugar – what a Godsend. I don’t even bother with a sifter, just use a good seive, put the powdered sugar in and tap the side of the seive with a spoon, and the sugar will sprinkle finely wherever you need it.
Heat the oven to 400 F/200 C. You don’t even grease the cookie sheets for these, because they have so much butter in them.
For these cookies, though, you have to cool them JUST ENOUGH, and then roll them in a small bowl of confectioner’s/powdered sugar. They have to be warm enough that the sugar wants to stick to them. Too cool and the sugar won’t stick so thickly. Too hot and you will burn your fingers!
1 cup butter, softened (a pint’s a pound the world round. That means that four sticks of butter make a pound, a pint is equal to 2 cups, so 2 sticks of butter equal one cup One stick of butter equals 1/2 cup.)
1 cup powdered sugar
When butter is softened, mix the butter and sugar together. You can do this with a fork, but it sure is easy in a food processor, or a mixer, especially if you are doubling or tripling this recipe. When butter and sugar are well mixed, add in the following:
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups white flour
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (pecans are wonderful if you can find them, and if they don’t cost an arm and a leg)
Now, take pinches about the size of a large date, or walnut, and roll them into a ball. When you put it on the cookie tray, flatten it slightly. I don’t know why. It’s just the way this cookie is made.
Pop the tray into the heated oven, set your timer for 8 – 10 minutes.
While the first batch is cooking, pour some powdered sugar in a small bowl.
Keep making balls, put them on the second pan while the first pan of cookies is baking. When the first batch is finished cooking, you can just pop the second batch in.
Check the cookies when the timer rings. They will be a light golden brown when they are ready. Take them out of the oven, and let them sit for about four minutes, so that they are warm, but not hot. Roll them in powdered sugar in a small bowl, and quickly put them on a rack until they are thoroughly cool. Do not pack them up until they are totally cool or they will absorb the powdered sugar when they are in the container.
This makes about 50 cookies. They are so easy . . . go ahead. Double the recipe.
You will see that I have given you a lot of extra instruction for your first time. Once you have done these and you know how easy they are, just use the bold, you won’t need all the blah-blah-blah!
I borrowed this beautiful photo from a website where you can BUY these cookies, so if you would rather buy the cookies, you can do it here.
Early Christmas Preparations
Did you know that Thanksgiving used to be earlier in November, and when it was moved to the 4th Thursday in November, the merchants objected because it shortened the Christmas shopping season? It seems to me that the season gets started earlier and earlier every year, in spite of the Thanksgiving change.
In Germany, many people used to put up the tree on Christmas Eve day. We usually put ours up around December 15th – we wanted to have the beauty in the house, but also wanted to be sure it would last without drying out and becoming a fire hazard. It was cold enough that we could buy the tree and keep it outside, and then put it up when we had the time and energy.
And our tradition was that the tree had to be down by the Feast of Epiphany, on January 6th, the day the church celebrates the Wise Men (probably Persians) who came seeking the small baby born in Bethlehem.
We are having a smaller Christmas this year. With my Dad so ill, I don’t have the psychic energy to go all out as usual. Last year, we were all together; Dad and Mom bought tickets for Christmas Eve Day for all of us, the huge entire family, to go see the Nutcracker Ballet together. It was hugely fun. The production was lively and beautiful and delightful, all our plans went smoothly, and then we gathered back at Mom and Dad’s for finger-food dinner and a cut-throat game of Hearts. So much laughter, so much fun.
So I have the packages wrapped and my husband, God bless him, will get them in the mail today to insure they will arrive in time for Christmas. Although we are not going back, our son and his bride will be with us for Christmas here in Kuwait – alhamdullah! In my heart, I think of her as “the Seaside bride” – they were married on a gorgeous late afternoon in April on a snowy white sand beach in Florida. She was glowing and beautiful. He was beside himself with happiness. It was one of the happiest days in my life.
It was a bright, sunny afternoon. The minister, in his black suit, had sunglasses on. When we posted the photos, all our friends asked if he was FBI. He looked like a “man in black”.
On our way to church last night, I saw people who already have Christmas trees up and ready, all lit up in their windows. I remember last year in Qatar, where the word “Christmas” is never mentioned in the ads; stores advertise “seasonal decorations”. We celebrated 50 years of the church in Kuwait last night, and I thank God to live in a sophisticated country, where we are free to worship the same God, but in our own way.
(Qatteri Cat thinking about getting ready for Christmas)
But for me, it’s still too early to put up a tree. It is too bright, too sunny, the Christmas tree looks diminished in the bright light. I have my boxes labled so I can pull out the early decorations first, without having to go through everything. Just a few baubles, a few little lights, and a little more next week.
(Thought I would go silver this year, courtesy of some cool stuff from IKEA, but it was too cold and hard, softened up by adding just a little additional color)
Christmas Cookies – Get Ready
It doesn’t have to be so hard. Yes, you are working. Yes, you have children. Yes, you have a million obligations, and the presents to buy and the presents to wrap and the presents to mail, and the cards to write.
Take a deep breath.
There’s an old joke. How do you eat an elephant? The answer? One bite at a time. Let that be your mantra. When you start breathing in short gasps, when you think you will never get it done, think “one bite at a time”.
Think about how much time is wasted at work. In those meetings, when the pompous so-and-so who is always bragging about her project, or the jerk is going on and on about what he has done, and it is pathetic, YOU can be organizing.
Here is the cool thing. When you write things down, you also get to check them off. Once you have written a bunch of things down, you also can see more clearly what comes first, what has more importance, what you can actually let go, and you can give them some sort of priority, on paper. You will be amazed how good it feels to be able to cross things off your list. Use notecards – you can quickly revise them. Save the used ones to savor after Christmas, to see how much you really did get done. You will be surprised – and proud.
So what are YOUR must-dos? Once you know what the must do’s are, you can draw a little time line . . .do today, do next week, do just before Christmas . . .write in when all the cookies are due. You know, your child’s Christmas party, the Lessons and Carols service, your husband’s office party, your office party. . .and you will be able to see when you need to get the majority of your baking done. Or the majority of your Christmas-goody buying. Who says you need to provide home baked cookies? Sometimes, you throw money at the problem.
But IF you are going to bake cookies – and it is a cool, easy thing to do if you have been making notes – let’s get it out of the way.
Advent starts next Sunday – so let’s plan to start the baking this coming Saturday.
What will you need? For sure you will need fine, white flour, and fine white sugar. For you in the US, that is a given, you don’t even think twice about it. For people in other parts of the world, sugar is not always so incredibly fine, or so white.
If you are facing that sugar problem, get a blender. Blenders make so many things so easy, they are cheap and they are a Godsend to the busy person trying to put together Christmas.
Pour that large grained sugar, a cup at a time, into the blender, and turn the blender on. It won’t give you the refined sugar of back home, but a good whirl will cut some of those larger lumps down into a sugar usable in cookie recipes like Spritz, where it has to be able to come through the press, and large lumps of sugar cause annoying hold-ups while you clean them out of the mold every time. it’s worth a few extra minutes, and you can just set aside a half hour one evening to whirl sugar. That’s it – you’re done.
As well as the flour and the sugar, you will need butter – lots of butter. Some people use other solid shortening, but folks – it’s Christmas. Nothing tastes like real butter. When you cook with real butter, they taste better, and you only eat one or two, because they satisfy you, instead of gobbling the whole bunch and having to start all over again!
You will need flavoring – vanilla for sure, almond flavoring and lemon flavoring if you are doind different kinds of cookies. Walnuts if you are doing Mexican Wedding Cakes/Russian Tea Cakes, which are where we will start because they are SO SO easy. You will need red food coloring and green food coloring. You will need confectioner’s sugar, lots of it. A little evaporated milk.
And you will need Tupperware containers. Well, not necessarily Tupperware, but some large containers, air-tight, for storing dough in the refrigerator and then for storing cookies you have made.
See, we are eating this elephant one bite at a time. On the way home from (work, picking up the kids, soccer practice, choir practice) you stop at the store and get the flour and sugar and walnuts and flavorings – you know what you need because you have your LIST! Wooo Hoooo! In and out of the supermarket in a flash, and on your way back home.
Leave a couple sticks of butter out (in the microwave if you have a cat – cats will lick the butter if you leave it out) to soften while you fix dinner. Feed the kids, get the dishes out of the way and quick – before you fall down in exhaustion! – mix up a batch of cookie dough!
Here’s what I suggest:
Russian Tea Cakes
Spritz Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Candy Cane Cookies
That is all. Russian Tea Cakes are so so easy, especially with a food processor. Mix the dough one night, roll the cookies and bake another night – see? One bite at a time. Here’s the trick – the Russian Tea Cakes will all be snowy white, from the confectioner’s sugar on the outside.
Make two different kinds of Spritz cookies – yes, you can. The cookie presses are CHEAP and they last for years. You will need to get the feel of it, but that just takes a little practice. You can do it. The secret is keeping the dough in the refrigerator and popping it through the press is it is cool enough to stick together.
So you make a triple batch of Spritz cookie dough, and divide it into two portions. Color one portion green – and use a lot of green food coloring so the color will be strong and you can make trees. The other portion can be used for wreaths, or whatever you want to choose. You will be surprised how quickly you can make a variety of cookies with the Spritz cookier maker. (yes, I will post these cookie recipes – right now, we are still making lists. We won’t bake until this weekend.)
Now come the sugar cookies. Again, double the recipe, make it one night so it will be all ready to go when YOU have the time. If you have children and want them to have Christmas Cooky experience, sugar cookies are where you want them to spend their time. Let them roll out the dough and cut a cookie or two – most kids will lose interest in a very short time, but they will remember that they helped! π
Again, key to the PERCEPTION that you have done a lot of baking is that we will glaze these cookies with three colors of icing, one set white (like stars) one set green (like trees) and one set red (like reindeer). Sugar cookies are a pain to make, lots of fiddly work, but they are big and showy, and worth the morning it takes to get them done. They go a long way.
Candy Cane Cookies – the dough is a lot like sugar cookie dough, you divide the recipe in half, color one half red, twist lengths of these together, form into candy cane form and bake. Voila!
You’ve baked four kinds of cookies in three different colors.
You buy sturdy paper plates (and raid the post-Christmas sales at the party supply stores this year to stock up on these) so that you don’t have to worry about getting your plate back, and you put a few of each of these cookies on the plate. You will be amazed at how good it looks, with the different cookies on the plate, and how easy it was.
Above recipes will follow. I will even include one special recipe for extra credit – Swedish Rosettes. You will need to find a Rosette Iron, which usually comes with two disks, always one lacy round one, and often one for a shell that can be filled. It takes a couple hours, but the results are amazing. You get to do that one because you made your lists, did a little bit of prep here and there, got the cookies baked and even have a little extra time to dance for joy. Go for it!
The cookie press and the rosette iron are both from Amazon.com, only because I couldn’t get any other photos to print. There are other sources – cooking.com, maid of scandinavia, etc. These are tools worth the small investment – you use them year after year.
But remember, this is extra credit, not required. You can do it next year!
Stocking Your Kitchen
When my husband and I married, he took me grocery shopping. Bags and bags later, I said “we have to come back for spices.” He thought to himself “salt. pepper. How complicated can that be?” only to see another whole bag appear. He discovered a love of cooking, and cooks much fancier, more complicated dishes than I do. I still laugh at the day when he thought spices were just salt and pepper.
Here is the list I made for the newlyweds and independants in our family. What would you add? What are your staples in the kitchen?
Staples for Your Pantry
small cans of tomato paste
whole tomatos, 16 oz cans
tomato sauce, 16 oz. cans
artichoke hearts, 16 oz. can
evaporated milk
powdered milk
Dream Whip
olive oil
cider vinegar
red wine vinegar
balsamic vinegar
canned tuna
1 can crab (opt)
1 can smoked salmon (opt)
1 can shrimp (opt)
1 can chunk pineapple
1 can some kind of fancy fruit juice concentrate – raspberry, pomegranate, etc. (mix with soda water for a βdrinkβ when unexpected guests drop in)
1 package nice crackers
1 pkg chocolate chips
Soups – cans, packages
bouillon cubes (chicken, beef, veg)
Saltines (for queasy stomach and when there is no bread good with PB or tuna)
Baking Staples
flour (NOT self-rising)
fine white sugar
brown sugar
baking powder
baking soda
vanilla flavoring
almond flavoring
lemon flavoring
red food coloring
green food coloring
Spices
salt
pepper
cinnamon
thyme
sage
basil
marjoram
oregano
cumin
chili
cilantro
parsley
turmeric (makes things yellow)
Spices II Only if you are into cooking:
saffron
coriander
cardomon
ginger
cloves
Pasta
spaghetti noodles
lasagne noodles
stars/alphabets (small noodles)
penne noodles (for stronger sauces)
Freezer
cheddar cheese
mozarella cheese
hamburger
chicken breasts
leftover ham
leftover turkey
1 stick real butter
frozen spinace
frozen peas
individual biscuits
Refrigerator Basics
Milk
Eggs
Ketchup
sweet pickle relish
Mayonnaise
Butter spread
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (trust me)
cheddar cheese
Horseradish
Mustard (basic everyday yellow)
Really good French Mustard (opt)
jalepenoβs (if you use them)
Soda water (removes stains)
capers (opt)
sour cream (opt)
cream cheese (opt)
jam and jelly (your favorites)
chocolate syrup
tomato pesto (jazzes things up)
Thai chili sauce
soy sauce
Patricia Wells, France and Fallot Mustard
As I was scrambling through the Salmiyya Sultan, looking desperately for a few good ingredients on Thanksgiving morning, I stopped short in sheer wonder. There, on the shelves, here in Kuwait, were mustards by Edmond Fallot.
Monsieur Fallot makes the best mustards in the entire world. One year, we did a “French” turkey, slivered with a thousand slices of garlic carefully placed in a thousand tiny slits just under the turkey skin. It was magnificent. We served the turkey that year with a variety of Monsieur Fallot’s mustards.
We lived in Germany, and we often travelled to France for a couple weeks at a time, exploring different regions. We used lots of books, but the three we used most often for France were Patricia Wells Food Lover’s Guide to France, Patricia Wells Food Lover’s Guide to Paris, and a book published annually called Europe’s Wonderful Little Hotels and Inns.
We didn’t have a lot of money, but what we lacked in money, we made up in energy, optimism and research. We found wonderful places to stay, fabulous meals and affordable side trips. We lunched out of charcouteries and boulangeries, we dined demi-pension in Michelin “Red R’s” (good local food at reasonable prices.) We found ourselves in the Burgundy area again and again, and Patricia Wells led us to Monsieur Fallot’s mustard factory in Beaune. Click there for a virtual visit to his factory in preparation for your real time, in person visit.
As I stood there, transfixed, in the Sultan Center, I was back in Beaune, travelling in France with some history and “foodie” friends, and we made a special stop at M. Fallot’s factory, whose address was listed in the original Food Lover’s Guide to France I was using then. I am guessing he has asked NOT to have his address given any more, maybe he had too many visitors like us. We couldn’t get enough of his mustards – we stayed and watch him filling jars with many different kinds, and bought at least one of each variety. His mustard is the gold standard of mustards. Worth a trip to Beaune.
Except you don’t have to go to Beaune – you can find M. Fallot in the Sultan Center in Salmiyya, or in William-Sonoma if you are in the U.S. and in other parts of the world where you find fine condiments.
The latest edition I could find of the Food Lover’s Guide to France was 1987, for $1.99 used, through Amazon. The latest edition I could find of Food Lover’s Guide to Paris was 1999, and the cost, used, was $9.99, again through Amazon. (Disclaimer/Disclosure: yes. I do own stock in Amazon. Help me keep Amazon stock high, please. π ) I imagine some of the information in both books is outdated, restaurants have closed, newer, haute-er places are open, but I would still say they are worth the price.
Both guides list market days for various arrondisement/towns/villages, and for that alone, they are worth the price. Wells describes local specialities, and best of all, Wells is deliciously readable. Even if you don’t have a trip to Paris or France in your near future, Wells’ books are fun to read, and full of wonderful, valuable information.
The most recent edition I can find of Europe’s Wonderful Little Hotels and Inns on Amazon is 2003, but I know there are more recent editions because mine is 2004. It is edited by Adam & Caroline Raphael, and has hotels listed throughout Europe, not just France, although the lion’s share of hotels listed ARE in France. They range from budget to unbelievable luxury – and the twist is, this book is made up solely of recommendations from customers. Someone has to recommend the hotel, another has to second the recommendation, and readers keep the postings up to date. We have found some truly memorable hotels using this guide, hotels full of charm but affordable for the region. Most of the hotels were awesome. Even used, even outdated, one good hotel stay at a charming but reasonably priced hotel will pay the cost of the book.
How Thanksgiving Really Went . . .
The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally a HUGE shopping day in the U.S. Stores have sales that start at 7 a.m. in the morning, some even reward customers who get there at 6 a.m. People start putting up their Christmas decorations. Almost everyone is in calorie overload – no matter how much you tell yourself you are going to go light, you end up eating more than you intended.
The really good news is that leftover turkey and cranberry sauce make dynamite sandwiches. Pies are great the second day.
I didn’t do the pecan pie. When I went to make it, I didn’t have any Karo syrup, and you can’t make a pecan pie without corn syrup. We made an early trip to the Sultan Center, where they DID have those gorgeous huge Kuwaiti shrimp, (they were yummy) and I bought some corn syrup, but by the time I got home, I needed to focus on other things and didn’t have time to make another pie. I had made a plum pie the day before when I discovered I didn’t have corn syrup, and that would have to do. As it turned out, my friend had made THREE pies, two stunningly beautiful pumpkin pies with little leaves of pastry crust on them, and a cranberry/lemon pie that was a tart surprise, and a welcome change from all the sweet stuff. She also baked three kinds of bread – she is one talented lady. She made it all look so easy. Whew!
Pumpkin Pie with Autumn Leaves
My friend did the turkey, and it was PERFECT. She also did the gravy, and it, too, was perfect. I will have to learn her secret. She also made a smokey black bean soup that was to die for.
Balsamic Sweet Potatoes
Mom’s Roquefort dressing was a big hit, the cranberry jello was great, all the side dishes were great – something for everyone.
But I have to get the recipe for that smokey bean soup from my friend. . . WOW.
Best of all – good conversation with good friends, people you can be comfortable with.
My parents are doing OK, and were baking a turkey when I called and would be sharing Thanksgiving Dinner with my youngest sister and her husband. I give thanks they still have the drive to do their own Thanksgiving.
Enough of the Thanksgiving. . . time to move on. I want to thank all of you who had fun with this meal, who tried making even one dish – you inspired me. And I guess there is a need for easy recipes, because once I had put those recipes online, I was getting huge hits every day – the day before Thanksgiving, I had almost 700 hits. . . it was a huge shock.
I especially want to thank 1001 Kuwaiti Nights for her inspiration, and her questions. I don’t even know what I know, until I know what you don’t know! See her first Thanksgiving dinner at that link. What courage! To try a Feast and to bring it off! I especially love the after photo of her first Pecan Pie! Woooo Hooooooo, 1001!
Traditional Thanksgiving Day Greeting
To husband/father/son/brother/ significant other:
Choose one:
a) Sweetie,
b) Honey,
c) Snookums,
d) Lover Boy,
e) Daddums,
“______________ I need for you to run to the market before THE game starts and pick up some ______________.” (whatever you thought you had and you don’t, and you need desperately)
Deal Clincher:
If they whine about this being the only morning they get to sleep in, you say:
Dad/brother/son: “I’ll tell Mom!”
Husband or significant other: “I’ll make it worth your while!”
(Joke)
Happy Thanksgiving, hope your day is filled with the joys of family and friends.
Thank God for Never Fail Pie Crust
Never Fail Pie Crust
Honest, itβs true, this pie crust ALWAYS works – the secret is the very cold water. I always start by putting some ice in a cup and adding water, so it is really cold when I need it.
3 cups flour
1 cup Crisco
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 Tablespoon vinegar
Cut half of Crisco into flour with a pastry blender until pieces are very fine. Then cut in second half of Crisco until pieces are the size of peas. Beat egg and add 6 tablespoons cold water plus one tablespoon vinegar, add to flour mixture and form into ball. Break off 1/3 and roll out – this recipe makes three crusts.
REMEMBER – do not work the dough too much or it will toughen. Touch little, touch light.
The Final Blessing: Thanksgiving Desserts
Someone will almost always bring a pumpkin pie and/ or a mincemeat pie. There are variations, but it is always safe to use the recipe on the back of the canned pumpkin can for reliably good pumpkin pie, and by the end of a wonderful dinner, a lot of men just want good-ole-pumpkin pie, nothing fancy, you know, the way Mom used to make it. So go ahead, make one of the plain old pumpkin pies for him.
Libby’s Pumpkin Pie Recipe
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 (15 oz) can Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can Carnation Evaporated milk (12 oz)
1 Unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie shell
Mis sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a small bowl. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Stir in canned pumpkin and sugar spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell. Bake in preheated 425 F (220 C) oven 40 – 50 minutes or intil knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours and then serve or refrigerate.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Roll
This is a little more challenging, and you have to have a jelly-roll pan. Once you have done one of these roll things, though, you know it’s a whole lot easier than it looks. Yayyyyy.
This is a great Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert when you are sick of the same-old same-old desserts. Plus, one of these old fashioned rolled desserts always looks really fancy!
Cake:
Powdered sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped walnuts
Filling:
1 package cream cheese
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
6 Tablespoons softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15β x 10β jelly roll pan. Line with waxed paper, grease and flour paper (there is a reason!) Sprinkle a flat tea towel or dish cloth (flat woven, not terry cloth) with powdered sugar.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in a larger mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin, stir in the flour mixture. Spread evenly in prepared jelly roll pan, sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Bake 13 – 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake out of pan onto prepared tea-towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in samll mixer bowel until smooth. Carefully unroll cake, remove towel, and spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Roll cake back up again (it will want to be in the rolled position after cooling that way) Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
Soused Apple Cake
From Quail Country: The Junior League of Albany, Georgia.
If you don’t have brandy, don’t bother with this one – the brandy give it the punch, even though all the alcohol cooks off during baking. Kids hate this cake, adults love it.
4 cups cooking apple 2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup raisins 2 teaspoons baking soda
brandy 1 teaspoon nutmeg (grate it fresh, it matters!)
2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup salad oil 1/4 teaspoon mace
2 eggs 1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups flour whipped cream
Peel, core and finely chop apples; put into a bowl with raisins and cover with brandy, and soak overnight. Drain apples and raisins, set aside.
Combine sugar, salad oil and eggs. Set aside. Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and mace. Add to oil mixture. Mix in apples, pecans and raisins. Mix well and pour into an oiled 9 x 13 baking dish. Cook in 325 degree oven for 1 hour.
Cut into squares, serve topped with sweetened whipped cream. Yield 15 – 20 servings.
** I use a tiny bit of ground cloves instead of mace. I also have used all sorts of whiskeys and brandies, but my favorite remains calvados or . . . rum! It is one of my favorite recipes.
Pecan Pie
When I saw pecans during Ramadan, I bought them up, da*n the expense. Pecans! This recipe is also from Quail Country, by the Junior League of Albany, GA. It is permanently marked in my cookbook!
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 9-inch deep dish pastryt shell, unbaked
Beat eggs slightly; add sugar, corn syrup, salt and vanilla. Blend well, but do not overbeat; add butter. Stir in pecans. Pour into pastry shell. Bake in preheated 350 F (180 C) oven about 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Six servings.
OK, that (above) is the fail-proof recipe.
To me, it comes out very flat and thin, so I double the recipe and cook it in a French tart pan (large round glass or ceramic cooking pan with fluted straight edges), and then cut thin slices. This is very rich, very sweet.
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