Russian Tea Cakes (aka Mexican Wedding Cookies)
Joan Mathew
Someone here on the newsgroup was asking for this recipe, but I have, unfortunately,
lost the original post. Anyway, here are a couple of recipes that fit into that
category. The first is what the poster was actually requesting, and the second
recipe is something that I collected somewhere for a nice tea cookie. I must confess
that I haven't tried the second recipe, although it looks nice.
Joan
**********************************************************
Russian Tea Cakes (aka Mexican Wedding Cakes)
1 c Butter or margarine
1/2 c Powdered sugar
1 t Vanilla
2 1/4 c All-purpose flour
1/4 t Salt
3/4 c Finely chopped nuts
Powdered sugar
Heat oven to 400F. Mix margarine, powdered sugar and the vanilla. Mix in
flour, salt and nuts until dough holds together. Shape dough into 1"
balls. Place about 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until set
but not brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar while warm; cool.
Roll in powdered sugar again.
**********************************************************
Friesian Tea Cookies
For the dough:
150 g (5 oz or somewhat more than 1 stick) butter
90 g (3 oz) sugar
some vanilla
peel of 1 orange
1 pinch salt
1 egg yolk
250 g flour
To finish:
some flour to roll the dough
75 g (2 1/2 oz) coarse sugar
Knead a dough from the ingredients listed above. Divide the dough in
two parts and form each part into a roll about 2 1/4 in thick. Put the
dough in the refridgerator for at least 1 h.
Sprinkle the working surface with the coarse sugar and roll each dough
roll in it. Cut each roll in slices about 1/4 in thick and put the
disks on a buttered tray.
Bake cookies in preheated oven on 220C/ 425F for 12 to 15 min. Be
careful not to overbake, the cookies are not supposed to be brown.
cma...@iadfw.net
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1514
TarlaStar
cma...@iadfw.net (Joan Mathew) wrote:
>Someone here on the newsgroup was asking for this recipe, but I have, unfortunately,
>lost the original post. Anyway, here are a couple of recipes that fit into that
>category. The first is what the poster was actually requesting, and the second
>recipe is something that I collected somewhere for a nice tea cookie.
That particular original recipe for Russian Teacakes comes from "Betty
Crocker's Cook Book" page 273 (2nd printing, 1979). I can't help you
with the second one, sorry.
Here's another alternative Mexican Wedding Cookie recipe from "The
Complete Book of Mexican Cooking" by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 cup finely chopped pecans
salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 lb. butter, softened
Mix together the flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the nuts and a pinch of
salt. Stir in the vanilla extract. Work the butter in to the mixture
until it forms a cohesive ball, then shape the dough into small
patties. Lightly oil a large baking sheet and place the patties on it.
Bake them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the
patties are delicately brown.
Lift the cookies off the baking sheet and cool them slightly on a wire
rack. Dust them thickly with the remaining confectioner's sugar.
****
Dammit Jeb, I'm as Amish as the next guy, but if we don't take
out that sub, there won't be a Pennsylvania to go home TO!
--my son, Eric.
***
Rev. Mutha Tarla Star ://www.ionet.net/~bmyers/homepage.html
Diane M. Ferrell
TarlaStar (bmy...@ionet.net) wrote:
: cma...@iadfw.net (Joan Mathew) wrote:
: >Someone here on the newsgroup was asking for this recipe, but I have, unfortunately,
: >lost the original post. Anyway, here are a couple of recipes that fit into that
: >category. The first is what the poster was actually requesting, and the second
: >recipe is something that I collected somewhere for a nice tea cookie.
>OMITTED NOTE ABOUT MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES
I too missed the original post, but here is a recipe that was handed down
to me from my great-grandmother. Where she got it, I couldn't even begin
to tell you.
Kiflins
1 lb butter
1 lb margerine
9 cups flour
2 lbs almonds--about 3 cups chopped or slivered and crushed
1 1oz bottle of almond extract
4 tbsp pure vanilla
2 cups sugar
about 4 lbs powdered sugar
This recipe makes about 12 dozen cookies, but it is easily reduced in half.
Soften the butter and margerine and cream well. I usually put it in the
mixer on cream and then walk away for about 10 minutes setting up other
things or cleaning up. The butter mixture almost turns white and is very
fluffy after creaming it. Add the sugar, vanilla, almonds, and almond
extract and mix well. Add about half of the flour and mix well. Remove
from the mixer bowl and place the batter in a large (8 qt) bowl. Add the
remaining flour one cup at a time mixing with your hands or a heavy
wooden spoon. This is a very thick dough--even thicker than chocolate
chip cookie dough--and the last two cups will probably have to be mixed
in by hand. The dough should be slightly oily, not dry, and pull away
from the sides of the bowl.
To form the cookies: You can either make a ball about 1 1/2" in
diameter--make sure it is smooth with no cracks--or make a log about 2
1/2" long and 3/4" thick. Pat down flat and form into a crescent, but
don't make the tips of the crescent sharp. They should be smooth and
rounded. You can get about 30-35 of the crescents on a large baking
sheet. Do not oil the sheet, just wipe with clean wax paper. Bake at
350 for 10 minutes. The top should be beige and the bottoms should just
be starting to turn golden. Remove from the oven and let sit on the
baking sheet for a few minutes as they are very soft and if you remove
them right away they tend to break.
Have ready two large baking pans with about 1 lbs of powdered sugar in
each. Place the hot cookies in one baking pan and cover with powdered
sugar. Let them cool a little bit in the powdered sugar. Remove them
and place in the second baking pan and gently roll in powdered sugar.
When they are totally cool you can place them in a plastic container with
a tight seal and place the cookies in layers.
In between each layer sprinkle a little more
powdered sugar on top them place a sheet of wax paper in between each
layer. These freeze quite well and will keep for a year in the freezer
if wrapped well without losing flavor or texture.
You can also add about 2 shots of amaretto to the dough mixture and it
won't change the smooth texture. I even added 4-5 tsp of baking powder
one time by mistake and they simply came out great. This is a really
forgiving recipe.
Hope you enjoy.
Diane M. Ferrell
dfer...@mail.uccs.edu
START BY DOING WHAT IS NECESSARY; THEN DO THE POSSIBLE; AND SUDDENLY
YOU ARE DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE. (St. Francis of Assisi)