Monday, July 20, 2015

Lemon Iced Cookies and Lemon Shortbread Truffles


This was a week of garden parties and I was asked
to make these lemon cookies from Cook's Illustrated.
I am always a little nervous about making something
I haven't made before, but these turned out beautifully.

I have never liked refrigerator cookies as they don't stay
round and beautiful so I searched the internet for ideas
and someone suggested using a paper towel roll to
refrigerate the cookies in so that they retain their
roundness.


That worked perfectly.  I shaped the cookie dough into a log
and then wrapped it in parchment paper and placed it inside
the paper towel roll which I had opened up down the center
with a scissors.  


Yes!!  Nice and round refrigerator cookies.


The garden party had been scheduled for June but was rained
out.  I had promised that I would sugar some of my flowers
to top the cookies with, to add to the garden theme.  Well,
a month later, I hadn't pulled any of the pansies in the shady
areas, and I was able to have enough flowers to sugar for
two batches of cookies.  I added a few rose petals in to get
the pretty pink flowers, and I sugared some mint leaves.
The mint leaves are so fun, they are like a piece of mint candy. 


People thought they were too pretty to eat.  I 
had no problem eating a few.  These were perfectly
 lemon and soft and wonderful!

Lemon Iced Cookies Recipe

3/4 C. granulated sugar
2 T. grated lemon zest plus 2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 3/4 C. unbleached flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
12 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large egg yolk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Glaze
1 T. cream cheese, softened
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar

In a food processor, pulse the sugar and lemon zest until
the sugar looks moist.  Pulse in the flour, baking powder 
and salt.  Then add the butter and pulse it until it looks like
fine cornmeal.  In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice, egg yolk and vanilla.
Pour that in and pulse until mixed thoroughly and the dough forms
a ball.

Remove and roll into a log about 10 inches long.  Wrap the
log in parchment paper and place inside a paper towel roll
that has been cut lengthwise down the center.  Place in
the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.

Heat the oven to 350 and cover pans with parchment paper.

Slice the log of dough into 3/8 inch slices, turning the log a
quarter turn with every slice so the log doesn't flatten.
Place the cookies on the parchment paper and bake for 12-13
minutes.  I like a soft cookie with no brown edges.  They 
suggest baking at 375 for 14-16 minutes or until edges
are brown.  Everyone likes their cookies different, so adjust
your heat and cooking time.  I won't eat a cookie that has a
brown edge, so I chose lower heat and a lower cooking time.

Let cool on pan and then remove.

Stir the ingredients for the glaze together.
They call it a glaze, but it was more like a frosting.
Spoon a little on each cookie.  Garnish as desired.
I garnished with sugared flowers.
Refrigerate since there is cream cheese in the frosting.





Sugared Flowers

Choose fresh flowers and mint leaves that are pesticide free.
Rinse the flowers in a bowl of water.

In a small bowl, mix 2 T. water with 2 tsp. Just Whites - a powdered
egg white product that you can find in your baking aisle.
Mix it well, it will be lumpy at first, but keep mixing with
a fork or a small whisk.  When it is mostly blended,
pour it through a fine sieve.  You don't want lumps.

Dip both sides of the petal in the egg white mix, then gently blot off
any excess egg white mix.  You don't want blobs of sugar created by
too much liquid on the flower.
Hold the petals or leaves over a small bowl of sugar
and  sprinkle sugar on both sides.  Lay on parchment paper to
dry several hours or overnight.


I also brought Lemon Shortbread Truffles for
this garden party, and they were topped with
sugared violets that I had done earlier in the spring.


I had already blogged about these before, but they turned
out so much prettier with the violets on top, I had to
show them to you again.



(The table with the delicious Spa Waters made by Rache,l and my treats, before
more cookies and watermelon slices arrived.)

The party was at my friend Karen's beautiful home and yard.  Karen is a Master Gardener and taught us about Cottage Gardening.  Her yard is such a joy to be in.  She loves
to spend hours in her garden and even has an aviary.

It was such a treat to be taught about gardening by Karen,
and to share in the beauty of her home and garden. 

I hope you give these wonderful cookies a try.  You don't
have to have sugared flowers on top for them to taste fantastic.
There is just something about lemons and summer!!

I will be posting this with


Jacqueline
Jacqueline

Chocolat - French for Chocolate. I adored chocolate from a young age when I had to sneak in the cupboard to find where my mother had hidden the Nestle's Chocolate Chips. Having read about the famous chocolat shoppes in Paris, when I finally got there I was determined to try a chocolate from every Paris shoppe. I invite you to share my adventures in creating, in travel, and in life.

12 comments:

  1. Yammie!!..enjoy a beautiful summer love Ria...!...x!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful, delicious looking cookies, Jacqueline. A friend told me about using the paper towel rolls quite some time ago...I actually cut the length and then use rubberbands to hold them together. Works great.
    Have a wonderful week.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Clever idea to use the cardboard roll. Thanks for the tip! Your cookies look lovely. I so love a beautiful garden party!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a beautiful table and treats Jckie. Tell us more about e spa water. It's beautifully presented.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your treats turned out great Jacqueline, bet they didn't last long:@)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Super special and so pretty! I am especially excited to make the sugared mint leaves.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my those cookies look just beautiful! I bet they were really tasty too! The party you attended sounds like something I would've enjoyed! The presentation of the spa water was beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such gorgeous cookies and the truffles are lovely.Great idea with the paper towel roll. They look perfect for a Garden themed party. Love the layered spa water.

    ReplyDelete
  9. How elegant and lovely, all of it! The colours and the setting and all that artistry of your hands---simply stunning.

    I can smell the waft of lemon, taste the cool, sweet tang of the icing and the crumble of the shortbread, feel the crunch of the sugar on those exquisitely-preserved petals.

    Those confections are, to paraphrase I Love That Old Time Rock 'n' Roll---"That kind of cookie just soothes my soul." There's a meditation in the making, the taking-care and the wonderful creating of each step---the flowers, the sugaring, the constructing of JUST the right container to maintain the roundness and symmetry, the gentle quarter-turn in the cut, precise and neat as Math. Those are more than cookies, sweet and delicious as they are---they're works of art.

    Thank you for this delightful stroll through your gallery, and for being curator of such an ongoing, beautiful museum of these lovely creations.

    rachel

    ReplyDelete
  10. What beautiful cookies, Jacqueline! I like lemon in summer as well. Lemon meringue pie is a favorite, and lemon water - the spa water in the beverage servers is just lovely!!! Great party!

    ReplyDelete
  11. You must have been the hit of the party, these are gorgeous. And the tip for keep the cookies round is great, thanks for sharing.
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are the highlight of my day! Leave a comment and then I can come and visit your blog. Have a wonderful day! Unfortunately I have had to block anonymous comments, hope you understand.

Follow me on Instagram