Lemon Raspberry Bread

Recently there were some delicious looking raspberries at the farm stand. After I bought a pint, Dave and I ate the entire thing in one sitting (maybe 10 minutes)--they were just the perfect combination of tart, sweet and juicy. So I went back to get another pint and paired those raspberries with some lemons for this amazing summer-flavored quick bread. This bread is amazing. Tart, sweet, soft and delicious. I made mini loaves, two of which Dave and I ate up right away. I shared one with Cindy since she needed some sweet lemony goodness in a bad way, and there's one left in the freezer, yet, but I'm not sure it'll be there much longer. This perfect summer recipe came from the best source--a Secret Recipe Club assignment!

Black Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

While I'm not exactly sure what happened here, I'm super excited at the pleasant mistake of a (mostly) caramelized streusel topping instead of a traditional crumby coffee cake topping. The caramelized version sealed in the sweet goodness and tender crumb of this lovely coffee cake, swirled with black raspberry jam and dotted with white chocolate chips. Raspberries and white chocolate just work well together and I'm glad I paired them in this delicious cake. I took this to work for a training session can came home with make 5 or 6 slices. Yeah, it went over real well--several people came back for seconds.

Polish Kolache

Growing up, my Mom wasn't a big holiday cookie baker (yeah, I'm still trying to figure out where I got the bug) since she spent so much time making chocolate into a variety of treats.  But one cookie she always made time to prepare were these kolache.  I would sit across from her at the kitchen table while she worked this dough by hand and then rolled out dozen upon dozen of these fruit-filled gems.  About ten years ago I decided to try my hand at these and failed miserable.  My dough wasn't the flaky, pastry-like dough Mom created but more, unfortunately, of a tough, overworked shortbread.  I gave up, determined to try again later but over the years never felt confident enough to try or altogether forgot about them.  Of course, I have to make them if my family is going to enjoy them now, so I pulled out the recipe and got to it.  The simplicity of this dough, flaky and just a touch of sweetness, allows you to pair it with whatever pastry filling makes your heart sing.  My family is traditionally used to raspberry and apricot, and I used both here, but Mom also used to make a nut filling and lukvar or prune filling, which only she, my grandfather and my brother liked.  My brother tried to get me on board with the prune fulling for that this year, but I took a pass.  I was already taking a risk with trying this recipe unguided.

Fruit-Filled Thimbles

I love these because I've made them in so many flavors.  I've used apricot preserves, lemon curd, raspberry preserves, and strawberry jam. I imagine orange marmalade would work as well, or any sort of sturdy, jellied fruit.  Perhaps even a pie filling.  These are a delicious shortbread style cookie that provides a great base to present the fruit flavors.  It's a softer version of shortbread. You could also experiment with extract and jam combinations for a really great treat.

Another recipe from the Capital Cookies cookbook, this one comes from Connecticut, submitted by Mary Mullen who shared these cookies with her church.  The only adjustment I've made is to the process, kneading the flour in by hand to get the dough to form without being crumbly (a common occurrence with shortbread).

Fruit-Filled Thimbles

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened
1 stick margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
fruit jam or preserves of your choosing (I made this batch with apricot preserves and raspberry jam)

Cream butter and margarine together.  Gradually add the sugar, beating until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Add vanilla and combine.

If using a stand mixer, switch to your dough hook attachment and add flour, stirring just until flour is gently mixed in. If doing this with a hand mixer, add the flour and stir as much of the flour as you can with a wooden spoon.  When it starts to look crumbly, stop.

Start kneading the dough with your hands, working it until the flour is incorporated and you have a slightly soft dough.  It will be a slightly crumbly, but should come together easily if you make a small ball.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  On a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet, arrange balls about 2 inches apart. With the tip of your middle finger, gently make an indentation on the top of each cooking, being careful not to press to hard and cause the cookie to split. If it does, just reshape it into a ball and try again.

Fill the indentation with jam.

Bake at 350 degrees F until just browned, about 15 minutes.  Turn baking sheet 180 degrees halfway through. If using more than one sheet at a time, rotate positions in the oven for more even baking.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly on pans and then move to wire rack to complete cooling.

Makes 5 1/2 dozen.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess