Tag Archives: raspberry

Linzer Star Cookies

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Happy Holidays!

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We arrived in Montana yesterday to find plenty of snow and some pretty frigid temperatures. Well, frigid to me at least. 26 degrees probably felt like a heat wave to the poor folks who were dealing with 30 below temperatures the previous week. Ouch! We don’t get much chance to see a white Christmas in the Washington, DC area, so I’m hoping the snow sticks around, at least through Sunday.

It’s five days until Christmas. That’s five more days to bake, bake, bake. So let’s get busy, and make some cookies.

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I first tasted Linzer Tart when I was in culinary school. I loved the nutty, buttery crust with the contrasting sweet and sour raspberry jam inside. During a two-year stint living in Germany a few years ago I tried every Linzer Tart I could find in Germany, and in neighboring countries as well.

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Fast-forward to a few years later, and I discovered Linzer Cookies in a Food and Wine Christmas cookbook. Where have these cookies been all my life? They have all the great taste of the tart, but in one tidy, cookie-size package.

Have fun baking or doing what ever brings you and your family joy during this Holiday season. Merry Christmas from Jeannine’s Cuisine.

Adapted from Food and Wine magazine

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Linzer Star Cookies

3 Dozen

Feel free to adjust the type of nuts and the flavor of jam you use for these cookies. They won’t be a traditional Linzer, but give them your own spin. I’m thinking you could do a mixture of macadamia nuts and pineapple jam for a tropical spin on the cookie. Or how about almonds with an orange marmalade or cherry jam?

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3 large egg yolks

Zest from 1 lemon

1 1/4 cups hazelnuts

1 1/2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

1/4 teaspoon anise seeds, ground

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

Powdered sugar for dusting cookiesCream the butter with the sugar for about 5 minutes in a standing mixer fitted with a paddle. With the mixer running add the egg yolks one-at-a time and then add the lemon zest. In a food processor, combine the hazelnuts with the bread flour and process until finely ground. Add the cinnamon and cloves to the food processor and pulse until mixed. Add the nut mixture to the ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix on low until fully combined. Separate this dough into two discs. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two sheet pans or cookie sheets by covering them with parchment or silicone mats. Working in batches, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds with a 2-inch round cookie cutter. Use another smaller star-shaped cutter to cut stars out of the center of half of the 2-inch rounds. Place the round cookies on one pan and the cut out cookies on another. Chill any dough scraps and reroll and cut as before. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, rotating the pans at the halfway point. Let the cookies cool in the pans.

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In a small bowl, mix the raspberry jam with the anise and coriander. Use a small strainer to dust the tops of the cut out cookies with powdered sugar. Use a small spatula to spread a thick layer of jam on the cookie rounds and top with a cut out cookie.

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Raspberry Dessert Sauce

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Is it Spring yet?  As residents in the Washington, DC area batten down the hatches for what I hope will be the last winter storm this year, I have to wonder if Spring will ever come.  The signs are there – the tulips and other Spring bulbs are starting to poke out of the ground and the robins are building nests.  The lawn mowers and other yard tools are even in stock at Lowes and Home Depot as we found out yesterday when we foolishly tried to find a snow blower.  Don’t dig out your shorts and flip-flops yet, however, the forecasted low for Tuesday is 1 degree Fahrenheit.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve had just about enough of this winter stuff.

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Normally, I am a big fan of cooking whatever produce is in season.  It’s cheaper, but more importantly, it just tastes better.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been really disappointed with tomatoes in winter.  But, considering the forecast, I believe emergency measures are now necessary.     

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Looking ahead to warmer times I decided to make a raspberry dessert sauce. I’ve recently decided to make my own fruit sauces to add to my Greek yogurt rather than buying the sugar-laden premixed varieties at the grocery store.  This raspberry sauce is a perfect choice.  It’s got just the right mix of fruit, sweetness and just a little touch of sour.  Although it’s great mixed into yogurt, don’t limit yourself to just that.  It’s fabulous over ice cream, and I imagine it would be pretty good over pound cake, if you are so inclined.

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Raspberry Dessert Sauce

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

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You can use any kind of berries or a mixture of berries for this simple sauce.  The sauce can be frozen, simply thaw in the refrigerator the night before you plan to use it.

 3 6-ounce packages raspberries

4 tablespoons evaporated cane juice (turbinado sugar)

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Place 2 packages of the raspberries in a saucepan with 1/4 cup water and the sugar.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the fruit falls apart.  Use a little of the liquid from the pan to make a slurry with the cornstarch, then pour the mixture into the pan with the fruit.  Continue to simmer until the mixture thickens.  Strain the sauce through a mesh strainer into a bowl.  Add the remaining 6 ounces of raspberries and the lemon juice and stir gently to cover the whole berries with the sauce.

Adapted from La Tartine Gourmande by Béatrice Peltre