I'd like to introduce you to one of my prized possesions.
This old mixer was on Christmas cookie duty when I was a child. It is certainly nearing 30 years old and it still runs like a champ. When my Dad decided to help my mom "upgrade" one Christmas to a newer model (Kitchen Aid stand mixers being one of the few things with a motor that you can get a woman for Christmas without getting into trouble) I jumped at the chance to bring this old treasure into my house. Generally, it's my brother who inherits my mother's cooking tools -- he's the one who really learned to cook -- but my closet baker couldn't let the mixer head to Houston. It may lack the beauty of a new mixer, but what it lacks up in beauty, it makes up for with character and good memories. I can remember so many batches of Christmas sugar cookies and gingerbread helped along by this mixer. It always makes me happy to bring it up onto the counter.
Every year John and I have a holiday party. It's our one big "do" of the year and one of it's central features (other than yummy catered Polish food) is the cookie exchange. Most of the time my cookie making adventures stay close to the chocolate chip cookie genre, this being the cookie that makes John happiest. But at Christmas, I always look for a new recipe to try. Something pretty, something I haven't tried before. This year I indulged myself in almost every cooking magazine I could find that featured holiday cookies (this will certainly be a good investment for the future) and settled on the Glittering Lemon Sandwich Cookies featured in the December 2008 Gourmet magazine. The old mixer was only too happy to help me out for this project.
As a part of the cookie making process, I learned a couple of things:
Sanding is a little time consuming if you want to get good coverage, but it's lots of fun, especially done to the beat of 80's pop music. I wish I had found some blue and purple sugars to play with. While this recipe isn't young toddler friendly, I do think it could be child friendly in general -- what kid wouldn't enjoy rolling dough balls around in brightly colored sugar?
The finished cookies are "glued" together with a lemony cream center. Pretty, are they not?
I am mostly pleased with the results of this cookie project. In fact, it's very likely that I will make another batch of these. Given the range of sanding sugar colors, they could be used for almost any holiday. I would make a few changes for "next time" though.
Now I just have one last thing to figure out...
... what does a girl do with left over zested lemons?
This old mixer was on Christmas cookie duty when I was a child. It is certainly nearing 30 years old and it still runs like a champ. When my Dad decided to help my mom "upgrade" one Christmas to a newer model (Kitchen Aid stand mixers being one of the few things with a motor that you can get a woman for Christmas without getting into trouble) I jumped at the chance to bring this old treasure into my house. Generally, it's my brother who inherits my mother's cooking tools -- he's the one who really learned to cook -- but my closet baker couldn't let the mixer head to Houston. It may lack the beauty of a new mixer, but what it lacks up in beauty, it makes up for with character and good memories. I can remember so many batches of Christmas sugar cookies and gingerbread helped along by this mixer. It always makes me happy to bring it up onto the counter.Every year John and I have a holiday party. It's our one big "do" of the year and one of it's central features (other than yummy catered Polish food) is the cookie exchange. Most of the time my cookie making adventures stay close to the chocolate chip cookie genre, this being the cookie that makes John happiest. But at Christmas, I always look for a new recipe to try. Something pretty, something I haven't tried before. This year I indulged myself in almost every cooking magazine I could find that featured holiday cookies (this will certainly be a good investment for the future) and settled on the Glittering Lemon Sandwich Cookies featured in the December 2008 Gourmet magazine. The old mixer was only too happy to help me out for this project.
As a part of the cookie making process, I learned a couple of things:
- I actually do own a lemon zester
- Zesting lemons is more challenging than I thought it would be -- at least to do without bleeding.
- One lemon does not generate that much zest
- Fresh lemon zest smells absolutely enchanting.
- The warming tray of an espresso machine is an excellent place to put butter that needs help softening.
- Sanding sugar is a lot of fun to play with
- Cookies just taste better when made with my 30 year old KitchenAid mixer
Sanding is a little time consuming if you want to get good coverage, but it's lots of fun, especially done to the beat of 80's pop music. I wish I had found some blue and purple sugars to play with. While this recipe isn't young toddler friendly, I do think it could be child friendly in general -- what kid wouldn't enjoy rolling dough balls around in brightly colored sugar?The finished cookies are "glued" together with a lemony cream center. Pretty, are they not?I am mostly pleased with the results of this cookie project. In fact, it's very likely that I will make another batch of these. Given the range of sanding sugar colors, they could be used for almost any holiday. I would make a few changes for "next time" though.
- When the recipe says "scant teaspoon" they really mean it. In order to be bite sized, my cookie balls needed to be much smaller than they were. Also, I would flatten them a little more before putting them in the oven to make them a little flatter on completion. They didn't change shape all that much with baking.
- I think I would let the dough sit for a while and let the lemon oil in the zest have more change to work through the dough. I would also add more zest, since I would have liked the cookie part to be more lemony.
- Ditto for the buttercream center. More zest for sure. Maybe more lemon juice.
Now I just have one last thing to figure out...
... what does a girl do with left over zested lemons?
Those cookies look amazing. They remind me of the French macarons. I love using leftover lemons for Lemon/Honey tea - hot water and lemon slices with a dab of honey - or some homemade icetea.
Squeeze the leftover lemons, measure out the juice evenly into and ice cube tray and freeze. A couple of tablespoons of juice per cube, or whatever makes sense to you. Then, when you want fresh lemonade, thaw out a few cubes, add a bit of sugar and water!
Favorite zester that is a knuckle-saver - a Microplane grater!
How about hot lemon? This is lemon juice with maybe a bit of water and some honey, warmed up. Could for preventing colds.
I slice the lemons up and freeze - perfect for that gin and tonic...
At the risk of being cliche- when life gives you zested lemons, make lemonade!
Lemon cookies never taste as good the first day the dough is made. Whenever I make any kind of lemon cookies, I refrigerate the dough for 24 hours before baking. It makes a world of difference in the "lemonyness" of the cookies. Those look yummy! I may have to make something similar. ;-)
Your mixer looks like mine, only mine is older. I talked my husband into buying me a Kitchen Aid mixer when my baby was a year old, and he will be 45 at the end of the year. I used to do a lot of baking, cookies and cakes and bread, and although I don't use it so often any more, it still works fine when I pull it out. Your cookies look amazing - very colorful.
Your cookies look yummy. Christmas cookie baking has been my primary activity over the last week, and I, too, love my Kitchen Aid (only 3-4 yrs old). And lemon zest is the key to that wonderful lemony flavor and fragrance, I've learned.
I'll second the suggestion for a microplane. I've got one (OXO, I think) that has a handle and two different scraping planes that snap into the handle, or you can get the rasp-type microplane. You get much more zest and it's much faster, too!
I love my microplane even if I have to keep it out of my hubby's hands (he tried to use it for something unreasonable a few weeks ago).
With the extra zested lemons, I would make a batch of hard lemonade. There is a recipe I found online, which I'm sure with your brewing experience you could refine. It came out pretty well with my limited experience.
Umm...make lemonade? Also good for disinfecting kitchen surfaces (especially wooden cutting boards) and good for the disposal in the sink.
I also suggest making lemon juice ice cubes. Store them in zip-lock baggies in the freezer. Add one to a pot of soup, a sauce, a cake batter, a pitcher of iced tea, the steaming water for vegetables, anything that could benefit from a little lemon. It really brightens up the flavor of a lot of things.
My mom has the exact same mixer. I've coveted it for years, and my husband and I have considered buying our own, but we have very limited counter space, and for the amount it would get used, I just can't justify the space it would take up. I can see why you value it, though. Some of my best memories are tied up with my mom's.
Slice the lemons in about quarter inch rounds, put them on a cookie sheet using either a Silpat or parchment, sprinkle LIGHTLY with sugar and bake at 300-ish until soft and bubbly. Eat right off the tray (when cool) or serve whole atop vanilla ice cream.Or make marmalade- Nigella has a good recipe though you'll need to reduce the sugar- as made, it is roofing tar. Delicious but roofing tar.
Wow, those cookies look amazing (and festive)! We made pizzelles this year that called for the zest of four lemons. Without the proper working zesting tool it was painful. They turned out very yummy in the end and I agree that the smell of lemon zest is enchanting.
Those cookies look incredible and so much fun to make! I'm glad to see that someone has made these - I love lemon cookies and have been meaning to try these out ever since that issue of gourmet arrived.
I agree with everyone above who suggested the microplane for zesting lemons. It's such a great kitchen tool. I have the fine grating rasp and it makes both zesting citrus and grating parmesan cheese so much more pleasant.
Find a recipe and make lemon curd.
You definitely need a microplane. You'll get twice the zest off your lemons, with less work. You can get them anywhere, even a wood working microplane works!
Freezing the lemon juice is a great idea (I like Michelle's idea with the G&T's!), and lemon curd is beautiful stuff to have on hand. Try Allrecipes.com
Yes -- get a microplane -- it's so much easier than the other kind of zester. I used to hate zesting citrus fruit, and now I practically look for excuses to use zest! (And I have a naked orange in my fridge as proof of that.)
I do believe Santa and I agreed we'd get one of these this Christmas. (I'd better get off the 'puter or he can't order it.) Neither of us can hand beat anything and even the hand mixer is troublesome. Nobody had one to hand down, although I did buy one for my son and his wife.
Can hardly wait.
Did you see the article in the NYTimes about the 79 year old who makes 600 cookies at Christmas?
Read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/magazine/21food-t-000.html?_r=1&ref=dining
My mixer is older than my husband. I have my Mother's 1977 avocado green lift head Kitchenaid mixer. The only reason I wanted a new one is that when I make bread I can hear the poor motor working very hard. I now have a 6 quart pro that my inlaws got us.