With dinner now over, it's time to impress your friends and relatives. These recipes are sure to put a smile on the faces of all those lucky enough to have you as their host. Good luck!
» Almond Cookies
» Christmas Hazelnut Balls
» Ellen Straus's Pie Crust Recipe
» Ginger Buttercake
» Strawberry Ice Cream
Almond Cookies
Almond Cookiesby Emory Davis
Makes 36 servings
3 cups unbleached flour
1-1/2 cups toasted almonds, ground fine
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup Straus Butter (salted or unsalted)
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup water
Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Mix in the ground almonds and sugar.
Cut the cold butter into small pieces. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.
Beat the egg yolks together with the water in a small bowl. Add to the flour and knead into a soft dough. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll the dough out on a floured surfaced to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out cookies using a 2-3 inch round fluted cookie cutter and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Mound up the scraps and repeat procedure.
Bake 15 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
Christmas Hazelnut Balls
Christmas Hazelnut Ballsby Emory Davis
Makes 20 servings
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Straus Butter (salted or unsalted), softened
1 cup toasted hazelnuts, ground fine
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
confectioner's sugar
Grind the toasted nuts in a food processor. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl except the confectioner's sugar. Use a large wooden spoon or your hands to mix thoroughly.
Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
Form dough into 1-1/4-inch balls and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until set but not brown.
Let stand 1 minute in pan then remove to wire rack. Cool until barely warm. Roll in sifted confectioner's sugar. Cool completely, then just before serving, roll again in the confectioner's sugar.
Yield: about 20 balls. Do not make them too large or they will not cook properly.
Ellen Straus's Pie Crust Recipe
Ellen Straus's Pie Crust RecipeThis hefty, absolutely unbelievable crust is what we all grew up on. We love it!
This pie crust is thick and tastes almost like shortbreadbut better. It is a perfect crust for any type of fruit (strawberries, Santa Rosa plums or apples). You will need a spring form type of pie pan.
Three-quarter cup Straus Sweet (unsalted) Butter
2 cups organic flour
2 organic egg yolks
1 quarter cup organic sugar (or to taste)
Put the flour in a bowl, add sugar, egg yolks, salt and butter cut into pieces. Work by hand until you have a smooth ball. Then press it into your ungreased 10" spring form. Make a bottom and sides with the dough. If you want to fill the crust later with fresh, uncooked fruit, then prick the bottom and sides and bake the crust by itself at 350 degrees for at least half an hour or until golden. You can also make an Apple Crumb Torte by slicing apples (Granny Smith or Gravenstein apples work best) and laying them in the bottom and adding the juice of one lemon. Make a topping separately of a cup of flour mixed with three quarters of a stick of Straus butter and three quarters cup of packed light brown sugar and cinnamon to taste. Crumble the mixture over the apples and lemon juice and bake in the oven for at least one hour or until the top is brown and the apples are bubbling. Serve warm or cold.
Ginger Buttercake
Ginger Buttercakeby Emory Davis
Makes 10 servings
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup Straus Salted or Unsalted Butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup candied ginger root, finely chopped
1/2 cup pistachio nuts, dry-roasted optional
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan and set aside.
Using a pastry blender, combine the flour, butter and sugar together with most of the egg. Add the chopped ginger and nuts and knead into a smooth dough. Press it into the prepared pan making it smooth on top. Brush on the rest of the egg and then etch a diamond pattern with the back of a knife.
Bake 40 minutes until golden brown. If the cake bubbles up, while it is still hot, you can press the middle of the cake down with the back of a spoon. Allow to cool to the touch before turning out on a wire rack.
This cake will be moist and soft on the inside with a firm outer crust.
Strawberry Ice Cream
Strawberry Ice Cream The secret to making good ice cream is to start with the best ingredients available.
In the summer we like to make strawberry ice cream with sweet organic berries, a little sugar, and our own fresh whipping cream. It's simply delicious.
2 pints fresh strawberries
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. grated lemon peel
3 c. Straus Family Creamery Whipping Cream
Remove the stems and tops from the strawberries and pass them through a sieve. Mix the sugar into the pulpy strawberry juice and chill thoroughly. Stir cream and strawberry mixture together and freeze in an ice cream churn following the manufacturer's instructions.
Note: If you don't own an ice cream churn, don't despair. It's easy to make freezer ice cream, also known as still-froze ice cream, mousse, and bombe. Use the same recipe but whip the cream until it's stiff, then fold it into the strawberry mixture. Freeze overnight.