60 in 60: Day 42- Apricot Brandy Macaroons

These delicious things of wonder were originally made on October 3rd, using liquor from my aunt's extensive collection. I was supposed to wait for to make these until my aunt got back from her vacation in Tennessee (that was the deal for using her liquor), but I couldn't wait. She's in Tennessee, with a senior group, and I'm in New York, eating cookies.

Apricot Brandy Macaroons

Ingredients:

Cookies:

1/3 c flour

2 c finely ground walnuts

3 egg whites

1/4 t salt

3/4 c sugar

Filling:

8 oz white chocolate

1/4 c heavy cream

2 T apricot brandy

2 T finely chopped pistachios

Beat the egg whites and salt in a bowl until frothy.

Add the sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.

Fold in the dry ingredients.

Bake at 275 on buttered cookie sheets for 20-25 minutes.

For some reason, whenever I make egg-white ANYTHING, they never turn out, so BLAH.

They're not as crunchy or puffy as they're supposed to be. (Meaning they're flat and sticky-squishy.)

For the filling, melt the chocolate with the cream in a double boiler.

Stir in the apricot brandy, taking care not to drink the 2 T that you are supposed to be adding to the filling mixture. Taking a sip from the bottle, just to see how it's supposed to taste is totally okay though.

Plunge the pan into a bowl of ice water and stir until the mixture has cooled.

With the mixer at high speed, beat until creamy.

Stick the cookies together in pairs with the filling.

Roll in the pistachios.

I got really bored rolling the cookies in the pistachios after two or three, so I started putting the pistachios in with the filling. I think this made the cookies taste better. They didn't rise, like they were supposed to, but that didn't matter in the taste. And yes, so you know, I saved some for my travelling aunt. She has six cookie sandwiches in the freezer, waiting for her to return from Nashville.

Book Yield: 20 cookies

My Yield: 12 cookies

(I can't remember if that's 12 sammiches or 12 cookies, though. I suppose if my aunt is getting 6 sammiches, it's 12 cookie sammiches.)

60 in 60: Day 41-Raspberry Tartlets

Made these on Oct 2nd. I'm not going to give you the recipe for tartlet shells, because it was just gross and useless and you're better off making your own up or buying them from the store.

Raspberry Tartlets

Ingredients:

12 tartlet shells (store bought or prepared)

2/3 c confectioners' sugar

Zest and Juice on 1 lemon

2/3 ricotta cheese

1 1/2 T unflavored gelatin

1/4 c cold water

1 c heavy cream

17 oz raspberry yogurt

Stir together yogurt, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and ricotta cheese.

Sprinkle gelatin over the water in a small saucepan over a low heat.

Let stand for a minute then stir until gelatin has dissolved completely.

Stir the gelatin into the raspberry mixture and refrigerate until thickened.

If you didn't follow my warning, and looked up your own recipe for tartlet shells, now would be the time to bake them. If you bought your own, set them out now.

Beat the cream in a medium bowl until stiff.

Fold cream into raspberry mixture.

Spoon mix into shells. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

I suggest buying your own tartlet shells, because this recipe for tartlet shells is DISGUSTING. That, and, the tartlet shells kind of all fell apart so they were unusable. Also, this recipe made WAY too much filling for twelve tartlet shells. (I know I didn't get to fill all mine, but I'm pretty good at guesstimation.) The filling was okay, but overall this recipe was blah.

Yield: 12 tartlets

My Yield: 2 tartlets, a bunch of crust crumbs, and a big bowl of filling.

60 in 60: Day 41-Gypsy Creams

These cookies are a bit messy, but they're also a bit delicious. I made the Italian Buttercream for them first, but you should probably make the cream while the cookies are in the oven. These cookies (and the buttercream) were originally made on October 3rd.

Italian Buttercream

Ingredients:

'

1/2 c water

3/4 c sugar

3 egg yolks

1 c butter, softened

Stir the water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Cook, without stirring, until the mixture reaches the "soft-ball stage" (I just cooked it until it was really, really hot.)

Beat the egg yolks in a double boiler until pale.

Add the sugar-syrup to the yolks.

Place the mixture over barely simmering water and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture lightly coats a metal spoon.

Put the pan in a bowl of ice water and stir until cooled. Or until your arm falls off, whichever happens first.

Beat the butter in a bowl until creamy.

Beat into the egg mixture.

Set aside until you're ready to use it.

Gypsy Cream Cookies

Ingredients:

1/4 c margarine

1/4 c butter

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp corn syrup

3 tsp boiling water

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 c self-rising flour*

1 c rolled oats

1/2 tsp vanilla

*For the self-rising flour you can add 1 and 1/8 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp salt, and a pinch of baking soda to 1 cup of AP flour to substitute.

Beat margarine, butter, and sugar until pale and creamy.

Melt the corn syrup in the water and stir into the butter mixture.

Gradually beat in the flour, baking soda, oats, and vanilla.

Bake at 375 on parchment paper lined cookie sheets for 15-20 minutes.

Cool completely.

Add red food coloring to the Italian Buttercream for a festive flair!

Sandwich cookies together with buttercream.

These were yummy, but messy. A fun treat when you're in the mood for something colorful!

Book Yield: 24 cookies (so 12 sandwiches)

My Yield: 22 cookies (11 sandwiches)