What would the holidays been without cookies--the edible kind? Over the next few days I will post some of my favorite recipes that have been passed down from friends and family. Many years ago, when we had young kids, several of us would host cookie parties--invite 12 people who bring 12 plates of dozen cookies! It was a fun event and you could bake your favorite recipe for 12 dozen and have different 12 dozen cookies to share with family. Each evening, I would make up a plate of cookies and the family members would come together to share their day's adventures. Hubby always made a 'mean' eggnog, which the kids enjoyed along with their cookies. It was a great family time--
now, the kids are grown and have kids of their own--but, when December 21 rolls around and the family comes back together, we share this same tradition.
May your holiday be filled with delicious love of baking to share!
Today's recipe: Russian Teacakes--Melt in your mouth good!! You may know these cookies by other names: Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowball Cookies.
Where did they originate? – This is where things get tricky. In the 18th century Russian Tea Cakes began appearing in Russia where they were used as a delicious confection during tea-sharing ceremonies. Tea was introduced during the 1600’s and the Russians used to traditionally consume sweet cakes and cookies with samovar tea. Who actually invented them or their exact place of origin is still unknown and actually causes quite a few headaches and heated debates among food and drink aficionados all over the world. Many believe Eastern Europe to be the main location of origin as many shortbread and cookie recipes were a part of Eastern European cuisine often being made by Eastern European nuns.
- How have they evolved overtime? – So, the exact place of origin and the exact roots of its creators are still a mystery to this day, but how on earth does a recipe believed to have originated in the cold and snowy lands of Russia, find its way over the warm and dusty climes of Mexico in the form of Mexican Wedding Cakes? As you may expect, these confectioneries are often consumed during Mexican wedding ceremonies, but how did they make their way over in the first place? Well, they’re believed to have migrated over to Mexico with European nuns. There were a lot of convents in Mexico and a lot of European nuns made their way over there between the 18th and 20th century. There was often a great deal of baking that went on in Mexican convents so it’s a very strong possibility that they may have been a convent sweet treat brought over by European nuns, that began to make its way out into the public. By the 20th century, these cookies were a traditional part of Christmas time in the US and wedding traditions in Mexico, and began appearing in US cookbooks around the 1950’s. In Mexico, a very similar dish entitled Bizcochitos uses exactly the same ingredients and methods of cooking, except they use the addition of mild anise.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, roll in remaining confectioners' sugar. I also like to roll mine in the sugar a second time.
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