Melting Moments
Melting Moment Cookies
Melting Moments Cookies
Melting Moments
From: "Jolene Cummins" <[email hidden]>
A friend visited Scotland where she had some tiny cakes called melting
moments. Her description of this made me want to make them . Any recipes
available?
Melting Moments
Melt-in-the-mouth biscuit-like cakes with crunchy outsides.
Cream margarine & sugar.
Add egg, vanilla & flour.
Roll in crushed cornflakes.
Bake.
Takes approximately: 10 min work, 20 min cooking, 50 min total.
100 g Margarine
75 g Caster sugar
125 g Self raising flour
0.5 Egg (chicken)
Cornflakes (breakfast cereal)sufficient to cover
Turn on oven to warm up to 180 C. Put the sugar and margarine into a
mixing bowl (sugar first to reduce sticking) and cream it (i.e. whisk with
the mixer until it goes pale). Mix in all the egg, vanilla & flour. Line
baking tray with greaseproof paper. Crush the cornflakes. Form the cake
mixture into balls (about 3 cm diameter), roll them in the crushed
cornflakes and put them on the tray leaving space for them to flatten out.
Wash hands (before everything else in the kitchen gets greasy). Bake 15
to 20 min (ready when the cakes start to brown on the surface). Allow to
cool until hard. Notes These take very little effort & relatively little
time (other than the 20-30 min for cooking & cooling) to make & do not
require any special ingredients that I don't usually have in my kitchen so
it is a cake I make if a cake is required for an event a short notice.
Unfortunately they do not keep well &, even if stored in a sealed
container, they go stale in less than 2 days. Of course this is not a
problem if one is making them for immediate consumption at an event.
Legally these are 'biscuits' not 'cakes' in the UK because of a ruling
that cakes are the type goes dry whereas biscuits are the type that goes
soggy when stale. (The reason the UK bothers with a legal definition is
that cakes & biscuits are taxed differently. Of course this is irrelevant
for giving away the cakes/biscuits or consuming them oneself.)
Melting Moment Cookies
1 c. unsifted flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
3/4 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
In bowl stir together first 3 ingredients. In large bowl with mixer at
medium speed, beat butter until smooth. Beat in flour mixture and vanilla
until well blended. Refrigerate 1 hour. Shape into 1" balls. Place about 1
1/2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet; flatten with lightly floured fork.
Bake in 375 degree oven 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly
browned. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
Melting Moments Cookies
1 c. sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick ) butter plus 1/2 c. Crisco
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
Cream first 4 items well, add last 3 items sifted together. These cookies
can be left plain or add 2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter. Roll into
1/2 inch balls and flatten with fork dipped in water. Bake on ungreased
cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Melting Moments
Sometimes it is hard to decide which I like better, Melting Moments or
Mexican Wedding Cakes (Russian Tea Cakes) . They both look like little
snowballs with their round shape and coating of powdered sugar, only
differing in whether they contain ground nuts. As with other
shortbread-like recipes, this one relies on the butter for its wonderful
flavor but varies in texture by replacing half the flour with cornstarch
so the cookies literally "melt-in-your-mouth".
Now, these cookies are not difficult to make and are perfect for those who
like to do their Christmas baking well in advance. They store very well,
up to two weeks, but because they are so fragile I wouldn't advise
shipping them. As far as the ingredients go, because there are not a lot
of competing flavors in this cookie this is one time when buying a good
quality butter is advised. Also, use pure vanilla extract not the
imitation ones as, again, you will notice the difference. As I said above,
the combination of all purpose flour and cornstarch gives these cookies
their delicate and fragile texture which seem to make them just
"melt-in-your-mouth". Once the cookies have been baked they are sprinkled
with confectioners' sugar which gives them that wonderful 'snowball' look.
As with the Mexican Wedding Cakes these are very pretty when served in
foil candy cups. Sometimes the dough is placed in a piping bag with a
fluted tip and then piped into rosettes. The finishing touch is to top
each cookie with a glace (candied) cherry. They are baked until lightly
golden.
Note: For those unfamiliar with cornstarch it is a fine white powder that
comes from the inner grain (endosperm) of corn and is used by many as a
thickener for gravies and sauces. The British term 'corn flour' is often
used synonymously with the North American term 'cornstarch'.
1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (90 grams) cornstarch (corn flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup (35 grams) powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
3/4 cup (85 grams) powdered (confectioners) sugar
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt. Set
aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the
butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the
vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Do not
over mix. Scrape the dough into a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least
one hour or until dough is firm. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190
degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with
parchment paper. When dough is firm form into 1 inch (2.54 cm) balls and
place on prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 10
minutes or until the edges start to brown. Remove from oven and place on a
wire rack to cool for about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, line another baking
pan or tray with parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle about half of the
confectioners' sugar onto the bottom of the pan and then place the
slightly cooled cookies on top of the sugar. Put the remaining sugar in a
fine strainer or sieve and then sprinkle the tops of the cookies. These
cookies store very well. Place in an airtight container between sheets of
wax paper and they will keep a couple of weeks.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
Adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Christmas Cookies
my web site==Linda in Tennessee
http://lindatn37932.tripod.com
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