Lemon Coriander Tea Cakes

[souljoy]

Lemon Coriander Tea Cakes

Serves 8 as Dessert.

These crisp cookies are infused with coriander and lemon and are perfect with a hot cup of tea, or paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with a fruit sauce for an elegant and quick summer dessert. Coriander has a flavor similar to lemon and sage, and it works beautifully in these tea cakes, which folklore says came out of the Southern plantation kitchens

Recipe is from: Brown Sugar: Soul Food Desserts from Family and Friends, by Joyce White, used with permission from the author.

• 1/3 c golden raisins
  
• 2 T lemon juice
  
• 2-1/4 c all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
  
• Pinch of salt
  
• 1 T coriander seeds, crushed
  
• 12 T unsalted butter, softened
  
• 1 c light brown sugar, firmly packed
  
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 2 T crystallized sugar for sprinkling, such as Sugar in the Raw
  

Chop the raisins finely and mix in a glass bowl or cup with the lemon juice.

Sift together the flour baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Lightly toast and then finely crush or ground grind the coriander seeds. Set aside 1 teaspoon of the coriander seeds to use as a topping. Combine the remaining seeds, butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Using a handheld electric mixer at medium-high or creaming speed, beat until light and fluffy, for about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula once or twice. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well-blended.

Using a large spoon, stir in the raisins. Add the flour and mix only until blended. Form the dough into a ball, dusting lightly with flour if sticky.

Wrap the dough in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about 2 hours or until the dough is firm and easy to handle.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter a baking sheet.

Divide the dough in half, and return one piece back to the refrigerator.

Lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the dough into a circle about 1/4-inch thick and about 8 inches in diameter.

Using a 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on one of the baking sheets.

Combine the remaining teaspoon of coriander seeds with the sugar and sprinkle each cookie with about 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar-spice mixture. Gently press the topping with you fingers so that it sticks.

Set the pan of cookies in the center of the hot oven on the middle shelf. Bake for 11 to 14 minutes or until the bottoms are just lightly brown and the cookies are pale golden around the edges, switching the position of the pan around in the oven halfway through the baking.

Remove the cookies from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the pan and then remove from the baking sheet with a metal spatula. Cool on a wire rack.

Bake the remaining dough in the same way, one pan at a time, rerolling scraps.

Makes about 24 cookies.

Keywords: Dessert, Kosher, Vegetarian, Intermediate, Snack, Brunch, Cookie, American

( RG596 )