Cinco de Mayo is not necessarily celebrated as a national holiday in Mexico, but here in the United States it's a celebration of Mexican culture and a day where no excuse is needed to fill up on Mexican favorites. Guacamole, tacos, and margaritas are all popular when May 5 rolls around, but what about dessert? One of the most popular Mexican desserts is tres leches cake, a sponge cake made of three types of milk, hence the name. Sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream make up this incredibly sweet cake.
All over Latin America and even the Caribbean, people enjoy tres leches cake for holidays or just simple family get-togethers, so why not serve it on Cinco de Mayo this year? Some recipes for the cake use butter, which creates a more dense cake, but this recipe leaves it out to create a softer texture. Also, the egg yolks and whites are beaten separately, which creates more volume. The resulting texture is truly sponge-like, easily absorbing about 1 quart of creamy liquid. After chilling, the cake is ready for the final flourish of whipped cream.
Holiday Goodies
Holiday Goodies
Celebrating Shavuot
If you peek into the kitchens of most observant Jews you will see a
double sink. Don’t ask me how over 2,000 years Jews took “don’t cook
a calf in its mother’s milk” and created a set of rules that
necessitates at least two sets of dishes, crockpots, and strainers, but
there you have it. Meat and dairy products are kept strictly apart
under Jewish dietary law. To ensure that never the twain shall meet,
usually one side of the sink will be dedicated to dairy dishes and the
other to utensils used for meat. And that’s where you can learn a lot
about how a family likes to eat.
One of my closest friends uses both sides for dairy. She likes meat, but she doesn’t like to cook it. My grandparents only had one sink. Let’s just say that once my grandmother proudly waved a single spoon in front of my newly married mother’s face shouting proudly “See! I do have dairy dishes!” Being ever so balanced, my sink usually has a few dishes stacked in both sides.
Homemade Panforte
When I worked in a gourmet retail store as a teenager, I got a chance to try many delectable things. I sampled high quality chocolates imported from Europe, pistachios from Iran, Alice Medrich's mammoth truffles, and panforte made by Margaret Fox of Cafe Beaujolais. I'll never forget those heavy round thick loaves, wrapped in dark red or green cellophane. Thin chewy slices served with or tea or alongside cheese seemed so sophisticated. It was definitely the best fruitcake I ever tasted.
My parents made panforte too and last year I realized it would be the perfect thing to make with a surplus of candied lemon peel. My recipe uses rice flour instead of wheat flour, which means it is gluten free! If you have nuts in your freezer, and they weren't bought this season, they are probably from last season and now is a good time to finish them off.
Mocha Kissy Cookies require no kissing before eating
Each year just before Christmas, we had a holiday gathering for all the children and their families at the campus child care center I worked at for several years. Each family contributed a plate of holiday treats.
One year, as I moved around the Center visiting with parents and siblings of the preschoolers I spent time with each day, I happened upon a conversation between two preschoolers. They each held one of those peanut butter cookies with a Hershey kiss in the middle.
“Kiss me,” said the little girl as she looked at the confused little boy in front of her. “You can’t take a bite of your kissy cookie until you kiss me. That’s what my mom and dad do,” she said sweetly. I pictured her young parents sitting on the couch in their living room at home with a tin of Kissy Cookies resting on their laps, sharing a quick little peck as they ate cookies together. I held back a little giggle.
Shortbread Finger Biscuits
One of my favorite treats to have during the holidays is one that I can
enjoy with a hot cup of tea. These traditional Scottish shortbread
finger biscuits are one of those favorites of mine. I come back to the
same recipe year after year, but this time I decided to try something
new. Going on a tip from a Scottish woman to use a portion of rice
flour for a more tender cookie, I instead decided to use garbanzo bean
flour.
I've been meaning to use garbanzo bean flour ever since I
purchased a package some time ago. I had intended to use it for making
Besan Ladoo, an Indian sweet made from gram flour, which is their name
for garbanzo bean or chick pea flour. I haven't had the chance to make
that sweet yet, but I took the opportunity to use the flour for the
first time. It turned out to be a very good idea. I achieved a much
more tender cookie than what I've made in the past. And to gild the
lily a bit, I dipped a third of each finger in melted semisweet
chocolate and then sprinkled it with chopped pistachios. I must say
they turned out great.
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