Thumbprint Cookies

These are not so nutty thumbprint cookies and quick to whip up. I used strawberry jam however you may use peach or apricot jam to give them more of an Ostara or Easter feel. I absolutely love how the jam is nestle amongst the biscuity sweetness. 

Classic Thumbprint Cookies

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1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg white

3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut or finely chopped nuts  

strawberry jam 

Heat oven to 350º

Mix butter, brown sugar, egg yolk and vanilla thoroughly. 

Blend flour and salt together. Stir into the butter mixture until combined. 

Roll 1 teaspoon dough into balls. Dip into the slightly beaten egg white. Roll in nuts. Place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet; press thumb gently into centres. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool. Fill holes with strawberry jam.

Berries Beautiful!

We have all tried our hand at making strawberry jam, ate a slice of strawberry shortcake at a summertime picnic, placed sliced strawberries on top of a salad, marvelled at  strawberry tarts from the bakery and even raised a glass... or two, of strawberry infused Pimms. No matter how you slice them, to me nothing rings in summer like strawberries and raspberries for that matter. I remember many summer days going out to strawberry fields and picking pint after pint. It is a wonder that I made it back home with any strawberries at all! 

This book is only 110 pages and serves up all the classic berry recipes. Apart from the few salad, sandwich, beverage and soup recipe... yes soup! Most of the recipes are for desserts. Oddly enough there is a pizza crust recipe and there are 4-5 different strawberry pizza recipes to try. Recipes have standard and metric measurements.

Whether you pick them yourself, purchase them from a farmer's market or grocery store berries are succulently sweet. And just in case you are curious and want to give it a try I will share the soup recipe with you. Enjoy! - JW 

Strawberry Soup
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4 cups/1 L Fresh strawberries or 4 cups of frozen whole strawberries, partly thawed
1 cup/250 ml orange juice 
2/teaspoons/10ml instant tapioca
1/8 teaspoon/0.5ml all spice
1/8teaspoon/0.5ml cinnamon
1/2 cup/125ml sugar
1 teaspoon/5ml grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon/15ml lemon juice
1 cup/250ml buttermilk

Purée strawberries. Combine purée with orange juice in a saucepan. Remove about 1/4 cup (50ml) of mixture and combine with the tapioca. Add tapioca mixture to purée in saucepan. Add all spice, cinnamon and sugar, and cook and stir until mixture thickens. Remove from heat; and lemon peel, lemon juice and buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Serves 4.