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Dishes

Zalèti Recipe ~ Venetian Raisin Cookies [Recipe]

Make a plateful of sugar-dusted, raisin-studded Venetian cookies like these with this simple zalèti recipe, and celebrate the season!

Abigail wasted no time. She quickly gathered … nearly a bushel of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 fig cakes.  ~ 1 Samuel 25:18

When it came to catering, Abigail of Carmel was no slouch. This wise woman of ancient Israel knew that a meal worthy of a future king had to include flavorful grains and lots and lots of raisins.

So guess what, my dear child of the King? That means you, too, are worthy of a treat overflowing with the kind of sweetness that only plump raisins can give.

All you need is a good zalèti recipe.

What, you ask, are zalèti?

They’re Italian cookies born in Venice. And something sweet and satisfying to reach for the next time you catch yourself dreaming of that beautiful island city.

Your fresh-baked zalèti will be a sweet taste of Italy you don’t have to travel for. (At least, not any further than your local supermarket for the few ingredients you might not have in your pantry at the moment.)

You Say “Zalèti,” I Say “Zaèti”…

For centuries, Zalèti (or zaèti, with the “l” dropped) have reigned as one of Venice’s most popular sweets. And once you bite into one (and then, two, and three…) fresh-out-of-the-oven, you’ll see why.

In preparing zalèti, Italian bakers usually soak the raisins in grappa, an alcoholic beverage made from grapes. Yet, I opted to infuse them with white grape juice instead.

These Venetian raisin cookies are both sweet and filling. In short, they’re just the thing to go with your cup of tea or a fresh pot of coffee. Any time of the day.

Then place any remaining cookies in an airtight container. They should keep for up to seven days, though they’ll likely disappear within five!

Oh yes, this zalèti recipe is delicious as well as simple to make. Here’s how:

(A VERY Good!) Zalèti Recipe

Print Recipe

Zalèti ~ Venetian Raisin Cookies

Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time50 mins
Servings: 9 (2-3 cookies each)

Equipment

  • mixing bowl
  • thick-bottomed saucepan
  • 2 metal madeleine pans
  • (optional) long-handled spoon, wooden or bamboo, for mixing

Ingredients

  • 1⅓ cups fine corn flour
  • 7/8 cup all-purpose flour
  • 5/8 cup granulated sugar
  • ⅔ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1¼ tablespoons lemon juice
  • 7 tablespoons butter
  • 5/8 cup milk
  • 1 whole egg
  • ⅓ cup raisins
  • ¼ cup white grape juice
  • ½ tablespoon butter (for preparing madeleine pan molds)

Instructions

  • Immerse the raisins in the white grape juice, leaving them to soak for up to 30 minutes. In the meantime…
  • Set the oven to 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Sift the two flours together in the bowl.
  • Add the sugar to the flour mix, along with a pinch of salt.
  • Quickly, combine the lemon juice and baking soda (to create leavening), and add to the flour/sugar mix.
  • Scald (not boil) the milk over a low-to-medium flame (see tip 3.) Then add the 7 tablespoons of butter to the heated milk.
  • Once the butter has melted, pour all of the heated liquid into the bowl.
  • Knead the concoction briefly by hand; then add the egg, and blend everything well by hand or with a long-handled spoon.
  • Drain excess liquid from the raisins and add them to the dough.
  • Use a tablespoon to spoon portions into well-buttered molds of the metal madeleine pans.
  • Bake for 20 minutes at 360 degrees.
  • Dust your zalèti with powdered sugar as soon as they’re out of the oven. Or not (see tip 4.)

Notes

Tips

  1. Make this simple recipe even easier by following mise-en-place technique, that is, by pre-measuring all of the ingredients in advance and arranging them in the order you plan to use them.
  2. Be sure to use finely-ground corn flour, NOT cornmeal. Both the fluffy texture and sweet taste of your cookies depend on it.
  3. When scalding the milk, stir often and watch that it doesn’t overheat to boiling. You’ll know it’s ready when bubbles start forming around the pan’s edge. (And if a layer of milk “skin” does happen to form on the surface, you can either whisk it into foam or simply skim it off before adding the butter.)
  4. If you prefer your pastry “delicately” sweet, feel free to omit the step where you dust your fresh-baked cookies with confectioner’s sugar. Zalèti are pretty enough without decoration. 

 

Product Recommendations & Substitutions

  • Use a finely ground corn flour suitable for dessert baking, like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Stone Ground-Whole Grain Corn Flour; it’s the high quality corn flour I use. Bob’s Red Mill also makes a finely-ground Organic Whole Grain-Stone Ground Corn Flour you might want to try if exposure to gluten isn’t a concern.
  • Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour is an excellent replacement for all-purpose flour.

Additional Note

  • If you’re buying madeleine pans for the first time (to make this zalèti recipe), know they’re also perfect for baking other soft cookies including, of course, madeleines :).

What Now?

  1. Feast your eyes on these other Italian sweets.
  2. To learn more about how zalèti got their name, as well as other tasty foods from Northern Italy, check out this article.
  3. Before gobbling up all of your delicious fresh-baked zalèti, please, please, PLEASE hold off long enough to take a picture of your handiwork. Then share it on Instagram and tag me @melodiek575. I’d love to see it!

Filed Under: Dishes, Recipes Tagged With: cookie recipe, Italian desserts, Italian food

Exquisite French Pastry & the Top Chefs Who Create It

Exquisite French pastry in Paris; photo by Zhu.

A party without cake is just a meeting. ~ Julia Child

When you mention France, most people think of Paris, the capital city. This is both a blessing and a curse.

A curse because the France outside of the capital city is gorgeous, too. It has delicious nooks and crannies worth exploring , yet so many never think to look.

And a blessing because even though France does so many culinary things well, Paris deserves to be top of mind when it comes to pastry, because it does them especially well.

So the equation goes like this (and it’s okay that it does):

France = Paris. And Paris + food, almost always = exquisite pastry.

Ergo, France = exquisite pastry.

In recognition of French pastry as the nation’s most iconic food, the chefs featured today are all French-born and trained professionals known for creating exquisite pastries.

Their views on the art they create for a living will help you shape your plans for France travel.

SÉBASTIEN ROUXEL 

You know you’ve “made it” when Thomas Keller calls you “one of the best pastry chefs in America.”

Rouxel became a chef’s apprentice at 15, then worked with master pâtissiers at prestigious addresses in Paris, including the Elysées Palace, the official residence of the French president.

Today he works in the world’s restaurant capital, New York City, yet retains truly sweet memories of growing up in France.

In France, kids don’t go to school on Wednesdays. And while I loved not having to go to school, the best part was  the morning, when my brothers and sister and I would open the kitchen shutters to find beside the flowerpots wonderful viennoiserie, fresh from the bakery, waiting for us to devour with a cup of hot chocolate.

Hot drink with exquisite French pastry: croissants with chocolate cream & hot cocoa, photo by ehaurylik.

SÉBASTIEN GAUDARD

The pastry chef who would bring chic to the most traditional French pastries was born the son of a baker in Lorraine, a region in northeast France.

Now, over 40 years later, Chef Gaudard is a confirmed Parisian with two successful shops in the French capital. They are the destination of choice for hungry people seeking classics like the baba au rhum, St. Honoré, and the cream-sandwiched tire-shaped confection called the Paris-Brest.

Eating sweets brings us back to a time in our lives when we had no worries, the carefree time of childhood . . . My wish is to render the past marvelously present.

Paris-Brest, (a classic) French dessert (and exquisite French pastry), photo by uckyo.

PIERRE HERMÉ

Pierre Hermé, like Chef Gaudard, grew up in a family of bakers in northeast France. After apprenticing in Paris, he opened his first shop in Tokyo rather than the French capital, reaching for something different . . . a sign of things to come.

Creating new flavors and combinations of flavors is what he likes to do most.

Whether you buy one of Hermé’s chocolates, cakes, or celebrated macarons, you will never taste anything that is same-old-same-old.

That’s how you end up desiring a lemon and strawberry flavored cake named Désire. And eating macarons like Mosaïc, flavored with pistachio, Ceylon cinnamon, and Morello cherries.

With dozens of knock-out flavors, it’s hard to choose a favorite ~ but why try? Hermé doesn’t.

I don’t have any favorites. I love them all because when I created them, I thought about them a lot. . . . guess my favorite macaron is the next one that I’m going to create.

These Sadaharu Aoki et Pierre Hermé (macarons) by Canon S3 IS in Paris, France are colorful examples of exquisite French pastry..

Want more sweet France travel? Take this French pastry tour.

PHOTO CREDITS

Featured image, French Pastries in Paris by Zhu; Fresh Baked Croissants with Chocolate Cream & Hot Cocoa on Woo by ehaurylik; Paris-Brest, French Dessert by uckyo; and Sadaharu Aoki et Pierre Hermé by Canon S3 IS in Paris, France.

SOURCE OF QUOTES for Sébastien Rouxel, Sébastien Gaudard, and Pierre Hermé.

Filed Under: Dishes Tagged With: food and travel quotes, French hot chocolate, Julia Child, macaron, Paris-Brest, Pierre Hermé, Sébastien Gaudard, Sebastien Rouxel, viennoiserie

Mexican Wedding Cookies Recipe [Recipe]

Here's a Mexican wedding cookies recipe for your next very special event. These buttery sugar-rolled confections with a crumbly texture and buttery taste are not only popular at weddings but Christmas time as well. No wonder ~ they're festive and look like snowballs. Image: Christmas Tea Cookies by Dream Big Photos

Mmmm mmm good! That’s how the people who you prepare this Mexican wedding cookies recipe are going to respond. As confections go, they’re plain delicious. But better yet, these sweet and butter-rich cookies are pretty enough for all of your festive occasions ~ not just weddings.

In fact, Mexican wedding cookies are most popular during the Christmas holiday season. At that time of year, you may hear them described as “Christmas tea cookies” or “snowballs.”

So here’s a Mexican wedding cookies recipe for you to try.

Just follow the recipe step-by-simple-step, and you’ll soon be putting these yummy crowd-pleasers atop your own banquet table.

Mexican Wedding Cookies AKA Christmas Tea Cookies AKA Snowballs
Print Recipe

Mexican Wedding Cookies (AKA Snowballs)

Buttery shortbread cookies served to celebrate festive events, such as weddings and Christmas.
Prep Time35 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time35 mins
Course: Dessert, Pastry
Cuisine: Southwestern
Keyword: chopped nuts, holiday, special occasions
Servings: 18 2 cookies per person
Author: Michelle Johnson
Cost: moderate

Equipment

  • mixing bowl
  • large bowl
  • cookie sheet
  • wooden or bamboo mixing spoon

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1½ cups powdered sugar divided into 2 separate portions: ½ cup for the batter and 1 cup for rolling baked cookies
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup nuts, finely chopped

Instructions

  • Set the oven to bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Cream the butter and the sugar together until fluffy.
  • Add the vanilla and stir.
  • In a separate bowl, blend together the flour and salt; then add them to the butter/sugar/vanilla mixture.
  • Stir until completely blended.
  • Add in the chopped nuts.
  • Roll the mixture into balls between 1¼ and 1½ inches in diameter and place them onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
  • Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes, until light golden brown.
  • Immediately, roll the fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies in powdered sugar.
  • Re-roll when cool.

Notes

Tips & Product Recommendations

  • Finely ground walnuts, pistachios, or pecans will work well in this Mexican wedding cookies recipe.

Substitutions

  • If you either don’t care for vanilla or simply want a change from it, try using lemon zest or lemon flavor instead. I enjoy using the Pure Madagascar Vanilla Extract and Lemon Flavor from the Simply Organic line of spices and herbs..

What Now?

  1. EnJoy your cookies!
  2. And in case you haven’t read about the many other names Mexican wedding cookies go by and how they came to be, click here.

Filed Under: Dishes, Foods and Dishes, Recipes

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