Holiday Cookies Part Three: Venetian and Sour Cream Cookies

This weekend we showed you how to be the talk of the town with our almond bar and cream cheese cookie . Sunday, Anne provided tips to add flair to traditional . Today we will take a look at old-fashioned Venetian and sour cream cookies.

Venetian Cookies

Dexter resident Jovina Coughlin said this is a family favorite recipe and she can't have Christmas without it.

"It is the first cookie that my children and my grandchildren reach for on Christmas Eve. It is an old Italian cookie but I use a recipe I cut out from Family Circle Magazine in 1985," she said. "Yes they freeze very well with wax paper between the layers. I also keep them in the refrigerator since they taste best cold."

1 8-ounce can of almond paste
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 drops green food coloring
8 drops red food coloring
1 (12 ounce) jar of apricot preserves
5 ounces semisweet chocolate

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 13-inch by 9-inch by 2-inch baking pans; line with waxed paper and grease the paper. Break up paste in bowl with fork. Add butter, sugar, yolks and extract. Beat with mixer until fluffy, 5 minutes.

Beat in the flour and salt. Beat whites in bowl until stiff peaks form. Stir into almond mixture with wooden spoon, using turning motion similar to folding.

Remove 1 1/2 cups batter; spread evenly into one of prepared pans. Remove another 1 1/2 cups batter to small bowl; tint green with coloring. Spread the mixture into a second pan. Tint remaining 1 1/2 cups batter pink. Spread the batter in the remaining pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly golden.

Cake layers will each be 1/4 inch thick. Immediately remove cakes from pans onto large wire racks. Carefully peel off waxed paper. Cool and place pink layer on upturned jelly roll pan. Heat preserves, strain and reserve chunks in strainer for other uses. Spread half of strained preserves over pink layer. Top with yellow layer. Spread with remaining preserves. Cover with green layer, top side up.

Cover the cookies with plastic wrap. Weigh down with large wooden cutting board, heavy flat tray or large book. Refrigerate overnight. Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over hot water. Trim cake edges even. Cut cake crosswise into 1-inch wide strips. Frost pink layer of one strip with chocolate. Turn strip on side and frost green layer. Let chocolate dry. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Repeat with remaining strips. Makes six dozen.

Anne’s comments: These are like little petit four cakes and are beautiful! I agree with Jovina that they are best when they are cold, but that didn’t stop customers from gobbling them up at room temperature.  

Sour Cream Cookies

3 cups flour (may use cake flour)

1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla (you can also substitute lemon, or almond extract )
1/2 tsp baking soda

8 ounces of sour cream

1/2 cup of butter

Measure flour, salt, baking powder, and soda; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar beating until mixed, beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternatively with sour cream until well blended. Drop by teaspoons on greased cookie tin. Sprinkle each cookie with cinnamon/sugar (mix 1/4 cup sugar with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon). Bake in hot oven 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Anne’s comments: These are small, about the size of Mexican Wedding Cookies, and are not too sweet. They are wonderful with coffee or tea.

Next month: Our wonderful weather can’t last forever. I’ll be ready to try homemade soup or bread. Please send recipes to akcooker@yahoo.com.