Horchata Cookies with Queso Fresco

If you've been keeping up on my recipes this week, you know that I've been making use of the wonderful cheeses from Queso Del Valle. I thought a dessert would be a nice way to end the week. Lulu and I had lunch at the appropriately named "Lulu's" Mexican restaurant last Sunday, and we both enjoyed a nice cup of horchata (cinnamon-flavored rice drink). I thought it would be fun to capture the rice and cinnamon flavors of the drink in an edible form.

I made cookies with queso fresco and incorporated sweetened condensed milk, horchata, almonds, rice flour and cinnamon. I didn't stop there and topped the moist cookies with cinnamon and crema Mexicana sour cream icing. 

These horchata cookies turned out great and I might whip another fusion dessert before the weekend is over. How do profiteroles filled with Mexican vanilla-flavored queso fresco and crema Mexicana sour cream sound? I think it would be even more luscious if the profiteroles are drizzled with dulce leche. Mmmm...

Mocha Thumbprint Cookie Recipe

Baby Aria is very similar to my husband Lulu when it comes to her favorite foods. She loves vegetables and she adores sweets. Today I experimented with a batch of cookies I usually make when we have guests over for tea: thumbprint cookies. They're so pretty, especially with the crackle effect on the shortbread cookie dough and the whimsical design in the center indentation that almost resembles a crazy eye.

I flavored the cookie dough with cocoa powder and mocha paste. I filled them with vanilla chips and a drizzle of bittersweet chocolate, which came out just as great. Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to sharing recipes next week in anticipation of Cinco de Mayo!

Almond Tea Cake Recipe

I don't make these sweet treats too often, because in my opinion (being from France where pastries are subtly sweetened), they're a tad too sweet. But they're perfect with a hot of cup of tea and I know my husband Lulu loves them. The concept of these cookies is to create an absolute overload of almonds. The cookie dough is made of chopped almonds, marzipan (honey and almond meal), almond extract, powdered sugar and a strong, floral honey.

I got the girls involved in rolling the cookies into balls and coating them in powdered sugar prior to baking. And once the cookies were baked, the girls dunked them one more time in powdered sugar to resemble snowballs. 

Coconut Madeleine Recipe

Maybe it's just me but I love having guests over for tea. It's fun because you can serve an assortment of savory and sweet treats to go along with it. And, of course, I love trotting out my different tea sets!

My go-to, fool-proof tea cake recipe is a French classic: the madeleine. The authentic, buttery, plain version is divine, but today I felt like adding something exotic and flavored the batter with coconut. The coconut version doesn't puff up as much as traditional madeleines normally do, but they are a touch crispier and pair wonderfully with a hot cup of tea.

Sandwich Cookie Recipe

Yesterday, we had 12 guests over for dinner. I prepared the entire meal but wasn't planning to make a dessert, except for a large platter of fresh fruit. When everyone had finished their plate, my father-in-law, Daddy, said: "now let's head to the other room and have the desserts Jackie made!" I tried to whisper to him that there were none, but it was too late.

So I ran into the kitchen and whipped up with these sandwich cookies. I only needed 12 minutes to bake them and used fresh strawberries I luckily had in the refrigerator for the filling. Everyone was still enjoying their coffee and tea when my dessert was ready to be served. I could have waited a bit more for the cookies to cool and get firm but I think they were still enjoyable. Mission accomplished!