Christmas around the world 11

Whatever They Are Called

by Vicky

When I think about Christmas recipes, the most memorable ones contain sugar. Not surprising since I remember both grandmothers and my own mother starting their Christmas baking just after Thanksgiving, and each day when I arrived back home from school, the whole house was permeated by wonderful smells. Pleading and begging might wrestle one tiny morsel off a cookie tray, or a single item out of the dozens of 5 lb coffee cans used to store the Christmas stash, but the majority of the goodies were meant for gifts or special occasions through the holidays.

There was fudge, date loaf roll, gingerbread men with cherry noses, and the proverbial fruitcakes (soaked in bourbon so no child in their right mind ever went near them). My most favorite of all was a little cookie my mother called Russian teacakes.

When I grew up, I found that these little melt in your mouth morsels were also called Mexican wedding cakes, Italian butterballs, Southern pecan balls, snowdrops, Viennese sugar balls, and even snowballs. How we down on the Texas/Arkansas border ever got the Russian version is beyond me since we’re Irish and Indian for the most part of our heritage, and we were in the height of the Cold War and were supposed to hate and fear everything Russian. Regardless of where the name came from, they were and are still my absolute favorites.

The recipe is quite simple and foolproof if you don’t try to substitute anything imitation …like cheap imitation vanilla instead of the pure stuff or margarine instead of the best butter you can buy. Insofar as the nuts, pecans are the best choice although I’ll admit the best batch ever made contained hickory nuts. As a seven year old, I sat for most of an afternoon hammering hickory nuts on a stone, and then carefully picking out the tiny bits until there were enough to take into the kitchen. This may well have been another grandmotherly tactic to keep my fingers away from the cookie tins, but the taste was unforgettable.

Any of this recipe is possible to do with a food processor, but the best way is the old-fashioned way ... by hand.

Russian Tea Cakes

1 cup lightly toasted, chopped pecan
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
¼ cup confectioner’s sugar (sifted)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt

Topping: 1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar

Cream the butter and ¼ cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the extract and then add the flour and salt and beat until well blended. Stir in the nuts, and then place the bowl (covered) in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Make one inch round balls by rolling them between your hands and place the balls about an inch or so apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until browning on the edges. Cool for no more than five minutes and then roll each ball in the sifted sugar.

This recipe makes about three dozen but that isn’t allowing for how many you or your children eat while putting them away. Oh, and these were the first cookies I ever learned to make, and I still make them!