I love Spring! And when I think of Spring, one thing that comes to mind is tea parties. A few years ago, my daughter Kat!e (pictured) and I decided to host a tea party for her friends. My Mom pitched in to help because she is a professional tea party planner (well, she should be!).
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Before the party, I took the girls to a local thrift store to purchase their party clothes. They purchased inexpensive, frilly dresses and jewelry and hats, etc. Kat!e borrowed her beautiful hat from Grandma. Perfect!
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The girls played croquet and read poetry to one another and, of course, ate delicious tea party treats.
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I have the great pleasure of being on the test kitchen for Josi Kilpack’s culinary mystery novels. This means I get to test out all of her delicious recipes before they go to publication. One of our favorite tea party treats comes from English Trifle. Here is the recipe:
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High Tea Lemon Cookies
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Cookies
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2 cups butter (room temperature)
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 cups cornstarch (this is not a typo)
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add lemon zest and vanilla. Beat well. Add flour and cornstarch and beat until well combined. Do NOT refrigerate. Roll by hand into 1-inch balls or use a well-packed scoop, placing cookies about an inch apart as they do not spread much while baking.
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Bake 15 minutes on ungreased cookie sheets until bottom edges are light brown. Cool on wire racks before frosting with lemon glaze (below).
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Makes about 5 dozen small, delicate cookies.
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Lemon Glaze
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4 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon lemon zest (get zest from lemon before juicing)
1/4 to 1/3 cup lemon juice*
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
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In a medium bowl combine butter, zest, juice, and sugar. Stir until well mixed. Place a piece of wax paper beneath the wire racks where the cookies have been cooling and drizzle glaze over cookies.
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* For best results when using lemons, choose the largest lemon you can find and roll it on the counter for about a minute before juicing in order to get as much juice as possible. Zest only the yellow part of the lemon peel; the white portion leaves a bitter taste.
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