Fruit Jewels

Well, it's been a while. I have no excuse but that just how life is. This is actually a recipe I made a while ago but am just now putting here. 

I found a great stash of old cooking pamphlets from a used bookstore this fall. This great margarine pamphlet was one of them. I love it! I don't know the year but maybe 1950's. Maybe

So many delicious sounding recipes but let's go for something a little different: Fruit Jewels!

I actually had to but a lot more for this recipe than usual. I don't normally keep maraschino cherries, dates, or even margarine on hand. Chopping the cherries was fun. I'm lazy so I just stuck them in a bowl and used my kitchen scissors to cut them up. The dates were already precut because I hate cutting dates! they are so sticky!

There doesn't seem like there is enough dough for all the mix-ins...

Easy recipe to follow. Just mix. I like that. Sometimes it's great to just have a simple recipe. I love how bright the cherries are!

These turned out so cute! More texture than the recipe picture but I think they look even better.

I was a little nervous because I am not usually a fan or maraschino cherries but these were tasty. They stayed nice and moist. No crispiness here. They had a light, not too sweet flavor and, even though the recipe says it makes 2.5 dozen. I don't think I got even 2 dozen from it. I'm not upset about that. I probably made them a little larger than they were supposed to be but I think they were the perfect size for me. And made the perfect amount. Because these were so moist they tended to stick together after a day or so and so they had to be eaten quickly.

My Rating: Delicious! Definitely something a little different to make again.

Chocolate Cherry Cordial

Between work and my surprising new side gig, dog sitting, I have not been able to spend as much time as I want baking lately. Consider this a late Valentine's day treat. Who doesn't love chocolate cherry cordials! Cherry cordials actually remind me more of the holidays than valentines but they look very valentines-y.

This recipe was requested as payment for the cookbook Hershey's 1934 Cookbook. It is a 1971 reprint and contains a whole section on life in the 30's, "A decade of mixed blessings."

Canning looks so exciting in the 30's! You have to wonder if she is canning something chocolate...why would you can chocolate?

Although I love old recipes, I am not the person who gets excited to do a bunch of research. This kind of updated recipe is right up my alley. Just old enough to be vintage but not too old to understand.

I confess...I did not use Hershey's chocolates.

 I don't have a double boiler so a pan on a boiling pot will have to do. The mix of semi-sweet and milk chocolate is interesting.

While that is melting, I got to work on the centers. My kitchen is small enough to do 2 things at once.

It's like play dough! I was very tempted to switch out the vanilla and almond flavoring for rum or brandy. Maybe next time...definitely next time!

 So cute! All ready for their chocolate coats. There was enough filling for just under 4 dozen cherries.

 So tempting to just eat spoonfuls of the chocolate. But I resisted.

The shallow pan made rolling the cherries very easy. I should have let the chocolate cool a bit more because it started to melt some of the fillings. I was not able to swirl the chocolate for a decorative touch.

 After a short time in the fridge and a couple of days on the counter, they are finally ready!

Well, unfortunately the centers never liquified. They are delicious but not exactly what they are suppose to be.

These were so easy and quite delicious but the cordials never formed. I suspect it was human error and that I left them in the fridge a little too long. Personally I thought the chocolate was a little too thick in part of the cherries but that came from rolling them. I have a chocolate mold for chocolate covered cherries that I will probably use next time. I loved the taste of the mixed chocolates!

My Rating: Keeper! But I'll try some other flavors next time. Just for fun.

Friends and Family Rating: "Amazing!" "Wow, these are so good."

Candied Cherry Macaroons

Busy times means less time to bake and share. Sorry for such a long delay!
Here is a bright cookie for the Holidays! I wanted something a little different since I figured that everyone would be getting a ton of chocolate in December. This is from the fantastic Christmas Cookies booklet from the Wisconsin Gas & Electric Company.

 Just in case you didn't realize, macrons and macaroons are very different cookies. Both delicious! But very different. Macrons are meringue based and come a a variety of colors and flavors. Macaroons are coconut based and a lot easier to make.

I happened to decide to make these just before all the candied fruits came out in the stores for all us crazy people who like making fruit cakes. Luckily I found a wonderful recipe online. Easy and cheap! And they ended up being a lot tastier than the store brand. Image that.

 Super simple ingredients. Can't beat 4!

 I didn't have to bring out the standing mixer for this one.

 It will take a little bit of arm muscles to make sure everything is mixed well together and the coconut doesn't still together.

 These are sticky little things so I recommend using spoons and not your hands to drop the cookies.

 Since these won't bake up you have to keep an eye on the coconut. It will burn!

 These looked beautiful and surprisingly festive!

Despite looking a little crisp, these were very soft and chewy and they had almost a sticky texture to them. And very sweet! I liked them! Easy to put together and cheerful. You can use store bought candied cherries but I would recommend making them yourself. It was easy and they taste amazingly different. I would almost bet that everyone who says they hate candied fruit has never had homemade ones. 

My Rating: Good but sweet. Love the color!

Friends & Family Rating: I don't know...no one said anything but they only lasted 3 days. 

Cherry-Nut Mince Pie

Mincemeat was always one of those things that horrified me as a child. I knew it was a pie filling and that it was a dessert but I thought it was made meat. It's in the name! So I was picturing something like a beef pot pie topped with whipped cream. Yuck! I was so relieved to discover that it is no longer meat-based. Now it is a delicious mixture of fruits and spices and so decilous!
I ventured back into Better Cooking and Baking for this multi-level pie. So many delicious things tucked into the pie crust.

I even decided to try out the pie crust given.

So yummy mixed together!

My pie curst rolling skills need lots of work. You can really tell where the top and bottom crust did meet. hehe

My kitchen smells like autumn.

This pie came together very easily. I had issues with the crust but I always have pie crust problems. The pie crust tasted fine. I don't think it was very special but it was easy. The filling was amazing! I probably should have waited until autumn for it. The cherries and mincemeat screamed fall! Very yummy!

My Rating: Keeper!

Friends and Family Rating: "Amazing!" "You are making this for Thanksgiving this year."