MADDIE DAY: I learned to bake Mexican Bridecakes from my mother, a recipe that came from my father's mother, Dorothy. I can't remember a Christmas without these treats, and I'm seventy!
I bake this simple cookie every year as part of my Christmas sweets repertoire. When I sink my teeth into the crisp buttery squares, I hear my father admiring how "short" they are, meaning how much butter is part of the recipe.
I included the recipe in Christmas Cocoa and a Corpse, my novella included in Christmas Cocoa Murder, but I recently realized I'd never shared the recipe here!
I had to rewrite the recipe card about ten years ago. The card on which I'd copied my mom's recipe when I was a child was finally almost too yellow and ripped to read.
Both my sisters still make the cookies, as well as my cousins who share Dot as a grandmother.
What follows is a slightly augmented version of the recipe card, to clarify procedures I will never forget (unless I get to the point where I can't even remember people's names...).
Mexican Bridecakes
Ingredients
I cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus another 1/2 cup for sifting
2 cups flour
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla.
Mix in flour, nuts, and salt. (I didn't use the nuts in this version.)
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I still use my mother's antique sifter. |
