We had a nice low key New Year’s Eve celebration at Kat & Jon’s place in Russian Hill. Kat whipped up a yummy meal of seafood fettuccine and tomato baby greens salad. We had cocktails, wine, and champagne to enjoy while waiting for midnight.
I made a dessert which turned out pretty good that I think I’m going to try again to improve on it. The base recipe comes from Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies by Jill Van Cleave. It’s the recipe for raspberry bars but I didn’t have raspberries so used applesauce and this Korean tea made with fruits, on wikipedia, it is referred to as mogwa cha.
So here’s the recipe to try:
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar plus 1 tbsp for garnish
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind (substitute 1/4 tsp lemon juice)
1/4 tsp ginger
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds (I used pecans)
1/4 cup quick-cook oats
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup raspberry fruit or preserves (I used 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup mogwa cha, the Korean tea is syrupy sticky so the applesauce was to thin it out a bit)
1. Heat oven to 350 F
2. Cream 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter and confectioners’ sugar
3. Add lemon rind, ginger, and 1 cup flour. Mix to form a smooth dough. Spread into an ungreased 8-inch square baking pan and press to pack evenly in the bottom
4. Bake until crust is set but not brown, about 15 minutes.
5. While crust is baking, combine remaining 1/2 cup flour with almonds, brown sugar, quick-cook oats, and baking powder in a bowl and mix together. Add the remaining 1/4 (1/2 stick) butter and stir until mixture is crumbly (using a fork helps)
6. When crust is done baking, place pan on rack and spread fruit spread onto hot crust and spread evenly
7. Sprinkle almond-oats-brown sugar topping (step 5) over fruit filling and press down lightly. Return to oven and bake until topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes.
8. Place pan on a rack and let cool; sift 1 tbsp confectioners’ sugar evenly over the top and cut into bars
9. Store cookies in the baking pan at room temp for up to 5 days
Sorry no pics, I forgot again to take some before they got gobbled up.
We watched the ball drop on TV in NY at 9pm and again at midnight and watched the SF fireworks from their living room window…
They have a beautiful view from their apt, I didn’t bring my dad’s digital SLR but I’m sure there will be time again when I can take more pics.
Happy New Year!