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I look forward to seeing you there!

Making Almond-Filled Cookie Cake with a Grumpy Four Year Old

My four year old was having an attack of the grumpies towards his brother. Thinking he might need a little attention I decided to spend some time with him in the kitchen.  I found this recipe in Tea Time at the Inn by Gail Greco that looked quite good and seemed simple enough for him to make – which he did almost all by himself with a little intervention here and there. 

Here is the recipe slightly adapted from Tea Time at the Inn.

Crust

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/3 cups unsalted butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 10-inch spring form pan. In large bowl of electric mixer, blend all ingredients at low speed until dough forms. Divide dough in half, patting one piece into the pan. 

Filling

1 cup finely chopped almonds

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 egg, slightly beaten

Slivered almonds

Confectioner’s Sugar

In small bowl, combine all ingredients, except whole almonds and confectioner’s sugar. Spread over crust to within 1/2 inch of the sides of the pan. Press remaining dough between waxed paper to form a 10-inch circle. Remove paper. Press dough into place over the filling. Garnish with slivered almonds. Bake for 55 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes, remove from pan, and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar

To make it I first had the little guy

measure out the flour

 

then assemble the rest of the ingredients for the crust

place them in the mixing bowl

mix the dough,

split the dough into two equal portions

 and roll out the crust. 

Placing it in the pan did not go well.

So we ended up patting it into the pan, which worked fine.

 
Then came the filling. 

We assembled the ingredients,

mixed them together,

and spread the filling on the crust.

 

Next came the top crust. 

This time we layered it between two pieces

of waxed paper to roll out.

This worked very nice.

After the top crust was in place,

we covered it with slivered almonds and placed

it in the oven.

 

The finished product, with a dusting of

confectioner’s sugar, along with the

Happy Baker.

This cake was quite simple to make and sooo good.  It even cheered the little guy up.

Welcome to my Kitchen

I love cooking and since I have 6 children plus 1 hungry husband, I spend a fair bit of time in the kitchen, as you might imagine. I’m no expert, I’m still learning, but somehow I’ve managed to keep my kids fed with good wholesome food, to their great joy.

Just this week I was at the library checking out books like “How to Cook,” “How to Cook Without a Book,” along with books by Julia Child. I’m sure the librarian was really wondering what my poor family has been eating up to this point.

So although I have no credentials, (just my love of cooking) never have been to cooking school, (sounds like fun though) I’m gaining all my experience feeding my hungry troop, friends and any wayfaring stranger who happens at my door.

I hope you find something here at A Pinch of This, A Dash of That that will inspire you in your own kitchen.

Let’s get cooking!