Our little soup interlude is over, my friends, for the cookies keep rolling in. The Soup Lady was the recipient of the most fetching little package that held a delightful concoction called Gingerbread Cream Cheese Spirals. The cookies came courtesy of Solonor who graciously inform all that they were produced by the steady and talented hand of Mrs. Solonor. They were so perfectly formed and neatly done that it was obvious that The Soup Lady was staring into the face of great experience. I am assured that it takes only a little practice to produce a uniform roll, so here is the recipe and have at it.
Gingerbread Dough: ½ cup butter ½ cup packed brown sugar ¼ cup molasses 1 teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon ground cloves 1 egg 2 cups all-purpose flour Beat butter in large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and cloves; beat until combined. Beat in egg until thoroughly combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour with wooden spoon. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill dough at least one hour or until easy to handle.
Cream Cheese Dough-
1/3 cup butter
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel
Beat butter and cream cheese in large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and baking powder and beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in orange peel and any remaining flour with wooden spoon. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill at least one hour or until easy to handle.
Roll each half of the cream cheese dough between two sheets of waxed paper into a 10x 8 rectangle. Place these on baking sheets. Chill in freezer for 15- 20 minutes or until firm. Roll each half of the gingerbread dough in the same manner. Remove cream cheese rectangles from freezer. Peel top sheets of waxed paper from all rectangles. Carefully invert one cream cheese rectangle over a gingerbread rectangle. Remove the waxed paper from tops. Let stand about five minutes or until dough is easy to roll.
Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting from one of the long sides, removing bottom sheet of waxed paper as you roll. Pinch to seal. Cut roll in half crosswise. Wrap each roll in waxed paper or clear plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining two rectangles. Chill about four hours or until firm.
Remove one roll from the refrigerator. Unwrap and reshape slightly if necessary. Cut dough into ¼ inch thick slices and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool cookies on baking sheet for one minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
Solonor's Cream Cheese Spiral Cookies
displayed on Stangl's First Love patternFor this display, the Soup Lady has chosen to co-ordinate the cookies with Stangl's First Love pattern of dinnerware. It was produced in 1968 for only one year - you can see that it has that orange/gold/brown color scheme of the burgeoning return-to-nature movement that was unfolding at about that time. It wasn't all that popular, which makes it less plentiful that some of the more beloved patterns. I'm not all that crazy about it myself. In fact, this is the only piece that I have.
Nevertheless, you should click here to have a detailed close-up of the dinnerplate. The brush strokes of the handpainting are clearly visible in the green leaves and you can see brown stains in the center of the plate which are a result of water seeping under an imperfect glaze. This is a not unusual occurance with Stangl pieces. Refiring can cure it, but it's only First Love, after all and then it wouldn't be original. If it was Lyric or Fruit it might be a different story.
Comments