Jam Sweethearts Recipes

BASIC JAM

Steps:

• Stir together fruit, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved and mashing fruit with a potato masher. Add lemon juice; continue to boil, stirring frequently, until bubbles slow, chunks of fruit show at top, and mixture clings to a spoon but falls off in clumps, 10 to 12 minutes. Skim foam from top.
• Ladle jam into clean containers, leaving 3/4 inch of headroom. Let cool completely. Cover, label, and refrigerate up to 1 month, or freeze up to 1 year.

SWEETHEART TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Sprinkle a work surface and rolling pin with confectioner's sugar and roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick. Move dough frequently to prevent it from sticking and add more confectioners' sugar to the work surface and rolling pin as needed.
• Using a round cookie cutter the same diameter as the top of the muffin tin cups (about 2 inches), cut 36 rounds of dough. Gently press a dough round into each muffin cup and press evenly into the sides and bottom of the cup. Continue with remaining dough rounds. Bake until set and edges are light golden, about 10-12 minutes. Let cool in the pan completely before removing with a small offset spatula.
• Heat the jam in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add the cherries and stir gently to coat completely. With a small teaspoon, transfer a cherry into each tart shell and drizzle with a little more warm jam. Allow to cool and set.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.
• Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown

NUTTY SWEETHEARTS

Steps:

• Grease cookie sheet and insides of two or more heart-shaped cookie cutters 4 inches long and 2 inches deep. Place cutters on cookie sheet, set aside.
• In large bowl, combine cereal, chocolate chips, marshmallows, candied cherries and pecans, set aside.
• In small heavy saucepan over very low heat, stir white chocolate and shortening until melted and smooth. Remove from heat, cool slightly. Pour chocolate mixture over mixture in bowl, stir gently to coat completely.
• Using greased fingers, press about 2/3 cup mixture firmly and evenly into each prepared cutter on cookie sheet to thickness of up to 3/4 inch. Refrigerate 30 minutes until firm. Depending on number of molds available, you may have to work in batches. Keep unused mixture at room temperature between batches.
• To unmold: Run wide metal spatula under cutters to loosen from cookie sheet. Using fingers, gently push each sweetheart free of the cutter.

JAM SWEETHEARTS

Steps:

• Beat butter & sugar together in a bowl.
• Add yolk and vanilla and beat the mixture until smooth.
• Add flour and salt and mix everything to form a smooth dough.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness.
• Cut out with 1 1/2-2in circle cookie cutters.
• Arrange cookies on baking sheet.
• Cut hearts from half of the cookies with 1in heart cutters.
• Bake for 12 minutes.
• Cool Completely.
• Make frostingby beating butter until smooth, then gradually adding icing sugar, water and vanilla.
• Spread frosting over whole (not heart) cookies.
• Drop a small spoonful of jam on top of frosting.
• Press heart cookies on top of whole cookies.