Pistachio And Cherry Mexican Wedding Cakes Recipes

PISTACHIO AND CHERRY MEXICAN WEDDING CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 3 heavy large baking sheets. Using electric mixer, beat 2 cups butter and 1 cup powdered sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and salt, then pistachios and cherries. Using spatula, stir in all flour (do not overmix dough).
• Shape dough by generous tablespoonfuls into football-shaped ovals. Place on prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until bottoms just begin to color, about 16 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets 10 minutes before coating.
• Pour generous amount of powdered sugar into medium bowl. Working with 5 or 6 warm cookies at a time, add cookies to bowl of sugar; gently turn to coat thickly. Transfer cookies to sheet of waxed paper. Repeat to coat cookies with sugar again; cool completely. do ahead Can be made 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

CHERRY-PISTACHIO TEA CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
• Pulse the pistachios, flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor until finely ground.
• Whisk the confectioners' sugar and eggs in a large bowl, then whisk in the pistachio mixture until just combined. Stir in the melted butter until just incorporated.
• Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into each muffin cup. Bake until slightly puffed and just beginning to set, about 8 minutes. Place 1 or 2 cherries in the center of each cake and continue baking until the cakes feel springy and the edges are lightly browned, 10 to 12 more minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

DRIED CHERRY AND PISTACHIO CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and egg whites on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Beat in cream cheese until blended. In small bowl, toss 1 cup cherries and 1/2 cup nuts with flour; stir into batter. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full.
• Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove cupcakes from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Frost cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Garnish with 3/4 cup cherries and 1/2 cup nuts.

CHERRY, PISTACHIO & COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9 in/24cm diameter ring cake tin with butter.
• Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour over the melted butter and mix in the eggs. Spoon the batter into the pre-greased tin and smooth down.
• Remove the pits from the cherries-you can do this with a cherry pitter or by just pulling them apart and popping the pits out with your fingers. I like to do this over the cake tin, so that any juice drips onto the cake and adds color. Drop the pitted cherries onto the batter and sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp/20g of sugar and the roughly chopped pistachios. Bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes, then turn the cake around and bake for a further 8-10 minutes, until the cake between the cherries goes all golden.
• Allow the cake to cool in the tin, as it needs time to settle, then gently remove by running a knife around the edges. Covered well, it will keep in the fridge for up to a week (not much chance of that happening), but for the best flavor, allow it to return to room temperature before eating.