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Moravian Sugar Cookies

List of Ingredients




I'm planning to spend tomorrow doing some Christmas baking, and thought I'd share a recipe. Directions for Moravian sugar cake appear in a lot of cookbooks, especially the spiral-bound ones put out by church groups, but they're usually pretty vague, and don't always give good results in my experience. Last year I wrote down exactly how I make it, to share with friends.

a potato
dry yeast
butter
granulated sugar
brown sugar
eggs
flour

Take 1 smallish potato - about half a big baking potato, or one smaller
russet. Cut up and boil until done. Save the water in which it was
boiled. Mash the potato, and force through a colander or ricer. You
should have between a half and a full cup of mashed potato when done.

Set aside half a cup of the potato water until lukewarm and use it to
dissolve one package dry yeast.

To 1 cup of the remaining water, add
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt

When the butter has melted, add the mashed potato back to the water. When
this whole mixture is lukewarm, add the dissolved yeast to it, plus about 1
cup flour. Let this sponge rise until doubled in volume, about an hour in
a warm kitchen.

Mix 1/2 cup brown sugar with two eggs. Stir the potato mixture down and
add the eggs and brown sugar, and enough more flour to make a soft dough.
You will use about 4 to 5 cups flour altogether.

Knead until smooth. Divide into four equal portions, and let rest for
10-15 minutes. If you're not going to bake until later, you can
refrigerate the dough at this point.

Roll each portion of dough into an 8x8 square and put into a greased baking
pan. Spread a little butter on the top surface.

Let rise until double.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Punch holes in the surface with your fingers, to make little wells all over
the top, sprinkle the whole thing with cinnamon and then dot butter and
brown sugar in the wells.

As soon as you put the cakes in the oven, turn the temperature down to 375 and bake for 20 minutes.

If not eaten immediately, warm again in a slow oven before serving.

Elizabeth Harris


Recipe