Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook: A Love Story Told Through 150 Recipes(11)

For filling:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, combine peaches, both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cornstarch until evenly coated.

2. Remove crust from refrigerator; spread filling into the chilled crust. Using the same method as in step 2 of crust directions, roll out the second crust to a 12-inch round. Cut the round into 1-inch strips. Place half the strips in one direction over the filling, spaced evenly apart. Place the remaining strips going the other direction, weaving them under and over the first set of strips to make a lattice. The strips should stop at the top crimped edges, not go over them. Brush the lattice and crust edges with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

3. Place the pie on a baking sheet; bake 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F; bake 45 minutes, until crust is browned and fruit is bubbling. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Let the pie cool at least 2 hours, for filling to set, before serving.

TIP: For a special sparkly finish, sprinkle the top of the pie with large-grained, or sanding, sugar before baking.

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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you really need another chocolate chip cookie recipe? You do if you’ve been searching for a cookie that’s perfectly crisp

around the edges, yet rich and chewy in the middle.

Makes about 32

4 cups all-purpose flour

1¼ teaspoons baking soda

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1¼ cups (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1¼ cups light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

3½ cups (18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until blended.

2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed, cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low, add dry ingredients and beat just until blended. Remove from mixer; fold in chips. Cover bowl and refrigerate 24 hours, or up to 72 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking pads. Drop dough in golf ball–sized mounds onto prepared sheets. Press down on balls with your palm to flatten slightly. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, for 12 minutes, or until golden around the edges but still slightly wet in the middle. Let cool 5 minutes on the pan. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

TIP: Refrigerating the dough for at least 24 hours helps to make the cookie extra-chewy. The dough will feel dry, but that lack of moisture improves the baked texture.

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Tiny Lemon Cakes

Elegant, sweet and beautiful. Perfect for a tea party or as a hostess gift.

Makes about 20

Cake

1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus additional for pan

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, plus additional for greasing pan

1½ cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

½ cup sour cream

¼ teaspoon pure lemon extract

1 tablespoon lemon peel, grated

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Glaze and decoration

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Silver dragees

For cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour an 8-inch loaf pan. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.

2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed, cream butter and sugar until light and blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. In a glass measuring cup, whisk sour cream, lemon extract, peel and juice until blended. Alternately, add dry ingredients and sour cream mixture to the butter mixture; beat just until blended. Do

not overmix.

4. Scrape dough into prepared pan. Bake

55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted

in center comes out clean. Transfer to

a wire rack; let cool 15 minutes in the pan. Run a knife around the outside of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely, preferably overnight.

For glaze:

1. In a bowl, whisk powdered sugar and lemon juice until of drizzling consistency.

To serve:

1. Slice cooled cake into 1-inch-thick slices. Lay slices flat on the counter. Using a 1-inch-round cookie cutter, cut tiny cakes out of the slices, staying away from the browned edges of each slice. (Save the edges for snacking.) Set cakes on a wire rack. Drizzle glaze over the cakes until coated. Dot with silver dragees.

TIP: The FDA recommends that silver dragees be used for decoration only.

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Strawberry Shortcakes

Nothing says spring like strawberry shortcake. Be sure to let the strawberries rest, or macerate, in sugar, in order to create the lovely sweet strawberry syrup.

Serves 10

Shortcakes

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ cup cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ cup granulated sugar, plus additional to sprinkle on biscuits before baking

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 cup cold buttermilk