Note: I was sent a review copy of Dutch Treats: Heirloom Recipes from Farmhouse Kitchens
I live in Philadelphia, and a one of the largest influences on our local food is definitely Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. Despite growing up here, I haven’t cooked many traditional Pennsylvania Dutch recipes, although I certainly have been known to eat them!
Internationally known food historian William Woys Weaver has compiled over 100 heritage recipes, and the stories behind them, into one wonderful cookbook – Dutch Treats: Heirloom Recipes from Farmhouse Kitchens.
Recipes include Shoofly Cake, New Year’s Pretzels and the original recipe for Snickerdoodles. Dutch Treats explores the vast diversity of authentic baked goods, festive breads and pastries that we call Pennsylvania Dutch (named for the German-speaking immigrants who settled there starting in the late 1600s).
I enjoyed reading the back stories to all of these delicious baked goods as I paged through the book. From learning about traditional holiday treats, to why pretzels are considered good luck, the cookbook was an interesting read as well as a great source of yummy recipes.
I decided to make Raspberry Pockets, using a recipe for Almond Pastry Dough that dates back to a late 18th century recipe. I edited the recipe just a bit to use Orange Blossom Water instead of Rose Water, because that was what I had on hand. I also made the cookies a bit larger than suggested.
Ingredients:
For Almond Pastry Dough
- 5 cups pastry flour
- 1 cup superfine (caster) sugar
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter
- 2 egg yolks (reserve the egg whites for the raspberry pockets)
- 6 to 9 tablespoons dry white wine
For Raspberry Pockets
- 1 cup fresh red raspberries
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon Orange Blossom Water or to taste
- 1 batch almond pastry dough
- 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
- crystal (coarse) sugar, to taste