Starving Artist Ink.

i woke up wondering what i would bake today…

the weather perfect for long sleeves, sky opening up with sun and closing again with showers.

mini pineapple upside down cakes, in muffin tins-that'd be perfect. but i didn't have the ingredients, nor the tin…  crumbly coffee cake! but i didn't have most of the spices for that either.

so i read through recipes online, wanting something crumbly…sweet, maybe not too sweet. something perfect to go with a cup of tea.

i have never had these before…

they have a few different names, mexican wedding cake, russian tea cake, italian butter nut…etc etc.

either way, the recipe calls for a few simple ingredients and looked lovely.

begin with creaming your soft butter and powdered sugar together.

in a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and finely chopped nuts. (i didn't have any nuts-so they weren't included.)

i don't have any proper baking tools, no food processor or electric mixer. just a wooden spoon and a whisk will do. (i only just got a whisk a few days ago, before that it was just a fork. use whatever you have.)

once the butter and powdered sugar are creamed together, add the vanilla, and then slowly start to add the flour mixture.  it will come together in crumbs- but when you press it firmly-it comes together.

roll dough into 1 inch balls. (next time i will roll my smaller.)

line on an un-greased cookie sheet and put in the oven to bake for 8-10 minutes at 350F.

don't over bake- they are done when they are firm, but not brown.

remove and roll around in powdered sugar and set to cool.

put the kettle on to boil and pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee.. don't make it too sweet, trust me, you'll want it a neutral because these are a kick in the teeth.

once they set, the powdered sugar kind of soaks into them. the recipe i read said to roll them into more powdered sugar before serving. if you want them to be prettier.. go ahead.

if i had some chopped almonds i would sprinkle them on top.

they were so sweet, i cut them in half.

and am currently nursing a post-sugar rush headache.