Texas celebrates a unique blend of cultures which often show up in Christmas baking. Add a bit of international flavor to your holiday with these recipes from our family to yours!
My husband’s family were among those who came to America from Germany in the 1880s, bringing their traditions with them. His Aunt Henriette’s Anise White Cap cookies were always a part of our Christmas celebrations. Here’s the recipe his great-grandmother made over 135 years ago as well as a simpler version I use when I’m in a hurry. If you decide to try these, be sure to make them on a dry day, or they won’t rise and separate into their characteristic cake-like base with frothy white caps.
Anise White Caps
- 1/2 lb. sugar
- 1/2 lb. flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp. anise seed (pulverized)
Put eggs in large mixing bowl and mix slightly, add sugar gradually, beating well. Add flour gradually, beating well. Add anise. Beat a total of 30 minutes. Drop on greased and floured pans. Let stand over night. Bake in moderately hot oven of 325 degrees about 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly brown. Remove from pan immediately and place on cooling rack. Recipe makes 6 dozen.
Words can hardly explain how good these cookies are! Aunt Net weighed her ingredients on a kitchen scale and somehow made each cookie look identical.
I am not so skilled nor so patient. Here’s a recipe I use that results in a very similar-tasting cookie.
Anise Drops
- 1 1/s cups sifted flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp anise flavoring
Sift flour and baking powder together. Put eggs, sugar, and anise flavoring into a mixing bowl and beat until very thick. Fold in the dry ingredients, adding about 1/2 cup at a time. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto generously greased cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Set the cookies aside in a cool place (not in refrigerator) for 8 to 10 hours or overnight. Do not cover the cookies and do not disturb them. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Remove to cooling racks. Cookies form a cake-like layer on the bottom with a crisp “frosting” on top. Makes about 4 dozen.
Whichever recipe you use, you’ll want to pick a dry, crisp day to bake these cookies. If you make them on a drizzly day, they’ll taste just as good, but the white caps will not form properly.
Pralines are another favorite Texas recipe–one from my own family.
Though I’m totally “gringa”, both my parents grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, and I was born there myself, so lots of our family traditions have a flavor strongly influenced by our neighbor to the South. This one is fun and not too hard to make, though you’ll need a dry day to make them because they don’t set up as well in rainy weather.
Here’s my grandmother’s recipe–just the way I copied it almost half a century ago. 🙂
My Grandmother’s Pralines
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cups buttermilk
- 1 tsp soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp butter flavoring
- 2 cups chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon margarine
Mix soda and buttermilk, and then dissolve sugar. Use a real big sauce pan and boil slowly to soft ball stage (234 degrees, or 236 degrees in damp weather). Mixture turns brown as it cooks but needs stirring constantly. Remove from fire and add flavorings, margarine, and pecans. Stir until it begins to look like it is ready to sugar or cream. Drop in small cakes on wax paper.
Makes about 30 pralines.
