Half Moon Cookies – 1950s. Ingredients:
1 3/4 c Sugar,
1/2 lb Butter,
4 Eggs,
1 c Milk,
1/2 ts Vanilla,
1/4 ts Lemon extract,
2 1/2 c Cake flour,
2 1/2 c All purpose flour,
1 ts Baking powder,
1/2 ts Salt.
Frosting:
4 c Confectioners’ sugar
1/2 c Boiling water
1 oz Bittersweet chocolate
I remember a cookie called a black and white from my youth in Queens,
NY. It was a rather large (about 3″ diameter) cookie with half vanilla
and half chocolate icing. I think it may be a Jewish cookie and it
might also be referred to as a mountain cake. Living now in the
midwest, I often crave black and white cookies. In various parts of
Upstate New York there are cookies called Half Moons which are rather
soft (sort of like a cupcake baked without the cup). In some areas
the batter is chocolate, in others it is vanilla, but in all areas it
has 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 chocolate icing.
In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add
eggs, milk, vanilla and lemon extract and mix until smooth. In a
medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder and salt.
Add dry ingredients to the wet in batches, stirring well. Drop
soup spoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart on buttered baking sheets. Bake
at 375 degrees until edges begin to brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool
completely.
To make frosting, put confectioners’ sugar in a bowl. Stir in enough
water to make the mixture thick and spreadable. Remove half the
frosting to the top half of a double boiler over simmering water. Add
chocolate and warm the mixture until chocolate is melted and the
frosting is smooth. Remove from heat. With brush, coat half the
cookie with chocolate frosting and the other half with white frosting.
from Zabar’s cookies courtesy of New York Cookbook printed in Newsday.
source jewish cuisine
