1,222 kms later...

Mr. A and I are back from an amazing weekend in NYC! Yes, I went to NYC again and I am as surprised as you are. It was Mr. A's birthday and friends of his were in NYC so we packed our bags, I put my co-pilot hat on (I'm getting pretty good at this co-piloting thing!), popped a few anti-nausea pills (because the people who know me know how motion sick I get!) and we drove to NYC talking, laughing, sometimes trying to stay awake and "singing" our own versions of the songs on the radio (and rocking it!). 

We met so many wonderful people, ate so much delicious, mouth watering food, saw such amazing things and created lovely memories!
 

1,222 kms later, I'm back home and knowing that I won't be returning to that chaotically beautiful city anytime soon, I feel a little sad. There is a New York City shaped void in my heart and am not sure how to fill it. I tried eating a big apple (get it? New York=Big Apple. Ha Ha!) That's a lie by the way... I just wanted to jump on the opportunity to make a cheesy/bad joke. The only way I am filling the void now is by watching TV shows and movies that are in NYC. I got the idea from my sister and it seems to be working for now! ☺
 

Do you want to know what NYC souvenir I came back with this time? A cake/pastry box! ☺ It's empty now but it was filled with delicious goodies! It isn't just any cake box, it is a CAKE BOSS box. For those of you who don't know, Cake Boss is a television series where they make gorgeous custom cakes and baked goods. I walked in the café and felt at home. As the Pastry Gods called me, I made my way to see the selection of treats and had to fight with all my might to not tell the guy behind the counter "Give me one of each!".

We (only) got two treats: A Nutella-filled Linzer Cookie and a Lobster Tail. The Lobster Tail was so crispy and was filled with delicious pastry cream; I don't think I need to describe how tasty the buttery Linzer Cookie was... all I need to say is NUTELLA.  


The delicious treats that we devoured in 5 minutes at the Cake Boss Café

Here is the recipe for delicious, buttery Linzer cookies.

Nutella-filled Linzer Cookies

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup Nutella (or any other spread or jam that you like)

 

Directions

1. Beat the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks and add the lemon zest, vanilla and almond extract. Beat in the ground almonds.
2. In a separate bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder and salt and add this to the butter mixture, stirring until blended. Shape the dough into 2 discs (the dough will be soft), wrap and chill until firm (at least an hour.)
3. Preheat oven to 375 F and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
4. Knead the cookie dough to soften it (this will help prevent the dough from cracking when rolled). Roll out the first disc on a lightly floured surface and cut out cookies using a cutter and place them on one baking tray. Re-roll the dough until it is finished (or eat the cookie dough!). Roll out the second disc, cut out cookies using the same cutter, then cut a hole in the centre of each of  using a cutter a 1/2inch smaller and place on the second tray. Repeat with any remaining dough (or keep eating the cookie dough!), keeping track so you have the same number of tops and bottoms. Bake the hole-less cookies for about 15 minutes and the cookies with holes for about 17 minutes. Cool the cookies on the tray before filling with the spread and jam of your choice.

recipe adapted from Anna Olson's