Recipe for a Garden Party

Today I’m over at coco+kelley blogging the latest edition in our Fantasy to Fête series…hop on over if you haven’t already checked out our brimming-with-flowers Garden Party! If you have, then welcome to Camille Styles, & thanks for stopping by to check out the menu. A party this decadently girlish calls for nibbles as lovely as they are delicious, with a few petals thrown in for good measure. Follow the jump for all the yumminess…

Poppy-Shaped Lemon Cookies

*loooove any combination of citrus & poppy seeds!

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
• Salt
• Royal Icing, plain and/or tinted
• Poppy seeds, for sprinkling

1. Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice until combined. Beat in flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
2. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and roll out to a scant 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out about 18 cookies using 2 sizes of flower cookie cutters (one 3-inch and one 3 3/4-inch; fancyflours.com).
   Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Bake until edges just start to brown, 14 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely.
4. Decorate the cookies: Transfer each batch of tinted icing to a separate pastry bag fitted with a small round tip (you can use as many colors as desired). Pipe an outline of icing around the edges, then “flood” each cookie with more icing to cover. Immediately
   pipe a circle of small dots in the center of each cookie using a different-colored icing. Drag dots to outer edges using a toothpick to create thin lines. Repeat with remaining cookies and icing. Transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets, and let dry completely,
   about 30 minutes.
5. Once cookies are set, pipe a large dot in the center of each cookie using the same tinted icing as the small dots. Gently sprinkle poppy
   seeds around large dot. Let dry completely.

Raspberry Walnut Cake

*Nothing’s more festive than a towering layer cake to mark a special occasion, and this one layered with raspberries & walnuts is one of my all-time favorites.

• 5 ex lg eggs, separated
• 2 c sugar, divided
• 1 c butter
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp bak soda
• 1 c buttermilk
• 2 c flour
• 1 ½ c finely chopped walnuts, divided
• 1 c strained raspberry preserves

1. Have all ing. At room temp.  Cream butter, 1 ½ c sugar, salt and vanilla, adding egg yolks one at a time, until consistency of whipped cream.  Stir baking soda into buttermilk.  Add mixture alternately w/ flour to butter mixture, beginning and ending w/ flour.

2. Using electric mixer, beat whites until soft peaks form.  Gradually add ½ sugar and beat until consistency of meringue.

3. Fold in egg white mixture and add 1 c walnuts.  Pour into 3 9” cake pans which have been greased and floured.  Bake in 325 oven for 40 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from oven, cool in pans for 5-10 min.  Invert onto wire racks and cool.

4. On first layer, spread ¼ c preserves, then spread w/ small amnt of Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting.  Repeat w/ 2^nd layer.

5. Top w/ 3^rd layer.  Frost top and sides w/ remaining frosting.  Carefully spread remaining ½ c preserves on top of cake.  Sprinkle remaining ½ c walnuts on top of preserves.

For the Raspberry-Cream Cheese Frosting

• ½ c butter
• 12 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 c (actually, a little less) strained raspberry preserves
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 ½ lbs powdered sugar

Have all ing. At room temp.  Using mixer, cream together butter, cheese, preserves, vanilla.  Gradually add sugar.  Makes enough for 3 layer cake.