I thought I’d share this wee exerpt from my cookbook, Recipes of a Dumb Housewife.

This is a recipe that evolved over several Christmas marathon baking sessions. At first the cookies were plain shortbread with cherries on top. Then I thought it would be neat to have the cherry buried inside the cookie. And then I thought of decadence and dipped the cookie in chocolate, whereupon my daughter said the cookies looked like heavenly, seductive nipples.

And so I Capezzolo di Venere were born.

• Shortbread recipe (below)
• 250 grams (1/4 lb) red glace cherries
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Make up the shortbread recipe (below).

Then: Roll out dough to about ¼” thick and cut into 3” rounds with a cookie cutter. Place a cherry into each circle; pull up cookie dough and roll into a ball. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. Cool on a rack.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Dip tops of cookies into the chocolate and place on a rack. When chocolate is hardened store in a container if any survive that long.

Yield: 3 dozen
Nutrition Facts
Calories 227
Calories from Fat 177
Total Fat 19.7g 30% Daily Value
Saturated Fat 4.4g 22% Daily Value
Cholesterol 32mg 11% Daily Value
Sodium 133mg 6% Daily Value
Total Carbohydrate 11.5g 4% Daily Value
Dietary Fibre 1.1g 4% Daily Value
Protein 1.1g

Low(er) Fat Shortbread

• 2 cups Olivina margarine (1 450gm container, or any low fat margarine such as Becel)
• 1 cup icing sugar• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 cups white flour

In a large bowl cream together Olivina, icing sugar, nutmeg and yolks. Add 2 cups of flour and combine well. Add remaining flour and combine well until a ball of dough begins to form. Turn out onto a floured board and knead lightly, but not too long as the heat of your hands will soften the margarine too much and make it oily. If you find the dough is oily, refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Yield: 4 dozen.

My cookbook, Recipes of a Dumb Housewife is available through online booksellers worldwide, and in select bookstores in Ontario.
Trade Paperback
Published:March 1, 2007
Dimensions:172 Pages, 6 x 9
Publisher:Lulu press
ISBN: 9781430317890
$25.50