I have this recipe I've loved for decades (loved them when I was a kid!) and I broke it out the other day. We call them "Brandy Balls," but they are also known as "Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes," etc. Those yummy cookies with nuts that are heavily coated in powdered sugar. YUM.Anyway, I was looking at the recipe, and it calls for 2 tablespoons of Brandy Extract. (Hence the name "Brandy Balls," heh heh.) I looked in my extract tub, and no bottles of Brandy flavor. Pretty much everything else, but not Brandy.
So, my next trip to the store, I looked for Brandy extract. They didn't have any. Not that they were sold out, but they didn't even CARRY it. I thought it was strange, and the next time I went to a store (this one being a "boutique-y" store) I figured they would have it.
Nope.
Perplexed, I went to another store, the same one I get my essential oils. They have extracts, but no BRANDY.
Cut to yesterday, when I really wanted to make these cookies, I started calling stores. I called Sendiks. Nada. Albertsons. Nope. Fresh Market. No. World Market. Nope. Penzey's Spices. No luck. WTHeck???
The crazy part is, these stores weren't sold out of Brandy extract, they simply DON'T STOCK IT! Isn't that crazy? Is my recipe outdated? I finally found Brandy extract online, but I don't have time to wait for it to get to my house, because I am going out of town.
My mother, bless her, suggested I go and buy a "leeeeeeeetle" bottle of REAL Brandy, but I'm nervous about that idea. Yeah, I'd probably run into my bishop or something. A Mormon in a Liquor Store. Yeah. HA HA.
Anyway, I just may fold and go for that tiny bottle of brandy, just for the sake of the cookies. I really want to bake them for my cookie plates!!
4 comments:
If you use real brandy,(or real anything), you need to use more than the extract amount. Taste it -- I find that when I substitute the real for the extract, I need to double it.
when you get back, if you want to look at your store and see what kind of stuff is missing, I'll go pick it up at the Chef Store near here and mail it to you.
Doesn't help you now, but will help down the road -- Chef Store is in Hartsdale, about 20 minutes away, and it's become my go-to for oh, so many things.
Go to BEV-MO and buy one of the little airline bottles of Brandy. I don't think you will run into any Mormons there.
Uncle Rob
We make those every year (best with pecans, I think) but we skip the brandy.
You should write "FOR COOKING ONLY!!!!" in big black sharpy letters and hide in in the back of your pantry, behind the beans. ;)
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