Sunday, July 27, 2014

Watermelon Cookie with Spicy Sweet Mascarpone Icing and Mint - 52 Church PotLuck Appetizers


Not really a cookie... These are watermelon slices (thin sliced) and then air dried to forma firm slice of watermelon the size of a cookie.  Still sweet and wet, but easily handled.

A delightful beautiful appetizer.  A standout at any summer BBQ.  A wonderful dish to bring to a potluck.

The "icing" on the cookie is a sweet Italian cream cheese, Mascarpone.  The mascarpone is made even sweeter and creamier by adding a few simple ingredients.  The piping is a simple star tip and you are done.  Only a few minutes of hands on work (but remember to air dry the watermelon "cookies" for a few hours).

EASY, Only a few minutes hands on, delightful, unusual, beautiful and exotically tasty!

A STAND OUT FOR ANY OCCASION!


OK... Here's what I did...


Watermelon Cookie with Spicy Sweet Mascarpone and Mint


Ingredients
  • 1 Small Seedless Watermelon. Cut into thin 3/4 inch slices then cut into bite size shapes (I used a small cookie cutter)
  • 1 Cup (8 ounces) Mascarpone Cheese
  • 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
  • 1/2 tsp Clear Vanilla
  • 1 TBS Honey
  • Zest from 1 Medium Lime
  • 1/4 tsp (or to taste) Chipotle Spice (add a small pinch at a time and taste to get your desired taste)
  • Additional pinches of Sweet paprika to get desired color
  • Ribbons of fresh mint for Garnish
Cooking Directions
  1. First, make the watermelon "cookies". In fact, they are not cookies at all unless you count the cookie shape. They are small thin cookie shaped dried pieces of watermelon. I happen to own a round small cookie cutter with fluted edges. But this would work and look just fine with the watermelon slices cut into 1 inch squares.
  2. Once you have the pieces cut into the right shape, you want to place them on a cookie cooling rack balanced over a plate to collect the juices (Watermelon Margarita anyone... But I digress). Allow these to air dry overnight or at least 8 hours. The watermelon slices become almost the texture of an under ripe peach, stiff.
  3. Once the "cookies" are air dried to firm, make the spicy sweet Mascarpone "icing". Mix softened Mascarpone and the Heavy cream until the mix is the consistancy of icing, soft but still able to hold it's shape.
  4. Then add the vanilla, honey and lime zest. Taste.
  5. Then add a pinch of Chipotle spice. mix well and taste again. If you like the tiny hint of spice, you are done. If you prefer a more spicy taste, add additional spice as you like. But be careful, it is very hard to remove the heat once added.
  6. Add additional sweet paprika as needed to get a pleasing color. Again, start with small amounts, it is equally difficult to uncolor as to unspice.
  7. Lay out the watermelon cookies on a serving plate. then, using a piping bag (or simply add a tsp dollop on each), decorate the cookies with the mascarpone icing.
  8. Decorate with ribbons of mint, Chill for a few hours and serve straight from the fridge... And ENJOY! 
Looks beautiful on a cheese board or for any excuse for a pot luck.  A real stand out dish!



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This recipe has been added to my growing list of "52 Church PotLuck Dishes"!

A list of something NEW worthy of being shown off at a neighborhood BYODish (Bring Your Own Dish) Party, a Family special occasion dinner, Any Big Holiday Gathering or of course that glorious day when you bring a dish to share with your Church family...

Ages ago, literally almost a half century ago I was listening to our pastor talking about a PotLuck Dinner. It happened to be scheduled around a church work day when we were expected to weed, polish and do general cleaning and maintenance around the church (you know, back in the day when there were no no-wax floors and church pews smelled of Old English furniture polish). I am of course paraphrasing, but as I recall the pastor said,

"A potluck, like a church requires work. At a potluck everyone is expected to contribute.. At a church no one should come empty handed and no one should leave unfed".
I will confess that in my youth I brought more store bought plastic spoons and forks than I ever brought covered dishes and crock pots of fresh made love and caring delights. But now that I have become a hobbyist cook, I occasionally am reminded of those days and people from my youth. I reminded and I do wish that I could drop a dish of some new creation on those old tables at my fondly remembered Liberty Baptist Church.  Tables covered with newspapers and loaded with God's bounty prepared with love and caring... Enjoy

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