Lemon Cheescake Cookie Sandwiches

..and the power or place in our food memories.

As always thank you for taking the time to read my musings and try my recipes, it always means the world to me to recieve your comments and photos of your cooking🙂

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At the north end of Hiroshima Peace Park there’s a souvenir store. Opposite the iconic dome wreckage it sits on an inconspicuous corner, doors open and welcoming, like much of Japan it’s elegant and beautifully presented. Its shelves aren’t lined with kitsch or gimmicks rather it’s strategically positioned attracting tourists with local wares in a peaceful airy store.

When traveling I love visitor centres and souvenir store like this one. Not the sort that immediately spring to mind with lots of mass-produced plastic but rather ones that give a platform to local producers and artisans. I’d rather bring home one or two treasures from a location than lots of bits and pieces that don’t last and probably weren’t made locally anyway. It won’t surprise you then to hear that my very favourite souvenirs are obviously food ones.

Hiroshima Peace Park is both humbling and inspiring. It’s a place of hope, awe and sorrow, one I couldn’t describe as enjoyable but one I wouldn’t have wanted to miss. It’s a profound experience, one that sits heavily. As with many monuments as you move around the park, like any such historic site, the pathways are lined with plaques and signs offering the stories and significance of each spot which we read with great interest. The words on one plaque led me to draw a deep breath and look above myself to the moody sky up through the emerald jewelled tree canopy above. The leaves fluttered gently in the warm breeze, a soft buzz of city activity in the background and people moved around me in peace and freedom. I was struck by the moment I was privileged to stand in and by the sheer tragedy of this place in its past, tears rolled down my cheeks. Peace Park is a beautifully curated, thoughtfully composed place created to observe and respect the past and hopefully teach a better path forward.

It's a place that sits heavily.

Perhaps why I was drawn to something as seemingly frivolous as a souvenir store.

I needed a moment. I needed to remove myself and take myself to something removed from the solemnity, that souvenir store drew me in. I sought comfort in food.

In that light and airy store with gently tinkling sounds of traditional Japanese music I was warmly greeted by staff while I lost myself in the aisles and shelves of a thoughtfully curated collection of local wares and creations. Beautiful skincare products alongside luxury brushes (I had no idea that was a thing), an array of condiments to recreate all the delicious flavours of Japan and all manner of lemon flavoured creations. I gathered a few items for the boys’ partners, some of those delicious condiments, ice creams for hubby waiting patiently outside (he’s not a shopper) and a selection of lemon flavoured treats. It seems lemons are a feature of local agriculture and as such are highlighted in the regional cuisine of baked treats.

I met with hubby outside taking a seat to enjoy our ice creams with him and was struck by the stark paradox in my view. The wreckage of one of the most tragic and profound moments in human history and man’s ability to rebuild, recover and regenerate and the modern world humming around us to the backdrop of modern retail.

After what was a big day, we returned to our hotel for a rest and debrief. As we chatted, I subconsciously started opening some of my lemon treats nibbling and sampling my purchases. Often as we munch like this we tend not to notice what we’re eating in a truly (I normally hate this word but….) mindful way. Unless, that is, when what we’re eating is particularly delicious. I’d opened a packet of cookies, a delicate sandwich of thin butter cookies and zingy lemon filling. The mysteries of Japanese culinary precision is such that those bickies allude me in their lightness and snap but the flavour of my attempt takes me straight back. It’s a reminder of the imprint of our memories held in our senses and the way those flavours can immediately give you a whole body reminder of those moments and in this case, for me, hope. And how memories and their stories gather layers, so this is my version of a lemony cream cheese filled cookie sandwich to always remind me…

Lemon Cheesecake Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

125 gm butter softened

125 gm caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste

1 egg beaten at room temperature

140 gm plain flour

100 gm self raising flour

1 Tb cornflour

½ tsp salt

Icing:

100 gm cream cheese

30 gm butter

150 gm icing sugar

Rind and 1 tsp of the juice of one lemon

Method:

*As with all baking we need our biscuit/cookie ingredients to be the same temperature to mix well. If you mix a cold egg into soft butter it cools bits of butter and prevents them from emulsifying thoroughly and in this instance, we want the butter soft so at the first hint of wanting to bake, whip that butter and egg out of the fridge to come down to room temperature.

Another little hack I like to employ is to warm the bowl of the mixer. Fill the bowl with hot tap water while you get ready. When ready to mix, empty and thoroughly dry the bowl, now you’re ready to mix. A cold bowl can also cool the ingredients too quicklyand unevenly and make mixing tricky.*

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients and set aside.

In the bowl of stand mixer combine the sugar, butter and vanilla. Mix on low until combined then increase to medium mixing until lightened in colour and thoroughly mixed. We don’t want lite and fluffy like you would if making a cake. Add beaten egg in two batches until completely combined. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients in two batches until just combined, we don’t want to overbeat it. Remove the bowl from the stand and finish mixing with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Remove from bowl and wrap in cling flatten into a round disc and refrigerate for an hour while you tidy up.

Preheat oven to 160c fan forced (180c conventional) and line two trays with baking paper.

Tear off sheets of baking paper at least 40 cm long to roll out the dough between. I find it tricky to evenly roll out large sheets of dough so, in this instance, I divide the dough into two smaller portions, but you do you. Place the dough between the baking paper and roll evenly to a thickness of no more than 3mm, this rolling pin makes it super easy (not my find but an excellent tool to have if you enjoy baking). Using a 6 cm cutter cut your dough into rounds and place on the tray evenly spaced, they won’t spread like a chocolate chip cookie so will only need a small space between cookies. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. They should be firm enough to move over straight away.

To make the icing, combine the cream cheese butter and lemon rind in a mixer on low to combine then increase to medium mixing light and fluffy. Add sugar in two batches slowly initially each time to prevent clouds of icing sugar blowing up 😂. Add 1 tsp of the lemon juice and mix one more time a to smooth spreadable consistency.

Sandwich icing between cookies and leave to set. Enjoy with a cuppa or even a little tipple of limoncello.

Notes:

You could use a few drops of limoncello in place of lemon juice to elevate your biccie.

Sometimes the cookies will cook into slightly uneven sizes. If you like things precise you may like to take a few moments to match up cookies into pairs for uniformity before icing.

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Eating:

~This insanely delicious Korean Fried Chicken. There’s a few steps in there but if you have the time, well worth it and it’s really good next day for leftovers.

~These super delicious apples from Cosmic Crisp (#gifted). They keep way longer than traditional apples, work well in cooking but are sweet and crunchy for eating. They’re only in season for a brief window of time so if you see them definitely give them a whirl.

Captivated by:

~ This sweet gifting idea for the Focaccia recipe I shared with you a few weeks ago. Perfect gift for a non-sweet tooth baked goods lover in need of some food love.

Reading:

The Good Losers, another cracking read by Tassie author Meg Bignell. Laced with her usual laugh out loud humour, quirky beautifully constructed characters and unique stories centred in a community it’s a tough one to put down. Perhaps my favourite of hers so far.

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***As always if you’re looking for past recipes they’ll be here or here.***

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Enjoy the rest of you week friends,

S x