Seriously Simple: Toasted almond cookies and summer fruit salad become a Seriously Simple dessert
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons finely chopped lemon zest
1 cup all-purpose flour
Confectioners’ sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Toast the almonds until lightly colored, about 3 minutes. Let cool. Reserve.
2. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer or wooden spoon, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until creamy and fluffy.
3. Add the egg yolks, port, vanilla and 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest and stir to combine. Slowly add the flour and almonds, stirring until completely absorbed.
4. Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls 1 inch apart on 2 ungreased baking sheets. Divide the remaining 1 teaspoon lemon zest among the cookies, topping each one with a pinch.
5. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool completely.
6. Blanket the cooled cookies in confectioners’ sugar.
Advance Preparation: These are best made and eaten the same day. Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container.
Summer fruit salads and platters
Mixing peak-of-the-season fruits in a large bowl and tossing them together with a little fresh lemon juice to preserve their color is the everyday way to make fruit salad. Here are a few more elaborate suggestions:
(Diane Rossen Worthington is an authority on new American cooking. She is the author of 18 cookbooks, including “Seriously Simple Parties,” and a James Beard Award-winning radio show host. You can contact her at www.seriouslysimple.com.)