12 Days of Goodies- Day 6: Almond Lace Trumpets

Wow, so I'm cutting it pretty close today for my daily Christmas goodie post. And as exhausted as I am, I'm dedicated to sharing something yummy with you each and every day until Christmas. I've been in the kitchen for 30 straight hours, prepping to cater my fourth and final party scheduled within the last 8 days. And this one was the largest party I've done yet. You should see my hands. They are utterly and completely raw from all the hand washing and dish washing I've done over the past two weeks. It's rather excruciating. Actually, if there are any professional caterers reading this, or any one for that matter, who could so kindly impart some sage advice on how to keep my hands moisturized during the winter when I'm constantly washing them, I would be forever grateful.

So anyways, these delicate little cookies are something I've been wanting to make for quite some time now. I think it was on a special holiday edition of Iron Chef America where I first saw these. Paula Deen and Cat Cora were teamed up; I remember watching Paula filling these delicate looking trumpet things with lots of fluffy looking frosting. That memory has been dancing around in my head for awhile now and I thought this Christmas, it was finally time to give them a try. However, I wasn't wild about the recipe I found in Food Network, courtesy of Miss Paula Deen, so I changed it up a bit to fit my liking.

Almond Lace Trumpets with Orange Buttercream Frosting

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen for Food Network

Ingredients
For the cookies:
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon almond liqueur
½ tsp almond extract
¼ tsp salt

For the filling:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
½ teaspoon salt
6 cups powdered sugar
7 tablespoons orange juice
2 tbsp heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Line a cookie sheet with foil; grease foil well (or use a silpat).

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and corn syrup. Cook the mixture over low heat until the butter melts; remove from the heat.

3. Mix the flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Add to the butter mixture, stirring well. Stir in the liqueur and almond extract, if desired. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls, 3 to 4 inches apart, onto the prepared cookie sheet. (Bake only 2 or 3 cookies at a time; you must form the cones quickly before they cool.) Bake until the cookies spread and are bubbly and golden brown, 9 to 10 minutes.

4. Let the cookies sit for approximately 1 minute (no more). Then, working quickly, flip one cookie over and swiftly but gently wrap cookie around a metal cream horn. (If a cookie gets too brittle to roll, return to the oven for 1 minute.) Once set, slide the cookie off the metal cone and cool on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining cookies.

To Make the filling:

Beat the butter and salt until creamy. Beat in the powdered sugar, orange juice, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Add the orange and lemon zest to taste, and mix well to combine

Prepare a pastry bag with a star shaped tip (I used a Wilton #32) and coupler. Fill the bag with about 1/3 of the icing and then apply pressure to fill the lace trumpets. Do not completely fill each trumpet, as the icing is very rich. Repeat until all trumpets are filled. (You may have some icing left over).

Makes about 30 cookies