Pineapple Lime Kisses

These Pineapple Lime Kisses from Desi Bakes, Hetal Vasavada’s latest recipe book of indulgent delights, are just what the doctor ordered. Hetal loves these cookies for their bright, holiday-ready colour.

INGREDIENTS

LIME COOKIES

• 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 Tsp grated lime zest
• 9 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 1/2 Tbsp cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 Tsp heavy cream
• 1/2 Tsp fresh lime juice
• 1/4 Tsp salt
• 1/2  Tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 Tsp cornstarch
• 1  2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• Gel food colouring

PINEAPPLE FILLING

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 Tsp pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• Pinch of salt

 

METHOD

FOR THE LIME COOKIES

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar and lime zest and use your hands to rub the zest into the sugar for 1 minute. The sugar will start to look a little wet and smell fragrant. Snap on the paddle, add the butter and cream cheese, and mix on high speed for 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream, lime juice, salt, vanilla, and cornstarch and mix for 1 minute. Add the flour and mix until just combined.
3. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and place each portion in a separate bowl. Add a different food colouring to each bowl and gently fold until you have an even colour. Try rose, red, and yellow gel food colouring.
4. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface and spoon the cookie dough into thick rows touching each other. Roll the dough up in the plastic wrap so you have a log of cookie dough. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap (like a giant candy wrapper) and cut one end off at the point where the cookie dough starts. Drop the log with the cut side down into a piping bag fitted with a star tip (Ateco 864).
5. Pipe 2.5cm dollops onto the prepared baking sheets about 5cm apart.
6. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the cookies are set and look like they are going to start taking on colour, 8 to 10 minutes, making sure that they don’t brown.
7. Let the cookies cool completely on the pan.

FOR THE PINEAPPLE FILLING

1. In a bowl, stir together the butter, pineapple juice, powdered sugar, and salt into a smooth frosting. Spoon the filling into a piping bag and snip off a 6mm tip.
2. Pair up the completely cooled cookies and pipe a dollop of pineapple filling onto half of them. Top with the other half of the cookies and serve.

Desi Bakes: 85 Recipes Bringing the Best of Indian Flavours to Western-Style Desserts is available in-stores nationwide.