Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Lemon and Coffee filling—and the First Circumnavigation at the IFLTA Conference

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Events & Travel AATSP, Christmas treats, conference, Congreso, dulces de Navidad, first circumnavigation, First voyage around the world, foreign language teachers, galletas, IFLTA, Indianapolis

Christmas is just around the corner, and nothing says Christmas more than Christmas cookies! This is at least the case in this part of the world where I live, where cookie exchange parties are common—and where shortbread sandwich cookies will be on our menu this year. Of course, they will share the dessert trays with chunks of turrón, polvorones in their silky wrappers, cute mazapanes, marzipan figurines, and the always present homemade nanaimo bar. Our three nationalities are always represented at our Christmas table.

Our exhibit table at IFLTA 2023 in Indianapolis

Thanksgiving weekend was the start of it all. After the yearly longed for and always warm gathering with our friends and family around the table, the long weekend allowed us to get started on the Christmas spirit. In a series of swift moves we put the pumpkins away and placed the Advent Wreath on the dining table. We brought out the home decorations and made hanging the ornaments on the Christmas tree a fun family event —despite all the contrasting opinions on whether this or that ornament should go here or there, or whether there were too many ornaments or not enough. We spread out our nativity scene (which is more of a nativity town than your usual Holy Family in the manger) on the buffet . We even got started on some Christmas shopping. It was, as it usually is, a great weekend filled with food, fun and laughter. 

Awards ceremony at IFLTA in Indianapolis

It’s not until that merry, busy weekend has passed that I start thinking about the food and the baked goods I’ll make for Christmas—and my birthday cake, which comes first! I have yet to plan what our main dishes will be for the feast days, but these shortbread sandwich cookies filled with lemon cream and coffee cream will be part of our sweets display. They look cute and taste even better, and I hope I entice you to make them this year. 

YO FUI EL PRIMERO and I WAS THE FIRST at the teachers’ conferences

With December marking the end of another year, I also wanted to share a bit about the conferences I participated in in the last few months. One of them was in Salamanca, the AATSP, the conference of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Without getting into too much detail, I talked briefly about it in a previous post, where I also gave you a tour of the University of Salamanca (click here). More recently, I participated in IFLTA, the conference of the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association, which took place in Indianapolis. This was our second year presenting at this conference, and with the extra experience, our impact was even greater. 

Both conferences provided an opportunity for professor Fernanda Becker and I to present our program De la Mar al Aula/From the Sea to the Classroom, to a panel of foreign language teachers. Our program is attracting a lot of interest amongst teachers whose goal is not only to teach a foreign language to their students, but also to instill in them a love for reading and for the culture of the country or countries whose language they are learning. Yo fui el primero started it all, and the availability of the book now in English, I Was the First, opens up the doors for the teachers that want some extra support in the teaching of the first voyage around the world for the more intermediate levels.

Mrs. Becker and I delighted in explaining the historical context of the voyage, as well as go into detail of the program, which has started its 5th year of implementation at Bishop Dwenger High School. It is very gratifying when the teachers approach you with a genuine interest not just in the story—most of whom didn’t know much about—, but also in a program that will help them develop interpretative, interpersonal, presentational communication and cultural competence in their classrooms. I’m glad to report that a large number of teachers bought the book, in a first step towards studying the potential implementation of the program in their classrooms. 

Mama Ía is a food and Spanish culture blog, and as such, I am open to any questions about the program. Are you a teacher and intrigued about it? Reach out! Mrs. Becker and I will be happy to explain more. And if you’d like to read the book first—or gift it for Christmas— here are their links in the US:

Yo fui el primero

I Was the First

I leave you now with the sweet taste and recipe for these shortbread sandwich cookies. Make them for your family or package them nicely. They make for a lovely hostess gift!

Print

SHORTBREAD SANDWICH COOKIES

Galletas de mantequilla rellenas

Yield: 36 cookies

Author: Natacha Sanz Caballero, Mama Ía blog

Materials

• Makes 36 sandwich cookies

For the cookies:

• 4 cups flour sifted
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups + 4 Tbs unsalted butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large egg yolks
• 5 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the espresso filling:

• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 shot strong espresso
• 2 cups sifted icing sugar

For the lemon filling:

• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 1/2 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 cups icing sugar
• 1 to 2 Tbs water
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cornstarch and 1.5 cups icing sugar.
• In the bowl of a stand up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the granulated sugar, 2 cups butter and salt until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks and 4 tsp vanilla extract and beat until combined, about 15 seconds. Gradually add in the flour and cornstarch mixture at low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until mixture starts to clump together, about 20 seconds.
• Divide the dough into 4 sections, roll each into a log about 2 inches thick, wrap each log in plastic and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours and up to 2 days.
• Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
• Unwrap one of the dough logs and slice into rounds of about 1/4 inch thick. Place the rounds, 1 inch apart, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes (check at the 8 minute mark to make sure they don’t brown at the bottom).
• Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cookie wire rack to cool down completely, about 30 minutes. Repeat the process with the remaining 3 logs of dough. You will get about 72 cookies.

Make the espresso filling:

• Melt butter into hot or warm espresso. Using a mixer, or by hand, add the espresso mixture into the sugar in increments until the mixture is creamy, thick and thoroughly combined.

Make the lemon filling:

• Stir together the lemon juice and 1 Tb water in a small bowl. Beat the remaining 2 Tbs butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Add the icing sugar in increments, alternating with the lemon mixture, beating on low speed until incorporated after each addition. Beat in remaining 1 Tbs water, 1 tsp at a time, until consistency is thick but spreadable. Finally, stir in the lemon zest.
• Transfer lemon filling and espresso filling to piping bags. Turn 36 cookies upside down and pipe the lemon or the espresso filling, about 1 Tbs, on each of them. Cover with the remaining 36 cookies.