“All the tea I drank in Russia was delicious. It is brought overland from China, and always sold fresh; and not, as in this country, after it has lain for two or three years in warehouses.” – Sir James Edward Alexander 1830 in “Travels to the seat of war in the East, through Russia and the Crimea, in 1829″
The recipe once commonly known as ‘Russian Tea Cakes’ has many variations and twice as many names; Kourabiedes, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Biscochos, meltaways, pecan sandies. An informal poll of my friends also turned up ‘snowballs,’ ‘hermits,’ and ‘pecan puffs.’ These cookies’ tendency to be named for foreign countries may have helped them to take on some of these other confusing or inaccurate titles. It may be that the deceptive mask of confectioners’ sugar further obscures the variations within (anise, nuts, cinnamon…) One thing that seemingly everyone agrees on is that they are delicious.
I found versions of this recipe in “Grannie’s Goodies From Somerset County,” “300 Years of Black Cooking in St. Mary’s County,” and “Fun With Food,” a cookbook compiled by the Baltimore chapter of the Jewish women’s organization The United Order of True Sisters. This alone represents a culturally and geographically diverse appreciation for these nutty little cookies here in Maryland, without even having to drag in Greece, Mexico or Russia.
There are some 19th century recipes for something called Russian Tea Cakes – but those recipes take the ‘cake’ part a little more seriously and often contain many eggs, which is not particularly common in modern recipes and would change the crumbly texture.
Some people believe that Russian Tea Cakes originated in Eastern Europe, but as far as I could tell, they inherited the name from the 19th-century American fascination with Russian tea culture.
“Russian Tea Parties” were common fundraising events. 1884, Baltimore Sun
“Queen of the Kitchen” Mary Lloyd Tyson printed this recipe for the “Russian Mode of Making Tea” in her 1870 cookbook:
“Put 1 tea-spoon of tea to each person that is to partake of the tea; place the leaves in a saucer, and slightly moisten them with cold water, and set them for 2 or 3 minutes in a hot oven; then put them in a tea-pot, having first rinsed it well; pour upon the leaves half the quantity of water needed, and add boiling water to the tea as you use it. Cover the spout and lid with a thick piece of flannel to keep in the aroma.
Chips of cherry bark placed in the tea-canister impart a fine flavor to the tea, but care must be taken not to let them be used.
A slice of lemon served in each up is considered an improvement.”
An 1888 book by Emanual Bonavia, M.D. on the cultivation of oranges and lemons noted that “the Russians are great tea-drinkers, and their favorite mode of drinking tea is with a slice of lemon with sugar…” The book optimistically pointed out the potential for “each Russian [to use] one lemon per day,” creating a vast market for the fruit. Once the trend inevitably spread to Central Asia, Bonavia added, “the future prospects of the lemon trade in India are not all bad.”
Modern American recipes for “Russian Tea” consist of an instant concoction containing lemonade mix and/or Tang. Not a lemon in sight. Bonavia may well be turning in his grave.
Russian Tea recipe card, yesterdish.com
Russian culinary historian William Pokhlyobkin wrote that tea in 19th century Russia was always served with some kind of cakes, cookies or candy – offering at least a tenuous tie between “Russian Tea Cakes” and actual Russian tea culture. I doubt that English surgeon Nathaniel Edward Yorke-Davies took cookies into consideration when, in his 1889 book “Foods For the Fat,” he advised “the Russians take [tea] with lemon-juice… In America we know it is customary to add cream, milk, or sugar, but for corpulent people the Russian mode would be best.”
Restaurant historian Jan Whitaker writes that “not until after World War I (and the Russian Revolution), when a very different wave of anti-revolution, pro-Czar Russian immigrants arrived, did explicitly and self-consciously Russian-themed restaurants come into being. They flourished in the 1920s and 1930s.” This timing fits in with the first appearances of the current formulation of “Russian Tea Cakes.” Like so many faux-exotic bits of American culture, maybe the name just sounded cool.
Recipe:
- 1 Cup butter
- .5 Cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2.75 Cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- .25 Teaspoon salt
- .75 Cups chopped nuts
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream butter and sugar, add flour and salt, vanilla and nuts. (Or grind all in food processor then stir in nuts.) Shape into balls. Put on ungreased pan, well separated, and bake at 375°, about 15 minutes, or just until they begin to get light brown. “Immediately when out of oven roll in XXXX sugar and roll again in sugar when cold.”
Recipe adapted from “Fun With Food” by the United Order True Sisters, Baltimore, 1948
