Vintage Baking ~ Gateau Bonbons

I love looking through vintage cookbooks - especially vintage 

baking books. I get so many ideas for my tea parties hidden in 

these rare old books! I found today's recipe in a wonderful 

vintage cookbook called Betty Crocker's Cooky Book. 

It's a reprint of the original that appeared in 1963.

This pretty recipe for Gateau Bonbons caught my eye 

because  the name was intriguing and I loved the idea of 

serving tiny frosted filled cookies from France! 

Just sounds so special!

I've always loved bite size sweets - even if they take 

a bit more time to prepare. What I always say is that 

Afternoon Teas are a special event (unfortunately not a 

daily ritual here in the States) and it's always best to go 

all out and not worry about the extra trouble (or the 

extra calories lol!)  The extra effort is always 

worth the happiness that it brings! 💗

So, let me show you how I made them!  

I combined the first 6 ingredients in my mixer using 

the paddle attachment. Sifted together and added my

 dry ingredients, and chilled for 30 minutes.  Then I

divided my mixture into 4 pieces and rolled one

quarter out at a time, keeping the rest of the dough

in the refrigerator. I rolled the dough to between

1/8" - 1/4" and cut out as many 1 inch rounds as

I could. I kept the scraps to each of the 4 pieces

and rolled them out together at the last.

If you don't have a 1" round cookie cutter, other

things can be used instead. You can use the open

end of a piping tip or a cap/top of some sort.

Onto a baking pan covered with parchment paper

place as many cookies as you can 1" apart.

Pipe no more than 1/2 teaspoon filling onto

each. Top with a second cookie and seal edges

with floured fingers. 

I found that it was a lot faster to pipe the filling instead

of using a spoon. (I'm sure though, that Betty Crocker would

 have used a disposable piping bag had they been available!)  

I piped half the cookies with orange marmalade and half 

with prepared lemon curd. Be sure to stick with the 1/2

teaspoon of filling to prevent leaking. 

My favorite filling was lemon curd, but you can fill

with your favorite jam, or even....nutella?! Hmmm...

Bake at 350 degreesF for at least 10 minutes or

until the edges are slightly browned. When cool,

frost with tinted icing.  I just used my small butter

knives to swirl the icing on the top of the cookies.

You could also place an edible pearl or candy

ball on top before the icing dries.

When the frosting has dried, display on a pretty 

cake stand or glass dish.

The bonbons look so pretty displayed here with other

sweets - R-L: Lace Roll-Ups, Florentines, and 

Chocolate Orange Puffs. Yum!

GATEAU BONBONS

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

lemon curd, orange marmelade or

jam of your choice

EASY CREAMY ICING

2 cups sifted confectioners' (icing) sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring

3 tablespoons half-n-half (cream) or

2 tablespoons water

Food coloring of choice

Place first 6 ingredients into a mixer fitted

with a paddle attachment and mix until 

light and fluffy. Sift together dry ingredients

and add to butter mixture. Remove dough to

a piece of plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degreesF. Divide dough

into quarters and roll out one at a time

onto a lightly floured surface. (Keep extra

dough chilling.) Cut out as many 1 inch 

rounds as possible. Keep scraps in 

refrigerator and roll out together at the

last. 

Working in batches, Place half of the 

cookies 1" apart onto a parchment

lined baking pan. Pipe no more than 1/2

teaspoon filling onto center of each cookie 

round. Top with a second cookie round and

seal edges with floured fingers.

Bake for at least 10 minutes or until edges

are slightly browned. Remove from oven

and let cool on baking pan. 

To make icing: blend sugar, salt, and

flavoring.  Add enough cream until icing is 

easy to spread. Tint with your choice of food 

coloring. Spread on cooled cookies. Makes 7 

dozen 1" bonbons. 🍥

If you've made any of the recipes from this cookbook

and were pleased with the results, I'd love to hear 

from you! Thanks so much for visiting!!