Easy, Authentic Mexican Wedding Cakes: A Step-By-Step Guide

Mexican wedding cakes are festive cookies that are perfect for weddings, Christmas, and other special occasions. They are also known as Russian tea cakes, Italian butter nuts, Southern pecan butterballs, snowdrops, Viennese sugar balls, and snowballs. This easy-to-make recipe yields light, crunchy, and buttery ball-shaped cookies with chopped nuts and coated in confectioner's sugar. The key ingredients are butter, flour, confectioner's sugar, and ground nuts (either pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds). The process involves making the dough, forming it into balls, baking, and coating with confectioner's sugar. The result is a delicious, melt-in-your-mouth treat that is sure to impress!

Choosing your nuts: pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, or macadamia nuts

Mexican wedding cakes are a type of cookie that is often made with nuts. You can use a variety of nuts for this recipe, including pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, or macadamia nuts. The nuts you choose can be bought pre-ground or you can grind them yourself using a food processor. If you choose to grind them yourself, be careful not to over-process them as you don't want a nut paste. Adding a little flour from the recipe when processing the nuts can help prevent this from happening.

Each type of nut will lend a different flavour to your Mexican wedding cakes. For example, pecans are a top pick for many bakers as they add a rich, nutty flavour to the simple dough. Walnuts, meanwhile, are a traditional choice for Russian tea cakes, which are a similar type of cookie to Mexican wedding cakes. Hazelnuts, almonds, and macadamia nuts will also work well and can be used interchangeably with the other nuts.

To prepare the nuts for the recipe, you should first toast them in the oven to bring out their full flavour. Spread them on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, or until they are lightly browned and fragrant. Once they have cooled, you can place them in a food processor and process until they are finely ground. You can also chop the nuts by hand with a sharp knife, but be sure to chop them finely so that they incorporate well into the dough.

Preparing the nuts: toasting and grinding

Preparing the nuts is a crucial step in making Mexican Wedding Cakes. The nuts you choose to use will have a significant impact on the flavour of your cakes, so it's important to select the right type and prepare them properly.

Firstly, you'll want to toast your nuts. This is a simple process that involves placing your chosen nuts on a baking sheet and baking them in the oven for around 8 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until they are lightly browned and fragrant. You can also toast them in a dry skillet over low heat for around 5 minutes. This step is important as it brings out the full flavour of the nuts.

Once your nuts are toasted, let them cool completely. Then, place them in a food processor along with 2 tablespoons of flour from your recipe. Process the nuts until they are finely ground but be careful not to over-process them as you don't want a nut paste. If you don't have a food processor, you can finely chop the nuts by hand using a sharp knife. Adding a little flour to the nuts while processing helps to prevent them from turning into a paste.

For Mexican Wedding Cakes, the nuts should be ground or finely chopped. You can use a variety of nuts, including pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, or even macadamia nuts. The nuts are a key ingredient in this recipe, providing a rich, nutty flavour and a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Once your nuts are prepared, you can move on to the next step of making the dough and forming the cakes. Remember, the secret to great-tasting Mexican Wedding Cakes is in the preparation and quality of your ingredients!

Making the dough: mixing butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, and nuts

To make the dough for Mexican wedding cakes, you'll need to mix butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, and nuts. Here's a step-by-step guide:

First, make sure you have softened or room temperature butter. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy. You can add the sugar and vanilla extract at this point and continue mixing until everything is thoroughly combined. If you don't have an electric mixer, you can cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together by hand.

Next, gradually add the flour to the mixture and mix until it is fully incorporated. You can do this with your mixer on a lower speed or by hand. The type of flour varies between recipes, with some calling for all-purpose flour and others for sifted flour.

Once the flour is mixed in, it's time to add the nuts. You can use pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds, whichever you prefer. The nuts should be finely chopped or ground. You can do this by hand or in a food processor, being careful not to over-process them into a paste. Add the nuts to the dough and stir them in until they are evenly distributed.

At this point, your dough is ready to be formed into balls and baked. However, some recipes suggest chilling the dough in the refrigerator for about an hour first, as this will make it easier to handle. So, if your dough feels too soft or sticky, you can cover it and place it in the fridge to firm up before moving on to the next steps.

Now your dough is ready, and you can continue with forming and baking your Mexican wedding cakes.

Shaping the cookies: forming the dough into balls

Shaping the cookies is a fun part of the process! Here is a detailed, step-by-step guide:

Firstly, you will need to roll the dough into small balls. The size of the balls will determine the size of your cookies. A standard size is around 1 inch or 1 tablespoon of dough. Place the balls onto your prepared baking sheets, leaving some space between them. This is because the dough will spread out slightly as the cookies bake.

If you find that the dough is too sticky to roll into balls, there is a simple solution. Simply place the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up. This will make it much easier to work with.

Once you have rolled all your dough into balls and placed them on the baking sheets, they are ready to be baked!

After baking, the cookies will be soft, so it is important to let them cool slightly before handling them further. This will ensure that they keep their shape when you roll them in the powdered sugar.

Baking and coating: baking, then coating in sugar

Once you've made your Mexican wedding cake dough, it's time to bake and coat your treats in sugar.

First, preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). While that's heating up, line two baking sheets with parchment paper. If your dough is too sticky, you can pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. Once your oven is ready, form the dough into 1-inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the cakes start to brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5-20 minutes.

Now for the coating. Place some confectioner's sugar in a bowl and roll the cakes, one at a time, in the sugar. Place them on a wire rack to cool. Alternatively, you can place the sugar in a strainer and sift it over the cakes. Leave them to cool completely before serving or storing. You can even roll or sift them in more sugar before serving for an extra sweet touch.

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