Saints Louis & Zélie Martin :: French Vanilla Cake and Cupcakes in Honor of the Watchmaker and Lace Maker

"God made me a Father and Mother more worthy of Heaven than of Earth." 

~ St. Thérèse of Lisieux

I spent yesterday afternoon creating a few treats to celebrate today's canonization of Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse.  I didn't really have a plan when I pulled out a box of French Vanilla cake mix from the cupboard, but was so happy with how it all came together!

I started by making "lace" mini cupcake wrappers using some 8" Doilies I had with my craft supplies. These were so easy to make and really turned out beautifully! If you have larger doilies you could make larger wrappers for full size cupcakes. 

While I was assembling the cupcake wrappers, I baked 24 mini French Vanilla cupcakes, saving the remaining batter for a small 8" round cake. 

Once the mini-cupcakes had cooled I topped them with some homemade buttercream frosting:

1 cup butter, 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp milk, 1/8 tsp salt

Whip until smooth.

At first I thought I would decorate the 8" cake as a clock face, but after placing the cake on the platter I decided to surround it with twelve of the mini cupcakes. I added Roman Numerals and clock hands using Black Decorating Icing. I probably would have opted for melted chocolate if I had any dark chocolate candy melts in my stash.

I also made some Saint Zélie Martin Cameo in Lace Candy. These little candies would work great as cupcake toppers!



You can find additional ideas for Commemorating the Canonization of the Parents of Saint Thérèse, Saints Louis and Zélie Martin over at Shower of Roses!

Saints Louis & Zélie Martin, ora pro nobis! 

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Saint Zélie Martin Cameo in Lace Candy

Marie-Azélie Guerin was an intelligent woman and a hard worker. She had considered becoming religious, but the superior of the Hotel-Dieu of Alençon had discouraged her inquiry outright. Disappointed, Azélie learned the trade of lacemaking. She excelled in it so rapidly that at the age of twenty-two, she set up her own business on rue Saint-Blaise.

~ Therese and Lisieux

To celebrate the canonization of St. Zélie, the Lace Maker, I made some Cameo and Lace Candy!    

Supplies: 

Cameo in Lace Chocolate Candy Mold
White Candy Melts
Pink Candy Melts

Directions: 

Melt the white candy melts. Using a small spoon and toothpick, fill each cameo with some of the melted candy, tap gently or use the toothpick to spread the candy and make sure all the air bubbles are removed. Place in refrigerator to harden.  If you'd like to save some time, you can make the candies solid white, or whatever color you choose, and fill the mold completely. 

Melt the pink candy melts. Remove the candy mold from the refrigerator and fill the rest of each mold with melted candy. Place back in the refrigerator to harden.

Gently bend the mold to remove each of the candies. 

You can find additional ideas for Commemorating the Canonization of the Parents of Saint Thérèse, Saints Louis and Zélie Martin over at Shower of Roses! 

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Canonization of Zelie and Louis Martin - Parmesan Lace Bowls

With the canonization this upcoming weekend (October 18, 2015) of Bl. Zelie and Louis Martin I was looking at additional ideas to add to the celebration. In previous posts, I suggested a couple recipes that were lace-themed because of Zelie's profession as a lace maker in the French region of Alencon. These quick and easy lacy-looking Parmesan bowls are a fun and delicious addition to the collection of "lace" foods. They make for a lovely presentation and are also edible!

Frico, or "little trifles" in Italian, are very thin and crisp disks made from small mounds of grated Parmesan, melted and cooled. They can be left as flat disks or formed into delicious edible bowls for a filling of salad, marinated vegetables, fruit, custard, or pasta.

Frico - Parmesan Bowls

Ingredients:

2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Chilled salad of choice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place oven rack in middle of oven. Dump 1/3 cup cheese onto greased or silicone mat lined baking sheet. Spread into 5-6 inch circles. Put in oven and allow to brown in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until golden.

Working with one round at a time, quickly transfer cheese with a thin spatula to an inverted custard cup or small bowl. Repeat with the next cheese round. Cool completely, and then remove carefully.  It is suggested that you bake only 2 or 3 at a time so that you can transfer and form them quickly before they cool too much.

Let Parmesan bowls cool about 5 minutes before removing from flipped bowl. Makes approximately 6 bowls depending on desired size and consistency.

Divide prepared salad among the Parmesan bowls and serve.  As mentioned, the bowls can also be filled with fruit, custard, whipped cheeses, etc. Using a smaller amount of cheese can be made into appetizer sized bowls. I saw some recipes forming the bowl over a cork end, so that would be the size.

Bl. Zelie Martin, Pray for us.

Bl. Louis Martin, Pray for us.

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Lace Cookie Bowls for St. Anne

As mentioned in the previous Florentine Lace Cookie post, there are numerous saints associated with lacemaking. Those saints who are listed as patrons of lacemaking and or lacemakers includes:

• St. Anne
• St. Catherine of Alexandria
• St. Crispin
• St. Elizabeth of Hungary
• St. Francis of Assisi
• St. John Regis
• St. Luke
• St. Therese
• St. Zelie Martin

Since today is the feast of St. Anne, I am offering a variation on the lace cookies - Lace Cookie Bowls. These delicate and tasty edible bowls are great for fruit or ice cream.

Follow recipe for making the florentine cookie dough from earlier post. In the previous recipe for smaller cookies, small balls were formed. In order to make the lace cookie bowls you need to form much larger balls of dough - approx. 2 inch in diameter.   Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, 2 or 3 to a tray as they will spread a lot.

Place in preheated oven - 350 degrees. Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes until they can be handled. They need to be cool enough to remove from tray but not yet have hardened. While still soft place over a small inverted bowl and press down to form bowl shape.  Let cool until hardened.

Filled with ice cream these are a refreshing treat for a mid-summer feast day. While we used chocolate because it was what I had on hand, another great ice cream choice would be spumoni, which includes both a red (cherry) and green (pistachio) color - the colors associated with St. Anne.  Or any red/green combination - like strawberry ice cream with a sprig of mint or green tea ice cream with fresh raspberries on top. There are many fun and refreshing combinations in those colors.

Enjoy!

Dear Saint Anne, we know nothing about you except your name. But you gave us the Mother of God who called herself handmaid of the Lord. In your home, you raised the Queen of Heaven and you are rightly the model of homemakers. In your womb came to dwell the new Eve, uniquely conceived without sin. Intercede for us that we too may remain free from sins. Amen.

St. Anne, Pray for Us.

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The Lace Cookie - Florentines

With the recent feast of Sts. Zelie and Louis Martin I shared the connection to the lace and lace making. Lace is such a beautiful and delicate textile art and the look can translate to the kitchen to some degree.

July 13 is the anniversary date of Sts. Zelie and Louis Martin and follows their feast day by one day. So since we are still thinking about the Martins, I am adding an additional lace themed treat idea for today. The florentine is a a cookie commonly called lace cookie because of the natural lacy open hole appearance it gets while baking. There are variations on the cookie but the traditional one is almond or other nut based. Candied fruit, coconut, oats are sometimes used in the variations. Sometimes just a honey/sugar and butter base such as these here.

Florentines

1 3/4 cups sliced, blanched almonds (about 5 ounces)
3 tablespoons flour
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
5 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir together the almonds, flour, zest and salt in a bowl.

Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Add sugar mixture to almond mixture and stir just to combine. Cool for 30 minutes.

Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3-inch cookies) or rounded tablespoons (for 6-inch cookies) of batter and roll into balls. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving about 3 to 4 inches between each cookie. They will spread considerably in oven.

Place in preheated oven - 350 degrees. Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool.

You can serve plain or drizzle with chocolate. You can also put a filling (jam, cream, chocolate, ice cream) between two cookies for a sandwich style. 

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Saint Zélie Martin Lace Effect Sugar Cookies

“The good God gave me a father and mother more worthy of Heaven than of earth.”

Written by St. Thérèse of Lisieux of her parents, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, who married on July 13, 1858 and whose feast is celebrated today, July 12.

The couple were married for nineteen years before Zélie’s death from breast cancer in 1877. They created a close, caring, family home, where love of God and neighbor were taught and practiced. It was in and by marriage that Louis and Zelie were to gain their own sanctification and set a heroic example for others. Their example illustrates how marriage can be a starting point of the journey to holiness made in the company of a spouse.  St. Louis Martin and St. Zélie Martin were canonized as a couple in October 2015. First time in history that a married couple has been canonized together.

Marie Azelia (known as Zélie) Guerin was born near Alencon France in 1831. This is an area of France renowned for its beautiful lace making.  Zélie was an accomplished lace maker in the tradition and style of the region.  After she married Louis Martin in 1858, they settled in Alencon and conducted their businesses where Louis took on the business management of Zélie’s lace making enterprise.  An example of her beautiful lace can be seen here. 

This is a simple idea to incorporate a touch of subtle lace effect into a cookie for the feast day. Using any sugar cookie recipe, just roll out the dough and cut out basic shaped cookies. Keep the dough a little thicker than you would normally when you cut the cookie as you will be pressing down lace and it will flatten slightly. Place a lace or crochet doily (or any piece of lace with large, deep design would work) over the cookie dough and roll gently but with enough pressure to press the design into the dough. 

Remove lace, place cookies on baking sheet and bake until golden.

As mentioned any sugar cookie recipe (or even pre-prepared refrigerator brands) could be used. If you are looking for a good sugar cookie recipe, I like this one from a Midwest parish cookbook.

Sugar Cookie Dough Recipe

• 2 ¾ C. sifted flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• ½ t. salt
• ¾ C. butter or margarine
• 1 C. white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla

Put softened margarine in large bowl of mixer. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Blend until smooth. Chill at least one hour. Roll small amount of dough at a time on floured board. Cut into desired shapes. Put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

While St. Zélie was specifically a lacemaker by trade, there are numerous saints who are listed as patrons for lacemaking and lacemakers. These cookies would be a fitting addition for a treat on any of their feast days. 

St. Zelie, Pray for Us!

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