“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
John 14: 1-3
I love the saying “Life is short, eat dessert first” only because it offers a chance to skip certain foods I don’t like and get straight to the sweet stuff. As a concept it offers a life of indulgence and fun; as a reality it offers a life of ill-health and probably a shortened life! Don’t get me wrong, I love a good dessert, but dessert has a place in life and it is not, in general, before the nutritious part of the meal.
Before you send me emails about how certain cultures eat dessert first and how there can be a small benefit for your teeth if you eat the sweets first (nothing a good tooth brush could not assist with), hear me out.
The definition of the word dessert has come to mean a sweet or special dish served at the end of a meal. From the French word, desservir, which actually means to clear the table, dessert truly means that which comes last in a meal. In essence dessert is the end goal; the special treat waiting for you once you have finished the first courses.
Desserts work as bribes for small children, “If you eat your broccoli you can have ice-cream”, and incentives for older people, “if you work hard you can have a chocolate chip cookie”. They are something to look forward to, the carrot before the horse.
Having something to look forward to brings a smile despite tough times. One can muscle through a serving of Brussel sprouts knowing chocolate cake awaits. Knowing that the end holds something sweet makes every meal better.
The apostle John gives us a promise like that; something to look forward to. In John 14 he records Jesus saying that he goes to prepare a place for us. Mystery and anticipation, promise and prophecy. Something to look forward to.
John penned multiple books in the New Testament. John writes a lot about sin in the book of 1 John. Chapter 2 begins this way,
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.”
John encourages the believers to live lives without sin, but acknowledges the difficulty of that assignment! Our advocate, Jesus, frees us from the debt of sin, and our inclusion in the family of God, the Holy Spirit abiding in us, gives us the freedom to live as children of God. “Little children,” John says, “please don’t sin, but when you do, run to Jesus.”
John knew Jesus in the flesh. In fact, he and his brother James asked to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in his kingdom, a fact not recorded by John in his gospel, but written in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. This audacious request brought rebuke from Jesus and the lesson about not lording authority over others but being servants of all, “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10: 43-45.
John knew first hand the difficulty of trying to keep the Lord’s commandments! He also experienced the love of Jesus. He knew the forgiveness and restoration of God. For as much as he focused on sin in the book of 1 John, he also focused on love. God’s love. Listen to John’s words:
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:16-19
These words are dessert; the proverbial carrot before the horse. It is as if John is saying, “Keep on following Jesus. Do the hard work and don’t be afraid of the end because God loves you. His love casts out all fear of ultimate condemnation. Because of Jesus your punishment is gone, there is nothing left to look forward to but dessert.”
There is a place prepared for those who believe. It will be sweeter because it comes at the end, after lifetimes of liver and onions, steak and potatoes, broccoli and salad. Something lovely to look forward to.
Today’s recipe is an old one. It is a dessert and a snack. It is sweet because of the filling. I share it because it is a tricky recipe and takes work. It may not come out perfectly the first time, but it will be worth the practice. A pleasant, pretty end goal to serve on a tea tray or for a May Day picnic.
Cream Wafers
- 1 cup softened butter
- 2 cups Gold Medal Flour
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
In stand mixer, cream butter, flour, and heavy cream. Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and chill until dough is firm and cold, about two hours.
Heat oven to 375*. Sprinkle your parchment paper with flour and sugar. Roll 1/2 of dough into a 1/8″ sheet. It is important the keep the dough even and thin. With a round 1 1/2″- 2″ cutter, cut out circles. Fill a small dish with granulated sugar and insert each round into the sugar, making sure both sides get covered with sugar. Place these on a greased cookie sheet. Prick each circle with a fork four times to give a decorative look. Bake for 7 – 9 minutes until firmly set but not brown. Cool.
Remove circles from cookie sheet and pair them. Then prepare the cream filling.
Cream Filling
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 1/2 cups confectionary sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla, or flavoring of your choice, lemon, maple, mint
- a few drops of food coloring for decoration
Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer and cream together until fluffy. Feel free to split the basic cream filling in two before adding food coloring so you can have two colors.
Frost the bottom of each cookie pair with filling, then top with the other cookie circle.
I needed to pay closer attention to my rolling. My cookies should have been thinner and baked for a minute more. They are delicious, but a bit crumbly. They actually melt in your mouth!