An Imperial Delight

On my way back home from Winnipeg the morning after the wonderful concert by Emilie-Claire Barlow Tuesday night, I decided to stop by the High Tea Bakery to get some cookies, and specifically some Imperial cookies.  Already locally renowned for making Imperial cookies, wedding cakes and other sweet delights, the bakery's received greater attention when it was asked to produce cookies for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II when she made a visit to Winnipeg in 2010.  I'd been meaning to try some of these cookies, and I thought I'd share some with my colleagues as well when I returned for work that afternoon.

When I entered the bakery I encountered a good news-bad news situation.  The bad news was that buying a dozen Imperials was going to seriously hit my wallet, and there was less than a dozen left on the shelf.  The good news was that there were more than enough Mini Imperial cookies at a more affordable price, so I bought a dozen Mini Imperials for the office and two Imperials for my personal indulgence.  The Imperials and the mini counterparts consist of two butter cookies laced with almond extract with raspberry jam between them and at least partially coated with some icing.  The Imperials are about three inches in diameter, while the Mini Imperials were half the size of the Imperials.

I was delighted when I took my first bite of these cookies.  The almond flavour was most evident, but the milder flavour of the raspberry jam was still able to hold its own.  The only criticism I might offer is that, in my opinion, the icing was on the sweet side.  The rest of the cookie somewhat helped balance out the sweetness.  One of my colleagues opined that these cookies tasted rich enough that one probably couldn't, or shouldn't, eat too many of them.  I for one made sure I only ate one Imperial a night, not necessarily because of the richness, but because I wanted to be able to savour the goodness as long as possible.