A black and white cookie, also known as a half and half cookie, a drop cake or a half moon, is a soft, sponge cake-like shortbread which is iced on one half with vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...

 fondant

Fondant

Fondant is one of several kinds of icing-like substance used to decorate or sculpt pastries. The word, in French, means "melting", coming from the same root as "foundry" in English....

, and on the other half by dark chocolate fondant. It is similar to a neenish tart

Neenish tart

A neenish tart, is a tart made with a pastry base, sweet gelatine-set cream, mock cream, or icing sugar paste filling, sometimes with jam, and dried icing on top in two colours, half one colour and half the other. The 2-coloured icings are usually brown and white , pink icing and white, or even...

, although neenish tarts are filled with a jam center, whereas a black and white cookie is not.

The black and white cookie is often seen as a particularly "Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

" and "Northeastern New Jersey" snack.

Names

Black and White cookies are lesser known as Half-Moons and "Half-and-Halfs" . In Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, where these cookies usually are completely iced with the vanilla fondant only, they are called Amerikaner. In the eastern coast region of North America, they are often referred to as the Kyon cookie for its half white and half black sides.

History and Half-Moons

There is some confusion as to the origin of the black-and-white cookie and the sometimes synonymous name Half-Moon. The name Half-Moon is common in Upstate New York and New England. In New York City, however, one will find only Black and Whites. However, while the two names are often used interchangeably, there may actually be considerable differences between the two, most notably in the textures of the base and the icing.

Half-Moons originated in Utica, NY

Utica, New York

Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

 at the famous Hemstrought's Bakery in the early part of the 20th century. Half-Moons most often come with a chocolate cake base, dark fudge icing on one side and sugary white frosting for the "half moon" side. Hemstrought's (Utica, NY) also made a vanilla cake base with fudge and white frosting, as well as full 'vanilla moons' and 'coconut moons,' with either a chocolate or vanilla cake base. The original Hemstrought's half moons bakery closed their doors a few years ago (date needed), however they still bake half moons for local supermarkets, where they are still available. When the bakery closed, the family sold the name only to a local commercial bakery for the supermarket production of half moons, while the actual recipe remained with the bakery staff who now opened their own bakery, Gingerbread Bake Shop, on Oneida St in New Hartford, NY.

Black and Whites have a drier, cookie-like base and fondant frosting. The cookie is also bigger than most.

In the Seinfeld

Seinfeld

Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

 episode "The Dinner Party", Jerry

Jerry Seinfeld (character)

Jerome "Jerry" Seinfeld is the main protagonist of the American television sitcom Seinfeld . The straight man among his group of friends, this semi-fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld was named after, co-created by, based on, and played by Seinfeld himself.The series revolves around...

 eats a black and white cookie while waiting in a bakery with Elaine. He compares the cookie to a metaphor for racial harmony and that people should "Look to the cookie!" Bette Midler also demanded that Kramer get her a black & white cookie during the episode The Understudy

The Understudy

The Understudy may refer to:* "The Understudy" * "The Understudy" * The Understudy * The Understudy, a play by Theresa Rebeck...

.

Black and white cookies have been featured on episodes of HBO's Sex and the City

Sex and the City

Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...

.

Black and white cookies are featured on the Mad Love episode "To Munsch or Not to Munsch".

Black and white cookies are featured regularly on the USA series Fairly Legal.

External links

• Food Comeback: All New York in One Big Cookie