Bärentatzen

Hi there,

in the process of christmas baking, there are a few more recipes coming up soon. This one is fairly easy and not particularly made for X-Mas, but I thought I'd share nonetheless. I don't know, if there is an english name, so if any of you native english speakers recognise the cookies and have a name for them, pls let me know!










So, the few ingredients needed:

• 250 g butter (is essential here, no margarine!)
• 175 g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (oder ein Vanillezucker)
• 75 g blanched ground almonds
• 175 g all-purpose flour
• 175 g starch
• 150 g dark chocolate
• 150 g nougat

and how to make them:

• mix butter and sugar until creamy, then add the egg and the almonds
• mix flour and starch, add slowly to the butter mixture
• add vanilla extract
• get the dough into a piping bag and pipe out on grease-proof paper, shape should resemble the paw of a bear
• get in the pre-heated oven at 180 °C (fan) and bake for 8-10 mins.
• once cooled, find pairs that match and spread molten nougat on one bottom-side and top with the second one
• dip half in molten chocolate and let cool
• alternatively you can leave out the nougat and just dip them into the chocolates, both versions are scrummy (as Mary Berry would say...)

Enjoy!

Lebkuchen

In preparation for Christmas, my mum and I have started with some classic german recipes. This one will have to rest for 2-4 weeks, so made now, they will be ready for the Advent time. For the non-Germans that are not aware of what Lebkuchen is, I have undertaken a little research. Apparently, Lebkuchen has been developed in the monastries in the medival times and there are many local versions of it, some famous ones are Aachener Printen and Nürnberger Lebkuchen. The most important thing that they all have in common is that the basis is a honey cake that is spiced with at least cinnamon, cloves and anis. This recipe here is a family recipe that hasn't been made for a very long time, so this year, we wanted to try. I always thought, that Lebkuchen is very difficult to make, but once you have all the ingredients together, it is in fact rather simple.

Here we go, ingredients:

• 250 g honey
• 100 g sugar
• 100 g margarine or butter
• 500 g all-purpose flour (non-rising)
• 10 g potassium carbonate (Pottasche in German, makes the very sweet dough rise better), alternatively 1 heaped tbsp baking powder
• 10 g ground cinnamon
• 10 g ground cloves
• 5 g ground anis
• 5 g ground cardamom
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 2-3 tbsp Rum (not necessary, but gives the dough some depth)
• 1 egg

You see, it's rather a long and unusual list of ingredients, however, the making is that much simpler:

• mix honey, sugar and margarine in a small pan and heat until completely dissolved
• cool until lukewarm
• meanwhile mix all the dry ingredients
• add the honey mixture to the other ingredients, make a smooth dough
• add the Rum and the egg an knead until you have a firm dough
• let rest for half an hour, then roll out to a 1 cm thick layer
• bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 °C for 20 mins
• now be quick and cut in shape before the cake cools down
• once cooled, the now very hard cake can be covered in either chocolate or any other icing
• and the hard part is: put them away for 2-4 weeks, best way store in an airtight metal box, test from time to time if the cake has softened enough

That's it!

Kokos Makronen - Coconut Macaroons

Ok, I have to admit, that this is not a "macaroon" in the original sense, but there is simply no better translation of the german "Makrone". If anyone knows a better word, pls let me know!

But, they are simple to make and really delicious:

Here is what you need:

• 3 egg whites
• 125 g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp of lemon juice
• 200g of grated coconut

And how to make them:

• whip the egg white with the lemon juice so that you get stiff peaks 
• fold in the sugar followed by the grated coconut
• line a baking tray with grease proof paper
• with two teaspoons, put small heaps of the mixture on the tray
• bake at 175 °C for roughly 15 mins. The macaroons should still be soft but can get a little bit browned on the outside

You can also replace the cocnut with ground haselnuts. Equally nice!
Enjoy and have a fabulous 2nd Advent!

Zimtsterne - Cinnamon Stars

Ok, here we have the first of hopefully a few christmas recipes. It is definitely one of my favorites and a famous christmas cookie in Germany - Zimtsterne.

Once baked, keep them in a tin so they won't dry out and get hard. The softer they are, the better is the taste.




Here are the ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 250 g icing sugar
• 250 g ground almonds (skin on)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• additional 200 g of ground almonds

This how to make them:

• whip the eggwhites with the icing sugar into a firm, glossy mass, of that mixture take one cup full and put aside
• to the rest, add the 250 g of ground almonds and fold them in carefully, add the cinnamon
• cover the work bench with more ground almonds and put on the dough, patting it down to roughly 1cm in height
• spread the extra egg mixture evenly on top and cut out star shapes and set them on a greased baking tray
• let them dry out a bit before baking them for 7-8 mins in the oven (160 °C)

That's it, just enjoy.

Christmas is coming...

Dear Everyone,

Christmas is coming closer each day and I have decided to add a special section all around christmas cooking and baking. I will contribute with some family recipes, but really your help is wanted: It would be nice to get a selection of traditional recipes for christmas from all around the world, maybe shared with a story on how christmas is traditionally celebrated in you home country. If you don't celebrate christmas, you maybe wanna add something equivalent, like traditional recipes for Diwali or Eid. In any case, I am really looking forward to the next few weeks and hope you are sending me all your favorite recipes!
 --Stef xx--