Finnish Gingerbread Cookies

When I was a kid I knew Christmas was upon us when I smelled the gingerbread cookies. That smell is Christmas for me.

My challenge this year was to get all of the ingredients here in Germany - to find out what they are called in German and to get them from the supermarket. There’s one ingredient I couldn’t find - bitter orange peel powder. So I used sweet orange peels instead, dried in the oven overnight and then ground as fine as possible. The effect is not exactly the same - not worse, but just different. Germans have their own version of gingerbread: they call them Lebkuchen. The main difference is that they're made with honey instead of molasses and the spices used are slightly different. I'm obviously very biased, so you might guess which ones I prefer.

This is what you need (it’s impossible to say how many you’ll get, it depends on the size of the cookie cutters you’re using - but one portion gives you one big plate full of them):

• 50ml molasses


• 125g butter (margarine for vegan cookies)


• 90g sugar


• 0,5 tsp cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, bitter orange peel, each


• 0,2 tsp cardamom and allspice, each


• 1 egg (replace with 100g sour soy cream / some other vegan cream)


• 500ml flour (more or less 300g) - I baked mine this year with whole-grain spelt instead of all-purpose wheat flour, and it worked!


• 0,3 tsp salt


• 1 tsp baking soda

Place butter, sugar, molasses, and the spices in a pan. Warm until the butter has melted, then let cool to room temperature. In the meantime, measure the flour, salt, and baking soda in a baking bowl. When the butter-spice-mixture is cool enough, beat it until pale brown, add the egg, and beat one minute more. (I do this using a twirl whisk.)

Pour the mixture into the flour mixture and stir well. Note that the dough is quite soft at this point, but do NOT add more flour. Now, place the dough in the fridge for a couple of hours, or preferably overnight. This will allow for the flavours to develop to their full potential!

When your dough is ready, roll it out on a flour dusted work surface until about 2-3 mm thin. Cut out cookies, using cookie cutters of different shapes. Place your cookies on an oven tray covered with parchment paper.  Bake in a preheated oven (200 C) 6-8 minutes. Note that size matters here: on each tray, place cookies of more or less the same size - otherwise the small ones will burn before the big ones are done.

Out of experience I can already say that gingerbread cookies keep very well several weeks, as long as you store them in an airtight container.

Gingerbread cookies also taste delicious with blue cheese and Port wine..

P.S. Today I happened to find this spice mixture from Herbaria. It's called Ginger&Bread and it has all of the spices you need for gingerbread - I'll try it out for the next batch and tell if it works!

Biscotti di Nonna

These are the best cookies ever. And I’m not exaggerating. Even the dough is addictive! I got the recipe from a cousin of mine about four years ago, and have been baking them ever since. (Originally the recipe is from the Gourmet Magazine.) I bake them all year round. But during the Christmas time they are very practical: even one single portion yields about 50 (more if you make them Plätzchen-sized - very small, that is) - just pack a dozen or two in a nice tin box and you have a perfect gift.

As the name suggest, these cookies are baked twice (biscoctus - baked twice): first you make long loaves, bake them, cut them into slices, and bake once more.

Biscotti are said to keep for centuries (!) so I guess it’s safe to assume they’ll make it until the 24th - if you manage to hide them well, that is.

For about 50 biscotti you’ll need

• 200g almonds, toasted and roughly chopped


• 1 cup sugar (or 215g)


• 2 ¾ cups flour (or 375g, using spelt flour type 630)


• 1,5 tsp baking powder


• 1 pinch of salt


• 8g vanilla sugar


• 3 eggs


• 115g melted butter or margarine


• 50ml Cointreau or other liquor of your liking

Place all dry ingredients in a baking bowl. Then add butter, liquor, and the eggs, and with a wooden spoon, work the dough until the ingredients are well combined. Place the bowl in the fridge (or on a cold balcony, if you have one) and let stand 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 200C. Then form two long loaves, using WET hands, and bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool and cut into slices, a bit less than 1 cm thick. Place the slices on an oven pan and bake again until your biscotti are evenly cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Be careful, this time they burn easily!

Biscotti taste wonderful with coffee at any time of the day, or with a strong wine like Port or Marsala. Store in an airtight container.

17 Is My Lucky Number - Or Is It?

In Finland, there is one kind of Christmas cookies - the gingerbread cookies. Until two years ago, I was more than fine with that. But now I’ve learned that any self-respecting German woman bakes a huge variety of Christmas cookies, or Plätzchen as they call them. A friend of mine told me that her grand-mother used to bake 17 different kinds, and so many that she could send a tin box full of cookies to every one of her children and grand-children - 15 boxes all in all.

17 happens to be my lucky number. This year I’m going to take the challenge: will I be able to bake 17 types of Christmas cookies in 17 days? Stay tuned - I’ll post the experience in my blog!

I’m going to bake a double portion of each variety, so that half of the Plätzchen can be stored until Christmas while the other half can be eaten right away. I know, this is not normally the case (a second challenge for any Plätzchen baker is to hide the cookies so well that no-one gets to taste them before the D-day) but I’m just too curious to know how they taste!

Besides, this will allow me to find out how the different Plätzchen types keep these magic three weeks and a half. (Or a bit less for the last ones on the list, of course.)

Now I need to hurry and get the first cookies out of the oven. You'll hear more on those tomorrow!

A Word On Flour Types

Ok, so the recipe says I need all-purpose flour - and I’m in Germany. How on Earth am I supposed to know which of those different flour bags to choose? Or I want to bake a bread in Finland and the recipe calls for German type 1050 wheat flour. Now is there any way to knowing for sure about the flour type equivalences in different countries?

Wikipedia gives you information about French, Italian, German, American, Czech, and Argentinian wheat flour types, but I couldn’t find anything about the Finnish ones anywhere, so I decided to ask Myllyn Paras, one of the most famous Finnish mills. They answered quickly, and I’m proud to present the results - and sad to say, there is no one-to-one equivalence between the Finnish flour types and all the other ones.

The numbers in both German and French flour types indicate the amount of ash (the German in 100 mg, French in 10 mg, hence the difference in scale). Next to the Finnish flour types, I’ve written the ash content of Myllyn Paras flour types, as they reported them in their answer. So, if you want to get wheat flour 1050 in Finland, you’d better bring your own - or make your own mix of the ones available.

Finland	Germany	France	Italy	America
karkea vehnäjauho (450-550)	405	T45	00	pastry-flour
erikoisvehnäjauho (500-600)	550	T55	0	all-purpose flour
puolikarkea vehnäjauho (600-700)	812	T80	1	high-gluten flour
hiivaleipävehnäjauho (1350-1480)	1050	T105	2	first-clear flour
grahamjauho (up to 2000)	Vollkornmehl	farine intégrale	farina integrale	whole wheat flour

A further note to this table is about flour type 812: I've never seen such flour in any of the shops I normally go to,  including a specialized store. Maybe it’s available in other parts of Germany.. or I haven't paid enough attention ;)

P.S. The flour in the picture above is whole oatmeal flour - delicious in bread and above all cookies!

P.P.S. Information on Portuguese wheat flour types can be found here.

Focaccia

I’m going to reveal a secret: the same dough that gives you 20 grissini (my previous post) can also be used for making one focaccia! The only difference is that I added 1 Tbsp sugar in the dough. The second fermentation also takes somewhat longer. If you want, you can add a bit of instant dry yeast for a shorter fermentation time.

For one focaccia, you need:

• 450g flour (I used spelt, type 630)


• 300g water


• 150g sourdough starter, refreshed 3-4 hours before (or until it has at least doubled in volume)


• 3 Tbsp olive oil


• 2 tsp dried rosemary


• 11g salt


• 1 Tbsp sugar


• 1/3 tsp instant dry yeast (optional)

• Plus a twig of fresh rosemary, 3 Tbsp olive oil, and some fleur de sel (or other kind of salt) for the topping

In a baking bowl, combine flour and water and let stand for about 30 minutes. Then add all other ingredients and knead 10 minutes or so. Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let ferment 6-8 hours. On a baking surface, work the dough so that the air bubbles disappear.  Form a flat bread, place it on an oven-pan and let ferment 60-90 minutes.

Brush generously with olive oil, sprinkle evenly salt on top, and decorate with rosemary leaves. Bake in a preheated oven (225 C) about 40 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.

Cut into squares and serve as an appetizer tel quel or to accompany a soup. This bread is at its best when it’s still a bit warm!

Grissini with Rosemary and Olive Oil

Among my favourite Italian bread types are grissini, those long bread sticks that you can nibble on while waiting for the meal to be served. They come in various different flavours, but I prefer the ones with rosemary.

On Wednesday, I tried baking my own grissini for the first time. The taste compensates the somewhat imperfect shape!

I made the dough using sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast and once again, you really don’t taste it. I love to play with the idea that in 1679 when grissini are said to be invented there was no commercial yeast - so the recipe that follows just could be the original one..! Who knows?

For 20 long, thin grissini you need

• 450g flour (I used spelt, type 630 - next time I’ll try with whole-grain)


• 300g water


• 150g sourdough starter, refreshed 3-4 hours before (but doubled in volume - if not, wait until it has)


• 3 Tbsp olive oil


• 2 tsp dried rosemary


• 11g salt


• Plus some more olive oil, salt, and fresh rosemary (optional) for finishing.

In a baking bowl, combine flour and water and let stand for about 30 minutes. Then add all other ingredients and knead 10 minutes or so. Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let ferment 6-8 hours.

On a baking surface, work the dough so that the air bubbles disappear. Divide the dough in 20 parts, and work each part into a long, thin bread. Place on an oven pan (either greased or covered with greaseproof paper) and let ferment about 20-30 minutes. Brush your grissini evenly with olive oil and grind some salt on top. If you want, you can also decorate your grissini with fresh rosemary leaves. Bake in a preheated oven (225C) 10-15 minutes or until golden brown (but be careful, they burn easily!).

Serve as an appetizer with a glass of red wine! If anything is left over, store in a dry and cool place.

Martin's Rolls

Here in Germany, Martin’s Day is a big thing! All schools and kindergartens have their own Martin’s celebrations, with kids walking outside in the dark with lanterns, singing special songs for the occasion. I find it so sweet! Furthermore, the procession is followed by a gathering around a bonfire, with warm drinks and either pretzels or sweet rolls shared with everyone.

This year, I’m baking sweet rolls to bring to my girls’ kindergarten. The idea is to share, so I shaped my rolls in a way that they’re easy to break in two. I baked them with two different fillings: one with pecan nuts, sugar, and cinnamon, the other with vanilla sugar, lemon zest, and ground almond.

And, needless to say, I made the dough using exclusively my sourdough starter. Fermenting of rich sweet dough with only a starter takes quite a long time, though; so if you’re in a hurry, add about ½ tsp of instant dry yeast to the dough to speed up the process. Mine fermented 11 hours and I felt it wasn’t quite ready to be baked yet. I should have left it in a warmer place… (Sour)dough doesn’t like cold!

For a vegan version, use vegan margarine instead of butter, and a non-dairy milk for the dough and washing.

For about 30 rolls you need:

• 800 g flour (I used spelt, a mixture of types 630 and 1050)


• 350 ml milk or water


• 300g sourdough starter, refreshed 3-4 hours before (but make sure the starter has doubled in volume, if not, wait until it is)


• 160g sugar


• 10g salt


• 2 tsp cardamom


• 200g butter (or margarine), melted

And for the filling:

• 50g melted butter


• sugar, cinnamon, crushed pecan nuts, pearl sugar


• OR vanilla sugar, grated lemon zest, ground almond, almond flakes

In a baking bowl, combine all dry ingredients together. (If you’re using instant dry yeast, throw it in as well). Then add sourdough starter and milk and knead until a firm dough has formed, or some 7-10 minutes. Then add butter and knead until it’s absorbed in the dough. Cover with a damp baking towel and let ferment overnight, about 12 hours. (If you’re using yeast as well, the ferment time is shorter.)

On a baking surface covered with flour, work the dough until all bubbles are gone. Divide in two. Roll half of the dough out, cover first with melted butter, then add rest of the topping. Now roll the dough from both sides back in until both rolls meet in the middle. Cut into 3cm wide pieces, place on an oven pan covered with a baking sheet, cover with a baking towel, and let ferment 45-60 minutes. Bake the other half of the dough in a same way. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 225 C. Before baking, wash the rolls with either a mixture of egg yolk and a tiny bit of water, or milk (or soy milk), and decorate with pearl sugar or almond flakes.

Bake the rolls until they are well baked, or about 15-18 minutes. Let cool a bit - and share with someone! Happy Martin’s Day everyone ;)