Day 18: Stars, Moons, and One More Log

Today, I baked two of the most beloved Plätzchen: Vanillekipferl and Zimtsterne. Vanilla crescents and cinnamon stars, that is! For the stars I used the recipe from last year, but for the vanilla crescents I tried a traditional German recipe that I couldn't make work last year. Only this time, I was equipped with a special form for this kind of cookies, and that made all the difference; the cookies turned out impeccable!

So here's the recipe to try if you've got that Kipferl form at your disposal:

In a bowl, combine 100g ground almonds, 50g sugar, 150g all-purpose flour, 8g vanilla sugar, and a pinch of salt (if the butter you're using is unsalted). Add 150g butter cut in small cubes, and rub the flour in the dry ingredients until you can form a ball with the dough! Take small amounts of the dough (about 12g) and form long sticks. Bend them to fit in the Kipferl form. Bake in a preheated oven (150C) about 20 minutes or until well cooked but not brown yet. Let the cookies cool a bit and very, very carefully transfer them on a serving plate. They break very easily at this point! Sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on top and enjoy one of the best things ever invented in Germany ;)



In addition, I felt confident enough to make one more Christmas log; the feedback this morning was overwhelmingly positive! This time, I added 1 Tbsp extra strong instant coffee in the butter icing - sublime! I also used potato starch in the batter instead of all-purpose flour (a bit less than half the amount) and the Swiss roll came out just the way it should. I was planning to freeze the log, but my kids convinced me to serve it tomorrow for their dad's birthday. Oh well, maybe I'll have to make a third one this year..

 

Day 17: Chocolate Yule Log

Today, I didn't bake anything for my reverse Advent's calendar.

Instead, I finally made one of my dreams come true: I baked a real bûche de Noël, or a Yule log! (How cool that the word yule exist, by the way - just like jul in Swedish!) Theoretically, I could have kept it for our Christmas dinner - according to some recipes I read, a Yule log can be frozen up to three months.

But this one is going to a very special purpose: a class I'm teaching is going to eat it tomorrow - it's their last French class before their Christmas holidays... Hope they'll be as thrilled as my kids who got to eat the test version today - and made me promise we'll have one for the Christmas dinner as well ;)

At the same time, I got the chance two other things I had never done before: making a real ganache and butter icing - how can I have missed these two this long?! Well, now I know how to make them!

The following recipe is for one log. It's adapted from this recipe - I browsed a lot of different ones, and somehow this seemed perfect. And it was...

I made double this portion, and used about 1/4 to make a small test version, and the rest to build a very big log! I'd say one portion is big enough for 10 people.

I had some serious problems in getting the Swiss roll done properly: it broke in several places when I tried to roll it in. Luckily, everything is covered with that butter icing, so no-one will see that. Anyway, I'd be thankful for some tips about how to make a perfect Swiss roll!

This is what you need for the Swiss roll:

• 4 eggs


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour


• 1/4 cup cocoa powder


• 1 tsp baking powder


• 3 Tbsp melted butter

For the ganache:

• 180ml heavy cream


• 180g dark chocolate (about 60% or so)

For the butter icing:

• 1 cup butter, softened


• 1,5 cups confectioner's sugar


• 3 Tbsp cocoa powder


• + a bit of heavy cream, if needed

For the decoration:

• marzipan figures


• confectioner's sugar

First, prepare the ganache. Bring the cream to the boil in a saucepan, remove from heat, and add the chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts. Place in a cool place - this time of the year, even my room temperature was cool enough! Fridge is not a good option, though; try a cold-water bath instead if your house is warmer than mine. Let the ganache-to-be stand about one hour. Then beat the mixture until it gets fluffy and somewhat less dark. This took about 7 minutes with my spiral whisk!

Then it's time to prepare the Swiss roll. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside. Beat the eggs and the sugar in another bowl until the mixture is pale and thick. Add sifted flour mixture and the butter and stir until well combined. Pour the batter on an oven tray covered with a parchment paper. Leave a margin on all sides. My cake was about 35cm times 25cm.

Bake in a preheated oven (200C) about 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. In the meantime, place another parchment paper on a baking tray. Sprinkle some sugar on it. Once you take the cake out, reverse it immediately on the sugar-covered parchment paper. Remove the original paper and roll the cake in, starting from the side closer to you. (Like I told you, mine broke in several places. I have no idea what went wrong!) Let the cake cool while you prepare the butter icing.

Soften the butter and beat it until it gets creamy and fluffy. Then add sifted confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder, and rub them in the butter. Add some cream if needed (I didn't need any, but then again, I just couldn't use all of the sugar amount either! It felt horribly over-sweet as it was - with maybe 3/4 of the sugar amount of the original recipe!).

When the ganache and the butter icing are ready and the cake has cooled to room temperature, it's time to build the log. Roll the cake out again, spread the ganache evenly on top of it, and roll in again. Spread the butter icing on your log and, using a small spatula, create a wood-a-like surface (this was really easy with the butter icing! I just love it!). Decorate with any marzipan figures you like, and sprinkle with some confectioner's sugar. We want some snow for Christmas, don't we?!

I made my marzipan leaves and mushrooms myself. I had planned to buy them, but, well, maybe I just don't know the right places to go in Helsinki - or there aren't any available. At least I couldn't find any. So equipped with some natural-coloured marzipan and a bottle of green and red colour I managed some mushrooms, green leaves, and red berries.

The log can be kept 2-3 days in the fridge (if it fits ;) ), or frozen.

P.S. You can flavour the ganache and the butter icing - next time, I'll use some coffee in both! Or how about orange? Or - well, just consult your Flavour Thesaurus for further ideas!



 

Day 16: Zedernbrot, or a Happy Marriage Between Lemon and Almond

The first time I tasted these very lemony, very almond-y Christmas cookies was at a friend's place. They were made by her mother-in-law, and the recipe was top-secret. I managed to convince my friend to convince her mother-in-law to give me the recipe, and the plan worked!

But here's the thing - I lost the paper on which the recipe was written.

The other recipes I've found give a good result as well - like this one I posted last year. This year, I used 100g roasted ground almonds and 100g plain ground almonds (last year only roasted almonds because that was the only organic variety I could find). I also reduced the amount of lemon juice, because last year the dough was a bit too liquid.

And I decorated my Zedernbrot cookies with some finely chopped candied lemon peel!

 

Day 15: Linzer Cookies

Ten days to go, and I still hadn't baked almost any of the iconic German Christmas cookies - Zimtsterne, Spitzbuben, Zedernbrot, Linzerschnitte...

So now it was time to get back to the track. I decided to bake Linzer cookies, the recipe of which I was almost sure I already shared last year - but I didn't... So now it's time to share it!

These sandwich cookies taste a bit like gingerbread but they are much softer! Fill them with any red jam that you like - my favourite is a mixture of raspberry and redcurrant jam.

This is what you need:

• 150g softened butter


• 50g sugar


• 1 egg


• 150g all-purpose flour


• 75 ground almonds


• 75g ground hazelnuts


• 1/3 tsp baking powder


• 1/2 tsp cinnamon


• 1/4 tsp cloves


• 1/4 tsp cardamom


• a pinch of ground nutmeg


• a pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)


• red jam (raspberry, redcurrant...) for the filling


• some confectioner's sugar to decorate

This is how to proceed:

Beat butter and sugar until the mixture is creamy. Add the egg and stir until well combined. In another bowl, combine all the other dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar-egg-mixture and stir until you get a smooth batter. It is a bit liquid at this point, but don't add any flour!

Let the dough rest in the fridge about 2 hours.

Now, preheat the oven to 180C. Roll the dough out and cut hearts (or other forms of your liking) with a cookie cutter. Bake the cookies until the start to get some colour.

Once out of the oven, let the cookies cool down. Then spread jam evenly on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with the rest of the cookies. Sprinkle with some powder sugar and serve!

If you're planning to keep the cookies longer, do the sandwiching part only just before serving them.

Day 14: Orange Cookies with Almond and Rosemary

Ever heard of the Flavour Thesaurus? If not, do take a look at it! It's a great source of inspiration, suggesting which flavours pair well one with another. And it's an entertaining read, too!

So I had already decided to adjust my Rum Raisin Cookie recipe and to use homemade candied orange peel instead of raisins, and I was exploring the different options of other ingredients to go with. Rosemary seemed a good candidate, due to its fresh taste and the small surprise effect it would create.

And it sure was a good choice! This recipe will yield about 25 incredibly tasty cookies!

What you need:

• 100g homemade candied orange peel, cut in small cubes


• 50ml Cointreau (the alcohol will disappear during the cooking, but if you want, replace with orange juice)


• 1 Tbsp orange syrup (from the candied peel)


• 3 twigs of fresh rosemary


• 100g butter, softened


• 50g sugar


• 1 egg


• a few drops of vanilla extract


• 50g ground almonds


• 200g all-purpose flour


• 1/2 tsp baking powder


• (a pinch of salt, if you're using unsalted butter)


• plus some confectioner's sugar

Preheat the oven to 175C. Combine the candied orange peel, Cointreau, orange syrup, and two of the rosemary twigs in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat, and cover until the rest of the dough is done.

Beat the softened butter and the sugar in a baking bowl until white and fluffy. Add the egg and the vanilla extract, stir well, then add the almonds and the flour in which you've mixed the baking powder (and the salt, if using). Add the orange peel mixture (remember to remove the rosemary twigs!) and stir until well combined. The batter should be soft but not too liquid - add more flour if needed.

Use a teaspoon to place small heaps of batter on a baking tray covered with a parchment paper. Leave some space between the cookies as they spread a bit in the oven. Now you need the third twig: hide one rosemary leaf in each cookie! Bake them until golden brown, or about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and serve immediately - or hide well ;)

 

Day 13: Saint Lucy's Buns

Yesterday I didn't bake anything for my reverse advent's calendar. The reason is - I had the honour of doing the catering for my godson's birthday party! So I spent the whole day in the kitchen cooking and baking for the big event.

But around midnight I prepared the dough for today's project. I wanted to bake Saint Lucy's buns, which are a tradition in Sweden - and increasingly so in Finland as well. I've baked them a couple of times, only this time I wanted to use sourdough starter only instead of yeast. The result was incredibly soft and tasty - my starter seems to be in good form again!

Traditionally, these buns contain saffron which lends them a very beautiful yellow colour. Well, I had forgotten to buy saffron, and by the time I wanted to make the dough, it was already too late to buy any. So mine were white this year.. but very tasty nonetheless (and much cheaper, of course ;) ).

This is what I needed for 13 buns:

• 100g stiff sourdough starter


• 250ml liquid (I used a mix of water, cream, and quark)


• 50g sugar (this is very little, and the buns were just slightly sweet - feel free to add more)


• 1/3 tsp salt


• 100g butter, softened


• 1 egg


• 0.5g saffron (which I had forgotten to buy...)


• about 400g all-purpose flour

Combine all ingredients in a baking bowl. Knead until the dough is smooth, or about 10 minutes. Cover with a damp kitchen cloth and place in a warmish place overnight (or about 8 hours) to ferment.

When the dough has more or less doubled in volume, place it on a baking surface and punch the air out. Divide the dough in about 13 parts. Roll each part about 20cm long and form buns in a shape of S.

Place the buns on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Cover with a kitchen towel and proof about 20-30 minutes. Brush the buns with egg yolk and decorate with raisins (place them deep enough so that they don't burn!). Bake in a preheated oven (220C) about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Enjoy your buns just as they've cooled enough!

I froze five of my buns for Christmas.. let's see if they are still so soft when defrosted ;)

P.S. After having read the story of Saint Lucy in Wikipedia, I can't look at these buns without thinking that those two raisins symbolize the poor girl's eyes.. a very macabre story indeed!

 

Day 11: A Total Panforte Disaster

Panforte was among the new recipes I wanted to try this year. It's a traditional Italian Christmas cake, combining candied fruit and different kinds of nuts with honey, sugar, and spices. As the name suggests, it's very rich - and it keeps well, even several months.

I had a stash of different nuts I had bought still back in Germany, and I thought this would be an ideal purpose for using them. I had read that the traditional panforte from Sienna combines 17 different ingredients, because the city of Sienna has 17 districts.

So I chose the following 17 ingredients: pine nuts, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, chocolate, cocoa powder, flour, sugar, honey, butter, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and Cointreau and adapted my recipe from that of Nigella.

All seemed to be perfect - the batter, the smell, and the taste and texture of my panforte just after I'd taken it out of the oven (I made four small ones and thought we'd eat the first one right away). It was like chocolate fudge and different nuts married with ginger bread! Heavenly indeed...

...until the disaster happened: as soon as the three other panforte cakes had cooled, it became clear that they could only be eaten by a robot or anyone else having their teeth replaced by chain saws.

I even tried to soak one of them in hot water with some honey in it, but the only thing that happened was that some of the chocolate dissolved in the water - and the panforte itself was still totally inedible (at least for a human being with a normal set of teeth).

The mistake might have been that I kept the panforte too long in the oven  - although they were still very soft when I took them out; anyway, too many precious ingredients are now on their way to a landfill site for me to try panforte any time soon :(