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As soon as the
days start getting noticeably shorter and the first Christmas
decorations appear in shop windows, a special enchantment settles
over the streets. The Advent market fills the air with the scent of
cinnamon cookies, evergreen boughs and honey-laden beeswax candles
which drifts through streets twinkling with Christmas lights.
Welcoming cafés tempt you to stop, perhaps for some kouglof
and a whipped cream topped coffee, or one of the forty other
varieties of coffee or countless pastries that are offered.
In every
Austrian Christmas market as well as in the humblest kitchen you will
find traditional little cakes called "Kekse," without which
Christmas wouldn't be complete on this side of the Alps. They are
made with butter and flavoured with cinnamon, vanilla or jam, shaped
like stars, Christmas trees or crescents.
Kletzenbrot
(Christmas fruit bread)
3 cups flour
2 cups buttermilk
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
3 teaspoon
baking powder
1 cup chopped prunes
2 teaspoon
baking soda
1 cup diced
dates or figs
¼
teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
Blend all dry
ingredients together. Add buttermilk slowly, sitting to make a smooth
dough. Stir in nuts and fruits.
Grease and
flour a 10-inch tube pan. Spoon batter into pan. Bake at 350° F.
for 45 minutes.
Lebkuchen (Gingerbread)
6 cups bread flour
6 tablespoons
ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons
baking soda
3 teaspoons
ground cloves
1 1/3 cups honey
¼ cup
chopped, candied orange peel
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup
chopped, candied lemon peel
2 eggs
Warm honey,
add sugar and eggs. Cream well. Add flavors and peels. Knead in flour
and leavening. Roll dough ¼ inch thick. Bake sample. Cut
differently shaped cookies. Bake at 375°F. Glaze.
Hussarenkraperl
(Hussar Rounds)
2 bars sweet
butter, soft
3-3 ¼
cups flour
½ cup
sugar (generous)
1 egg white
Zest of 1
lemon, grated
3 tablespoons
coarsely chopped, blanched almonds
1 inch vanilla
bean or ½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 tablespoons
apricot jam
3 egg yolks
Cream together
butter and sugar until smooth. Add grated lemon rind and vanilla. Mix
egg yolks alternately with spoons of flour into batter. Work in
remaining flour until dough is firm but smooth. Place a small piece
of dough in the palm of your hand and roll between palms into a small
ball, about 1 inch in diameter.
Place cookies
on baking pan, allowing space between cookies. With your finger make
a small indentation in center of each cookie. You can bake them plain
or brush edges lightly with beaten egg white and top with chopped
almonds. Place almonds in a pointed paper cup or a cone of wax paper
and cut off tip. This will make it easier for you to garnish the cookies.
Bake in
preheated oven 350°F. for 20-25 minutes of until lightly
colored. When cool, place a dab of apricot jam in center.
Serve dusted
with confectioner's sugar.
Note: Hussar
Rounds can also be served plain, omitting jam or almonds. Serve
sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. Without the apricot filling,
these cookies will keep extremely well in a cool, but unrefrigerated place.
Makes 4-4½
dozen macaroons
Vanillekipferl
(Vanilla Crescents)
½ pound
unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
½ cup
sugar ¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups sifted
all-purpose flour
1 ½ - 2
inches vanilla bean
1 ¼ cups
ground unblanched almonds
1 ½ - 2
cups confectioners' sugar
Cream the
butter and sugar together by beating them against the sides of a bowl
with a wooden spoon or with an electric mixer set at medium speed
until light and fluffy. Beat in the flour ½ cup at a time, then
add the almonds, vanilla extract and salt, continuing to beat until
the mixture becomes a slightly stiff dough. Shape the dough into a
ball, wrap it in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate it for
about an hour. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly butter two
12-by-15-inch baking sheets.
Pinch off
walnut-sized pieces of the chilled dough and place them on a floured
board; roll each one into a strip an inch wide and ½ inch thick.
This will make it about 2 ½ inches long. Shape each piece into a
crescent by bulling it into a semicircle.
Arrange the
crescents at least ½ inch apart in the baking sheets. Bake in
the middle of the oven for 15 or 20 minutes, or until lightly colored.
While
crescents are baking, combine confectioners' sugar with vanilla bean.
Note: If
vanilla bean is not available, use 2-3 tablespoons concentrated
vanilla sugar combined with confectioners' sugar.
Remove the
sheets from the oven and leave the crescents on them to cool for
about 5 minutes. When slightly cool, gently put several crescents in
prepared sugar-vanilla mixture, cover them with it, and transfer to a plate.
When
completely cool, store crescents in an airtight container. If kept in
a cool place, they will keep fresh for many weeks - if they last that long!
Makes 36 crescents
Kokosbusserl
(Coconut Kisses)
5 egg whites
2 ½ cups
coconut flakes
3 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon
grated lemon zest
1 ½ cups
confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon
all-purpose flour
Preheat oven
to 360 degrees. Whip the egg whites until foamy. Add the sugar and
whip until stiff but not dry. Fold in the confectioners' sugar,
coconut and lemon zest. Place in a double boiler or in a metal bowl
over barely simmering water. Stir constantly until the mixture is
hot. Stir in the flour.
Line tow
baking sheets with parchment paper. Using heaping teaspoons full of
the batter, spoon the cookies onto the baking sheets, placing them 2
inches apart. Bake until the cookies are golden brown , about 15
minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Makes 30 cookies
Zimtsterne
(Cinnamon Stars)
2 egg whites
½
tablespoon lemon juice
¼
teaspoon salt
12.5 oz ground almonds
9 oz sugar
5 oz
confectioners' sugar
1 ½
tablespoon ground cinnamon
2-3
tablespoons water
Whip the egg
whites together with salt until foamy. Add the sugar and whip until
stiff. Add cinnamon, lemon juice, and almonds and combine the dough
well. Roll out dough to ¼-inch thickness and cut cookies using a
star-shaped cutter. Place the individual cookies 2 inches apart on
sheet pan. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven at 500° F.
for approx. 3-5 minutes or until the cookies are brown in color.
While cookies
are baking, stir together confectioners' sugar and water for the
glaze. Immediately remove cookies from the hot pan and set aside to
cool down a little bit. While still warm, glaze them.
Makes 50
cookies, depending on size of cutter.
Spanische
Windbäckerei (Spanish Wind meringue cookies)
4 egg whites
(1/2 cup)
¾ cup sugar
¼
teaspoon cream of tartar
Preheat oven
to 350° F. Line large cookie sheet with aluminium foil.
Beat egg
whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until
stiff. Gradually add sugar - 1 tablespoon at a time - beating after
each addition. Beat at high speed 3 minutes after last addition.
Pipe batter
into the form of small wreaths on cookie sheet, using pastry bag
fitted with open star tube. sprinkle with decorating crystals.
Place in
preheated oven and immediately turn off heat. Leave in oven
overnight. Do not open oven door during this time.
This cookies
are beautiful tied with ribbons to the Christmas tree.
Makes about
3-5 dozen cookies, depending on size.
Ischler
Nussbusserln (Ischler Nut Kisses)
No baking: Use
an oven that has just been turned off from other pastry production
and is beginning to cool down.
1 lb. 1 oz.
egg whites (16 large)
14 oz ground
walnuts or hazelnuts
1 lb. 14 oz.
granulated sugar
4 oz flour
1 table- and 1
teaspoon vanilla extract
Place the egg
whites in a bowl and begin beating. Add the sugar in stages and
continue to stiff peaks. Fold in the vanilla extract, nuts, and flour
using a rubber spatula. Drop meringue from a teaspoon onto
parchment-lined sheet pans. Space the meringues 2 inches apart on all sides.
Place in a
proof box at 75-85° F for 2 hours. Transfer to an oven that has
just been turned off. After 20 minutes, carefully detach meringues
with a spatula and continue to dry for a total of approximately 45 minutes.
Makes approx.
13 dozen meringues 1.5" in diameter
Source: www.austria.org |
