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Tag Archives: baking

Spitzkuchen

Posted on December 16, 2011 by andreamacleod

I like to try thing that are new to me.

First of all, Thursdays are really busy with me because I teach German in the evening. As a result, I have little time for baking or for posting. Yesterday just didn’t work out but you’ll get something really old today.

Old as in traditional of course. The thing though is, I tried to get some more information about this particular Christmas item but couldn’t really find anything. As far as I can tell this is a variation of gingerbread but different to the one you can find on this blog.

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Eggnog Cake

Posted on December 14, 2011 by andreamacleod

Yummy. Or in German: Lecker!

What do you do with an eggnog you have left over? Of course you use it for baking. Granted, I am not a big eggnog drinking fan. I prefer my mulled wine for Christmas. But we bought a carton last year and froze it. The other day I defrosted it and even thought it was a bit runny due to the freezing process and good stir made it into a nice eggnog again. This recipe comes from Sweet Art Supplies who found it on Knead to Cook.

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Gingerbread House – No children required

Posted on December 9, 2011 by andreamacleod

Not perfect, but so much fun.

This one is so much fun and I don’t need to write down the full recipe. *yeah* Gingerbread houses seem to be a must over here. We have them too back home but over here it’s a bit more crazy. Everything seems to be a bit bigger or crazy over here. The other day I even saw an already full assembled gingerbread house. You only need to put on the candy. But how much fun is that? Isn’t it much cooler to make the dough and cut the shapes and put it together to finally decorate it? If you would like to do so with your kids (or by yourself) then keep reading.

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Stollen

Posted on December 7, 2011 by andreamacleod

The final product. A little dry but still tasty.

Since we are pretty much through with the Christmas Cookies I’ll give you another great Christmas recipe: Stollen (or as my family says Stolle). This is a Christmas cake so to speak made from a yeast dough. I guess it is similar to fruit cake, but not. I think Stollen is a thing by it’s own and can’t really be compared to anything else. Like Strudel, you can’t compare that to anything else either. This recipe comes from mother, like so many others, and I would assume it was handed down from grandma.

Interestingly, I don’t recall anyone ever making it. Most of the time we bought our Stollen from the bakery. By now you probably know that I don’t like raisins which means Stollen is not really the thing for me. However, there are other options, like Nougat Stollen or Poppy seed Stollen (not that I like poppy seed but for those who do this is great). This year of course I had to try it and make my own. See the results after the “Read the rest”.

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German Gingerbread

Posted on December 6, 2011 by andreamacleod

Gingerbread angle, any shape as long as it’s fresh.

This recipe concludes, for now, the Christmas Cookie bake off. In total I made 10 recipes and I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did when making them. I think there will be one or two more cookie recipes later on but this is a good base for your Christmas. So, with further ado I present the German Gingerbread recipe.

Now you might say “Gingerbread is Gingerbread, where is the difference?” Well, the other day I got gingerbread man cookies in a cookie exchange and they were good but different. (Thanks Melissa for making them for us.) The ones I got were flatter than I am used to and more crunchy. I haven’t really compared recipes with the maker of said gingerbread men so I can not give any details about that difference. Check out my recipe and be the judge.

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Children’s Cookies

Posted on December 2, 2011 by andreamacleod

Not yet decorated but already good.

We call those cookies “Plätzchen” in Germany, which is basically cookie in English. If you hear “Plätzchen” then you immediately know that it refers to white simple cookies, cut in various Christmas themed shapes and decorated with icing. It is a simple dough, easy to make and a lot of fun for the kids. So if you are looking for something to do with the kids, this is definitely one of the good choices.

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Hazelnut Sticks

Posted on December 1, 2011 by andreamacleod

A not so cute looking cookie, but good nevertheless.

I seriously had to check which cookies I haven’t out up yet. Yes, after a while I start loose track of the recipe list. But alas, I have a handwritten list. *go me* So this time I’ll present you with some hazelnut cookies. Another one of those “but your arm strength in it, baby” recipes. Some kneading will be required of you.

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Spitzbuben

Posted on November 30, 2011 by andreamacleod

The best way I can translate them is “Little Rascals”. I just had to read up on the history of this Christmas cookies. It is from Switzerland but also know to Austria (under a different name) and obviously Germany. That’s the lovely thing about Europe, you travel and see something so you recreate it at home. Or you are a baker/confectioner and you travel to get some experience under you belt and learn different cultural baked goods. (Of course you also have local differences in North American but in Europa it’s amplified.)

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Raisin Cookies

Posted on November 28, 2011 by andreamacleod

Cranberry cookies, a twist on the raisin cookies.

This is yet another classic cookie from my mom’s Christmas baking. It seems all are, well, maybe not. This one I had to tweak a bit because…drum roll…I don’t like raisins. *gasp* There! I said it! A lot of people don’t understand that but I can’t help it. I like grapes, I do. But dry them and I run away, screaming. So what does a girl do? She substitutes, which is fairly easy in North America because you have dried cranberries. So, instead of raisin cookies you actually see cranberry cookies. The basic recipe though is with raisin.

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Cinnamon Stars

Posted on November 25, 2011 by andreamacleod

Pretty and tasty.

Yesterday I didn’t bake because I taught in the evening. That’s my Thursday evening activity: teaching German to little children. After that I am too tired to do anything but go sit and maybe have a glass of wine. But thankfully I baked a bit more so here comes another favourite German Christmas cookie recipe. Cinnamon Stars are quite common all over Germany I would say. As with many recipes, this comes in different forms as well, some add a spice here or there, or have a different way of preparing it.

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