german christmas cookies "Elisenlebkuchen" (gluten free) recipe

These are my husbands favorite cookies. They are a bit tricky, but if you know what to watch out for you will be amazed!

you need (ca 80):

5 eggs
2 organic oranges
2 organic lemon
600g ground almond ( Trader Joes sells almond meal, which is perfect for this)
350g raw brown sugar
a pinch of nutmeg
2 tbs cinnamon   
a pinch of salt 
parchment paper ( or Oblaten, if you happen to bring them from Germany)

icing:
100g powdered sugar
lemon juice as needed

what you do:

• preheat the oven at 300° Fahrenheit
• mix the eggs, sugar and spices
• wash the oranges and lemon with hot water
• peel the skin and dice them
• add the diced peel and ground almonds
• keep on mixing
• when done use a couple of spoons to place a cookie on the parchment paper.
• the cookie should be flat (mine seldom are)
• bake for 12-15 minutes ( the trick is to get this right, the Lebkuchen should still be moist in the middle, if not it becomes very quick to hard, if you undercooked it you will notice when you taste it, in this case just put them back in the oven and bake a few more minutes)
• prep the icing mixing powdered sugar with lemon juice, be careful not to use too much juice, the icing should be white not transparent like the one I did.

Guten Appetit!
 

german gingerbread recipe

It is tradition in our family to make a gingerbread house for Christmas. Usually I am off the hook since my mom volunteers, but the last couple of years I have been on my own. I still use her recipe, however I am using whole wheat which brought me a raised eyebrow from my mother, but no one else noticed.

 
what you need:

500g honey
250g raw cane sugar (refined is traditional)
250g coconut oil
1000g whole wheat pastry flour
50g chocolate powder
3 eggs
2 tbsp rum (or rosewater)
10g cardamon
10g cinnamon
5g ground clove
10g baking soda


what you do:

• combine the honey, sugar and coconut oil in a large pot
• bring it to bubble over medium heat
• let it cool down
• add the other ingredients and mix well until you got an even dough
• refrigerate over night
• roll the dough out and cut out the cookies (stars and flowers are fun to decorate with icing)
• if you are doing a ginger bread house the thickness should be close to 1 cm
• bake for 15-20 minutes at 390 Fahrenheit (really depends on the size or your cookies)I tend to make big cookies and decorate the tree with it

Christmas cards

It has been a couple of years since I actually wrote people for Christmas, and simultaneously I am getting less and less cards myself.

I swore to myself that I would get back on track this year and I ended up cutting a Mini Boden Catalog in little strips and gluing them on white cardboard. It was fun for an hour, which was enough to make 8 cards. It works even better with a glass of red wine!

german hazelnut macaroons (glutenfree) recipe

I have been in the mood for Christmas cookies and started with some of my favorites.
These are super easy and so delicious! I have cut down 1/3 of the sugar, so if you like it sweet jam it up again.

you need:

3 egg whites
250 g ground hazelnuts
ca 30 whole hazelnuts for deco
100 g turbinado raw cane sugar
1/2 organic lemon (zest and juice)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (opt.)
parchment paper 

• mix the ground hazelnuts with sugar, lemon juice, zest and cinnamon
• beat the egg whites until they are stiff and add carefully to the dry mix (do not over mix!)
• preheat the oven at 280 Fahrenheit (convection oven) 
• lay out cookie sheet with parchment paper
• use a spoon full to make the cookies
• place one hazelnut on each cookie
• bake for 20-25 minutes

Guten Appetit!

basic german coleslaw recipe

We were invited to a barbeque today and since my friend is very pregnant I wanted at least to bring a salad along. Being sleep deprived from the night before and my always demanding kids I needed to come up with something simple and quick. Here it is:

Ingredients:

1 white cabbage

1 small onion 

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup olive oil (or any other vegetable oil)

1/2 cup of sugar
pinch of salt

how to get there:

• chop the cabbage very fine (I used my kitchen aide)
• chop the onion
• mix vinegar, sugar, salt and oil in a small pan and heat until it starts to bubble
• pour the sauce over the cabbage and onion and set a side for at least 2 hours (24 hours is even better)

Guten Appetit!!

Tip: one time I actually used a whole cup of sugar and my husband likes it that way even better, so if you like it sweet you might try that, if you are not a big onion fan you could use just 1/2 of an onion. The oil serving is also on the generous side, so do not hesitate to use less.

german whole wheat strawberry cake recipe (biskuit rolle)

My day started out pretty bad. My kids were cranky beyond my patience!!

So, when I tried out my first Erdbeer Biskuit Rolle ever I was surprised to have accomplished at least something which had a positive feedback. Anyhow, my mother made this cake in all kinds of fruit variations (raspberries, peaches, apricots, mangoes, currants and so on) but my personal favorite is still strawberry. My husband told me that this dessert reminded him of a strawberry shortcake, which of course I have to try out as well.

ingredients:

4 eggs
3 tbsp water
1 pinch of salt
125 g brown sugar
75 g whole white wheat flour
50 g cornstarch
400 ml heavy cream
400 g strawberries



what you do: 

• preheat the oven at 390 Fahrenheit
• separate the eggs
• beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff
• beat the egg yolk with the 3 tbsp of water and 75 g of the sugar until it bubbles, add the egg white and than add carefully the flour and cornstarch. Do not over stir it.
• pour the batter in a rectangular shape on a flat baking sheet lined with parchment paper. It should be 1/4 inch thick. (use a spatula to get the desired thickness)
• bake for 10 minutes
• prepare a dish towel, lay it flat and sprinkle some sugar on top
• flip the crust on top of it (remove parchment paper) and roll it up immediately 
• let it cool down
• cut the strawberries in little pieces
• beat the heavy cream until firm
• add the rest of the sugar and the strawberries
• refrigerate the strawberry creme until the crust is cool.
• fill the crust with 2/3 of the creme, roll it up again.
• cover with the rest of the creme, decorate with some strawberries and chocolate sprinkles

Guten Appetit!

rote gruetze / summer dessert a la German recipe

The summer is here!!! We finally got to go strawberry picking and we picked a lot!!!

So I started with freezing most of them (no way we can eat them all fresh) and I also cooked a big pot of Rote Gruetze, one of my very favorite summer deserts. The fruit mix is up to you, this time I only used strawberries (since I have tons of them, but traditionally it is a fruit mix of strawberries, cherries, raspberries and currants.

ingredients for 4 servings:


400 g strawberries (or a mix of berries, cherries etc)
400 ml apple juice or similar
1 tbsp kirschwasser or any other fruit schnapps
vegetable based gelatin use as instructed by manufacture
(you can also use cornstarch instead)




how to get there:

• clean the strawberries and puree them in a food processor.
• pour in a large pot the strawberries, add the juice, snaps and the gelatin, stir well and bring to boil.
• stir until the gruetze starts to thicken, about 5 minutes.
• let it cool down and serve with ice, vanilla pudding or vanilla sauce

enjoy!