Orangeat and Zitronat recipe (candid orange & lemon)

This year I forgot to stock up on Zitronat and Orangeat when I was in Germany. Those ingredients are very essential for German Christmas cookies and I still have not found it locally.

Time to make it.

Ingredients for Orangeat:
2 organic Oranges (Sevilla, if available)
1 cup of sugar
1 cup water

• wash oranges with warm water.
• peel the oranges, if you can in nice even stripes. Peel might be not the right word, you need more than just the skin, but the white part. I used a knife to get it all.
• toss Orange skin-peel in a pot with water the water and sugar. Boil on low for about 50 minutes.
• move the Orangeat on a drying rack and let it dry out over night. Cut it in little pieces.

I have not figured out what to do with the left over syrup, but there must be a use?

Do exactly the same with lemons if you need Zitronat (just use lemons instead of oranges)

Zimtsterne Recipe, Traditional German Cinnamon Christmas Cookies

Christmas again :)

Time to bake some Zimtsterne. This cookies can be a little be tricky if you are not sticking completely to the process. So stick to it and you will be fine, unless me :)




Ingredients:

5 egg whites
400 gram almond meal
400 gram powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
flour for dusting 

• beat egg whites with an electrical mixer on high until they are super stiff. Add powdered sugar and lemon juice slowly. The result will be a shiny stiff texture.
• set 4 tablespoons a side in a different bowl for glazing.
• add the almond meal to the rest of the dough carefully. Do not use the mixer for this, just a spatula. Make sure you do over mix, the dough should be airy and fluffy. Add cinnamon.
• preheat the oven to 140 Celsius or 285 Fahrenheit.
• time to roll out the dough. Make sure you have a very generous amount flour dusted on your work area. If you are not using enough you will have a hard time to cut out the cookies (the dough is really sticky) also dust your roller very generously. Keep the dough thicker than a centimeter. Thicker makes it easier to work with. Do not be afraid of using too much flour, you need too, if not this won's work and will be a sticky mess. Dust the cookie cutter with flour each time before you cut out a new cookie to prevent sticking. I set aside an extra plate with flour to keep the cookie cutters dusted.
• Finish with brushing the extra egg whites from earlier on the cookies.
• bake cookies for about 30-40 minutes. Take cookies out as soon they are done, they should be still soft. If they turn out really hard give them a couple of days to get soft again.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Luzie, der Schrecken der Strasse. Free classic German kids movie on youtube

Just a quick note for those who are having a long lazy summer ahead as I do with my dear family.
My brother send me a link to one of my favorite shows when I was a kid " Luzie, der Schrecken der Strasse". You can watch it on YouTube for free right know, but I have no idea how long it will last. No need to say, this is a kids show in German, which I am looking forward to share with my kids.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7hEsDC4I7wDliXDPLOhM3IMKS9cOzsXC

german coconut macraroons (glutenfree) recipe

This is a quick, easy dessert and also very tasty. You only need 3 egg whites, 200 g grated coconut (unsweetened) and 150 g sugar. You can dress it up with white chocolate or some lemon peel from an organic lemon.

First you beat the egg whites until it is a stiff mass, add the sugar and the coconut. Mix well.
Spoon it on a baking sheets, making little balls. Bake them for ca 10 minutes at 300 Fahrenheit.

Guten Appetit!!

German Christmas Cookies "Vanille Sternchen" Recipe

Can you believe it is Christmas next week??

I just started to bake this week-end and have a lot more I want to do and share like Zimtsterne, Marzipankartoffeln and Vanillekipferle. I am getting excited just writing about it!

Anyhow, I was at least able to make a batch of Vanille Sterne.  Well, it is a very easy recipe. That always helps :)

I pinned this recipe 12 years ago from Brigitte and the original is excellent, no questions asked. However I swapped the flour to whole wheat and changed the sugar to honey, making this treat a little healthier. It works, but it is done faster (mean the baking oven part) and it is also more fragile, meaning the cookies tend to break more easy. Generally I also use Omega 3 eggs and butter from grass fed cows to make it healthier all around (Kerrygold is one of the more affordable options).

Ingredients :

200 g cold butter
400 g flour (whole wheat if you like)
150 g sugar
1 pinch salt
1 egg (omega 3)

• cut the butter in small pieces and mix with the other ingredients until you have a smooth dough.
• wrap the dough tight in a plastic foil and cool it for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

Ingredients for the topping:

50 g butter

2 tsp vanilla

80 g confection sugar

100 g raspberry confituere

• preheat the oven to 200 Grad or 392 Fahrenheit.
• melt the butter, add the vanilla.
• cut out cookies, about 3 mm thick. I do this directly on parchment paper, but first I dust the work area with flour to prevent sticking.
• bake the cookies about 10 minutes (the whole wheat version is about 6-8 minutes)
• put the butter vanilla mixture on the cookies when they are still warm from the oven.
• heat the raspberry jam and and stir it until it is smooth, than top half of the stars with it.
• Than add the other stars on top, using a different angle finishing with dusting the confection sugar.

You are all done!!! These cookies need a couple of days to develop the full vanilla aroma. Question is can you wait?

Froehliche Weihnachten!!

Note: 

This cookie dough works great with kids. They can cut out their favorite shapes. Just omit the extra topping since that can get very messy, at least in our household.

mango coconut creme recipe, vegan dessert

Mango's have been on sale for the last couple of weeks and I bought a lot for this dessert. All you need is three ripe mangos and 1 can of coconut milk. This is enough for the five of us. You peel the mango and cut them in pieces. Open the can of coconut milk. Add both in a blender and blend until you got a smooth creme. You should let it sit for a while (at least an hour). The creme starts to thicken naturally and it will turn into a sort of pudding mousse.


Enjoy!!!

 

foolproof hazelnut cake (gluten free) recipe

I needed a simple cake fast for a kids birthday party (we have way to many at this time of the year) and after realizing that I am out of flour I did a hazelnut cake that never fails. The recipe is an adoption from "Minnchen Haselnusstorte". I reduced the sugar and eggs which is hard to believe and increased the hazelnut content.
It is still a very very moist cake and you can add at least two layers without  being a great pastry chef. For the layers you can use any kind of frosting you like. Easy ones would be whip cream or jam (raspberry is my personal favorite).


what you need:

400 g grounded hazelnuts
150 g turbine sugar
10 eggs
100g dark chocolate for frosting
as desired raspberry jam
some parchment paper

 
what you do:  

• separate the eggs  
• beat the egg whites until they are stiff
• mix in a large bowl the rest of the ingredients
• add the stiff egg white rather carefully, do not over mix, so the cake stays fluffy.
• grease a baking pan
• pour the batter in
• bake for 30-40 minutes at 380 Fahrenheit
• let it cool down
• cut the cake lengthwise in 1-2 layers
• add the desired creme or jam
• warm up the chocolate in a hot water bath or microwave
• place some parchment paper under the sides of the cake, to keep the plate clean and cover cake with chocolate

Guten Appetit!