 |
Christmas is just around the corner! Let’s bake German sweets this month. Germany is famous for its beautiful Christmas markets and shimmering decorations. Ms. Annette Ziewer of Dusseldorf taught us recipes for three typical Christmas sweets. The macaroons look different than the one we know and we can see the cultural differences in sweets. Their traditional way to keep the sweets is interesting as well.
|
Coconut Macaroons
 |
Ingredients (for about 50 pieces)3 egg whites, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, salt, 225g powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 200g grated coconut, 150g dark couverture; Fat and flour for the trays. |
Process
Beat the egg white, lemon juice and a pinch of salt until stiff. Sift the powdered sugar and mix with the cinnamon. Gradually beat under the egg whites. Fold in desiccated coconut. Pour the mixture into a piping bag with a large perforated nozzle and sprinkle small dots onto greased baking trays dusted with flour. Put the macaroons in the oven and bake at 150 degrees / gas mark 1 for about 30 minutes; Bake the macaroons on the second tray for only about 20 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and let cool down. Roughly chop the couverture, melt it in a hot water bath, let it cool down completely and heat it up again. Stir the couverture until smooth, brush the underside of the macaroons with it. Place upside down on a wire rack to dry.
＊Annette’s Advice＊
For spiced macaroons, replace the cinnamon with the same amount of gingerbread spice and the coconut flakes with finely ground, unpeeled almonds.
Crispy Stars
 |
Ingredients (for about 60 pieces)300g flour, salt, 200g brown sugar, 1 teaspoon almond essence, 200g butter or margarine, 150g marzipan raw mixture, 2 tablespoons. Milk; Flour to roll out, fat and flour for the trays. |
Process
Mix the flour, a pinch of salt, sugar and almond essence. Add the soft fat, marzipan mixture and milk and knead into the dough. Wrap in aluminum foil and chill for half an hour. Roll out the dough in two portions on a little flour. Cut out stars and place on greased baking trays dusted with flour. Put in the oven, set the oven to 180 degrees / convection 160 degrees / gas mark 2 and bake the biscuits for about twelve minutes; the stars on the second tray only need eight minutes.
＊Annette’s Advice＊
Cookies must rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes after baking so that they are firm enough to peel off. Then let them cool down completely on a wire rack for a few hours so that the water vapor can escape; Otherwise, they can break or even become moldy during storage.
Sandy Black and White Cookies
 |
Ingredients (for about 50 pieces)(Basic dough) |
Process
Beat the butter with the sifted powdered sugar until frothy. Gradually stir in the flour. Halve the dough exactly. (625g of dough, so 312.5g per half). Work the nuts, cocoa and rum flavoring under one half. Add the cornstarch and vanilla flavor to the others. Do not roll out light and dark dough too thinly, cut into strips or, for example, assemble into snails. Chill overnight. Bake at 180 ° C for 10-15 minutes.
For a checkerboard pattern, roll out the dough about 8mm thick and cut into strips of equal width, place a light strip next to a dark one, then place a light one on the dark one and a dark one on top of the light one next to it. If you like, continue a few more rows upwards. If you like, you can also roll this chessboard into a thin layer of light or dark dough.
For a snail pattern, roll out the dough about 4mm thick, lay it exactly on top of each other. It’s important to roll it up tightly!.
＊Annette’s Advice＊
It is best to store them in an airtight container for a few days. It is best if cookies with jam filling are stored in the same jar, because the black and white baked goods will then be really tender. Alternatively, you can also put an apple wedge in it. Take them out after 1-2 days!
Translation and Editing by Kaoru Okano
