Vanillekipferl

Kipferl in the foreground, walnut cookies in the back.

There are a lot of names for this cookie, and a lot of variations- some use eggs and some don't, some use almonds and some hazelnuts, some are rolled in powder sugar and some just lightly dusted. Though they are well-known in the Christmas baking repertoires of many nations, I know them as Haselnusskipferl because as far as my Mum is concerned, they've got to be made with hazelnuts.

To make them extra special and Christmas-worthy, use really good hazelnuts or hazelnut flour, good butter, and real vanilla extract or naturally-flavoured sugar. Don't skimp out! These are supposed to be a highlight of the holidays, after all. The other cookies in the pictures above, made with walnuts, will also be posted- at least, in time for next Christmas...

Haselnusskipferl
From chefkoch.de

560 g. All purpose flour
200 g. Ground hazelnuts (I used hazelnut flour)
2 Tsp. Vanilla extract, or 2 sachets of vanilla sugar
120 g. Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Salt
400 g. Butter, unsalted
About 1/3 C. Powder sugar

Cream butter and sugar, and add vanilla or vanilla sugar. Mix in the ground nuts and sift in the flour. Chill in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Cut into small pieces (about the size of large olives) and roll into logs, then bend to form crescents and place onto baking parchment.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until slightly browned.

Let cool completely before removing from the baking pan and dusting with powder sugar.

Hörnchen/ Sweet Crescent Rolls

This is one of my all-time favourite bread recipes, straight from 1969 East Germany. I've got this retro cookbook full of recipes suited for a time and place where expensive ingredients were lacking, so these rolls were originally designated to be made with margarine- still, butter is naturally better if you can get it. It's a very good roll to make for a sunday breakfast because you can make the dough in the previous evening, let it rise in the fridge overnight, then shape and bake it fresh in the morning.

This basic dough recipe is one that I use for many other sweet buns and breads, and I have made many rolls with fillings such as chocolate, nougat, cinnamon sugar and jam with great success. You can sprinkle the rolls with seeds or sugar or leave them plain, or skip the eggwash to make them totally eggless. If you reduce the sugar to about 15 g., you can even make a savoury version to serve with cheese inside. With their light, tender insides and golden outsides, these babies go with anything.

Hörnchen (From Das Backbuch- Verlag Für die Frau Leipzig, 1969 ed.)
Makes 8-10

500 g. Bread flour
100 g. Sugar
1 TBSP or 1 packet vanilla sugar
80 g. Butter or baking margarine, room temperature
1/2 Tsp. Salt
250 ml. Cold milk
30 g. Fresh yeast, or 10 g. Active dry yeast
Zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1 Egg or 2 TBSP melted butter, to wash

Whisk together flour, sugars, salt and zest, if using.

Combine yeast and milk to dissolve. Add to flour mixture and knead until smooth.

Knead in butter or margarine in pieces until completely incorporated.

Let rise in a covered, greased bowl overnight in the refrigerator.

In the morning, preheat oven to 200℃. Cut dough into two pieces. Roll out each on a floured surface into a large rectangle. Cut into triangles using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Cut a slit in the base of each triangle to make it easier to roll into a crescent. Once shaped, let rise 20-30 minutes covered.

Brush with beaten egg or melted butter and bake for around 20 minutes, or until golden-brown and a thermometer poked inside registers 190℉. Let cool for about 10 minutes before eating.

Kaisersemmeln/ Kaiser Buns

Kaisersemmeln in the foreground as part of an Easter breakfast spread.

What an amazing bun. It's versatile, easy and quick to make, and impressive to look at. The only tricky part is making the knot, but it's very easy once you get the hang of it- form long, well-floured "snakes" of dough, tie a loose knot and tuck the loose ends into the middle, maybe pulling them through and back again if they're long enough to get more loops.

This dough is relatively low in gluten, so it isn't as eager to return to its shape- that would pose a problem for the rolling-out.

High gluten flour helps keep together doughs with large portions of whole grain flours (which lack gluten) and chewy, porous breads, but in this case what you want is a soft bun, hence the all purpose or type 550 flour. (Note: if you live in the GTA, Starsky has a really good selection of European flours! I need to make a 'resources' page sometime.)

A brief note on what the numbers on different forms of flour mean- they refer to the amount of ash (that is, mineral) content in the flour that remains when a sample is combusted. This doesn't mean that the flour is mixed with ashes! Rather, the amount of minerals remaining roughly translates to the amount of the grain kernel left in the dough after milling, since that's where the majority of the minerals are. So, a higher number means a larger quantity of germ/endosperm and bran in the flour, defining its "whole-graininess". Different types of wheat and other grains also vary in mineral/ash content, so the number makes it easier to gauge the properties of a dough made with some flour rather than working with limited information about its origin, processing etc. The French, Italian, German and other classifications vary, but all have the same pattern of decreasing number meaning a finer, more refined flour.

Regardless of if you use all purpose or type 550 flour, this is an amazing bun, with a great flavour and texture that makes it perfect for a holiday breakfast (what I usually make them for), sandwiches, burgers, and so on... they also go down as one of my mum's favourites. So, that should really motivate you to try making them.

Kaisersemmeln
From Chefkoch.de

For the Sponge:
75 g. All purpose/Type 550 flour
75 g. Whole wheat or whole grain spelt flour
135 ml. Warm water
10 g. Fresh yeast, or 3 g. Active dry yeast

Mix all until well incorporated and let rest, covered, for 30-45 minutes.

For the Final Dough:
Sponge 
350 g. All purpose/Type 550 flour
140 ml Water
20 g. Butter
1 Tsp. Diastatic malt powder or honey
10 g. Salt

Add all but the salt and butter to the sponge and knead together. Add salt and knead for about 8 minutes, then add the butter in pieces and knead for 2 more minutes. Let dough rise, covered, for 20-30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 10 equally sized pieces. Form balls and let rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 250℃. Roll out each ball of dough by hand on a floured surface into a long "snake". When it's long enough, you should be able to tie a loose knot. Tuck the two "tails" of the knot into the centre of the dough, and moisten it with a bit of water to help it stick. If your dough is rolled out far enough, you can pull the tail(s) through the centre hole and back up again to make more twists. (Alternatively, you can use a kaiser bun stamp, but rolling it out and tying a knot helps to give it a nice texture.) Repeat with the remaining dough. Dust with flour and let rise 45 minutes. 

Bake for 10 minutes, adding steam with a spray bottle of water at the beginning and end of the period. Reduce the heat to 200℃ and bake for another 10-15 minutes, covering the buns with aluminium foil or a baking sheet on an upper rack to stop the browning. 

Nusskipferl I and II

Nusskipferl I, in the middle, and II around the perimeter.

These crescent-shaped nut cookies are probably the most essential Christmas cookie of all- and for good reason. Not only are they pretty with their curvy shape and coat of powder sugar, but they're buttery and nutty with a soft, crumbly texture. I tried two different recipes as an experiment, and I honestly can't choose a favourite. The recipe without eggs is a little more like a classic shortbread and is a bit simpler, but the one with yolks is easier to work with and holds its shape better when baked. You can use almonds or hazelnuts, but in my family they'd be unthinkable without at least some of the latter. I made one batch with Bourbon-vanilla sugar, and one with a hint of cinnamon- both flavours are highly complementary to the hazelnut. Try one, or the other, or both, Christmas or not.

Nusskipferl I
From chefkoch.de

560 g. Flour
160 g. Sugar
400 g. Butter, cold
200 g. Ground hazelnuts
1 Packet of vanilla sugar, or 1 TBSP homemade

about 1/4 C. Powdered sugar and one additional packet/tablespoon of vanilla sugar

Preheat oven to 180℃.

Cut the butter into small cubes. In a food processor, or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix all of the ingredients until homogeneous. Wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Cut the dough into small pieces. For each piece, roll with the palm of your hand to form a log, then curve it to form a crescent shape. Press down lightly. Repeat until all the dough is used.

On a baking sheet with parchment, bake the crescents for about 12-15 minutes depending on size, or until the bottoms are just beginning to brown.

Allow the cookies to cool and set. Mix the powdered sugar and remaining vanilla sugar and use a sifter to dust the cookies.

Nusskipferl II
Adapted from Dr.Oetker: Backen Macht Freude

250 g. Flour
1/4 Tsp. Baking powder
Pinch of salt
125 g. Sugar
1 Packet vanilla sugar, or 1 TBSP homemade
3 Egg yolks
200 g. Cold butter
150 g. Ground hazelnuts, almonds, or a mix
2 Tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 C. Powder sugar and 1 Tsp. Cinnamon, to dust

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a food processor or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add the ground nuts and sugar. Add the butter in small pieces and mix until crumbly. Add the egg yolks.

Once a homogenous dough forms, wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180℃. Shape the dough into small crescents and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly brown. Let cool before sprinkling with the powder sugar and remaining cinnamon through a sieve.

Spitzbuben/Jam Sandwich Cookies

This is the ideal jam sandwich cookie. The almond and lemon flavours go perfectly with slightly tart raspberry jam, the texture is soft and just crumbly enough, they hold their shape well so that they look pretty, and are easy to make. A jam cookie runs the risk of being too sweet or getting soggy over time, but these are perfectly balanced. And you can have fun with the shape of the cut-outs, too...

Spitzbuben
From chefkoch.de

300 g. Flour
100 g. Ground almonds
150 g. Powder sugar
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Packet vanilla sugar, or 1 TBSP homemade
200 g. Butter
1 Egg
1/2 Tsp. Almond extract
Zest of one lemon

200 g. Raspberry or red currant jam
Powdered sugar

Mix dry ingredients. In a food processor or stand mixer, add the butter in small pieces, along with the egg, lemon zest, vanilla sugar and almond extract. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Divide dough into 2 pieces and roll out on a floured surface. Cut into circles, and for half of the circles, make a smaller cut-out window. 

Bake at 180℃ for 10-12 minutes, or until just beginning to brown on the bottoms. Let cool on the sheet.

On the whole halves, add about a teaspoon of jam to each cookie. Place a cut-out cookie on top. When finished with all the cookies, sprinkle some powder sugar on top.

Körnerbrötchen/Grain and Seed Buns

I had many recipes for körnerbrötchen, so many that I forgot which actually turned out to be the best of the bunch... but I can now guarantee that this was the champion among them. The long rise time and preferment create a surprisingly soft and light bun, with the whole wheat and spelt flour still providing plenty of flavour. The grains and seeds can be varied depending on what you have have (sometimes I like to add walnut pieces) and so can the flours- you can also use just whole grain spelt or whole wheat instead of both. The use of diastatic malt and steam in the oven creates a thin, crispy crust to contrast with the tender insides, and an extra sprinkling of seeds on top creates toasty, nutty flavour. While I may not be going to a real German bakery any time soon, these are good enough to pass.

Körnerbrötchen
Adapted from chefkoch.de

For the Preferment:
160 g. All purpose/type 550 flour
160 g. Water
2 g. Fresh yeast, or 1/4 Tsp. Active dry yeast

Mix all well and allow to stand, covered, at room temperature overnight.

For the Soaker:
150 g. Mixed seeds, e.g. Sunflower, flax, sesame, poppy, pumpkin
50 g. Grain flakes, e.g. Rolled oats, rye, barley (Note: I used 200 g. of a King Arthur mix of grains and seeds for both these quantities)
18 g. Salt
200 g. Water

Dissolve the salt in the water. Toast the seeds and grains lightly in a large, unoiled skillet pan over medium heat until fragrant, if desired. Mix the seeds, grains and salty water and let stand covered overnight.

For the Final Dough:

All of above preferment and soaker
450 g. Bread flour
100 g. Whole grain spelt flour
50 g. Whole grain rye or wheat flour
250 g. Water
10 g. Fresh yeast, or 3 g. Active dry yeast
1 Tsp. Diastatic malt powder or honey (optional)
1 TBSP Vital wheat gluten (optional)

Additional flour, oil to grease bowls
About 1/2 C. Grains and seeds, for tops of buns

Mix water with yeast and malt/honey, if using. Mix the flours and gluten in a large bowl or stand mixer and add the water, along with the preferment, and knead until homogeneous. Add the osaker and continue kneading until smooth.

Let rest for 2 hours in an oiled, covered bowl, stretching and folding the dough after 40 and 80 minutes have passed.

Stretch and fold the dough one last time, them stretch out into a large rectangle over a floured surface. Divide into 12-16 pieces with a sharp knife, either triangles or rectangles. Cover and let rise for 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 220℃. Dampen the tops of the buns with a spray bottle and sprinkle on additional grains and seeds.

Bake for 10 minutes, spraying at the beginning and end with water from a spray bottle to create steam. Reduce the temperature to 200℃ and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Gingerbread Trifecta- Croatian Medenjaci, German Lebkuchen and American Gingerbread

Medenjaci(top) and Lebkuchen (bottom) with royal icing.

My family has never made gingerbread cookies for Christmas traditionally, so I took it upon myself to try some recipes out and evade having to buy them for relatively high prices from local bakeries (or in the case of honey-based gingerbread, not being able to buy them at all). These cookies are great because they last ages without losing their flavour or texture, are easy to roll out and cut (provided you use enough flour and some baking parchment) and are great fun to decorate. We used two types of frosting, the regular decorative royal icing and also the more "American" icing made with shortening. Both work well for gluing sprinkles, candies, and other tidbits.

American gingerbread with the thicker, soft frosting.

Each kind has its distinct advantages. The medenjaci had a milder gingerbread flavour while still being well-spiced, and could easily be made any time of year (then again, there's no law against off-season Christmas baking...). Its ingredients are also more accessible than many other honey-gingerbreads for Canada. 

While the lebkuchen requires natron (hard to come by in Canada), lebkuchen spices (which one can make themselves using an online recipe- I used some from my grandmother) and white rye flour (available in Eastern European stores and some health foods stores), it's well worth the effort to gather the ingredients if you can- it's got a unique flavour and makes great ornamental cookies- and it's eggless, and can even be made vegan if shortening is used. 

The American gingerbread is also as good as any I've ever bought, and is different from the other two due to both the higher fat content and use of molasses. I would say that every one of the recipes was a keeper.

Medenjaci- Croatian Gingerbread
Adapted from Tara's Multicultural Table

3 C. All-purpose flour
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1/8 Tsp. Baking soda
2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Ginger
1/4 Tsp. Cloves
1/4 Tsp. Nutmeg
1/8 Tsp. Mace
Pinch each of coriander, white pepper and cardamom
1/2 C. Butter
1/2 C. Sugar
2/3 C. Honey, preferably wildflower
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
1 Egg

Sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add honey, vanilla and egg. Incorporate the dry ingredients in spoonfuls until all is added. Once smooth, wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 180℃. Roll out between sheets of baking parchment or plastic clingfilm until thin and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 10 minutes on parchment. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Lebkuchen
From Chefkoch.de

400 g. Honey, preferably wildflower
100 g. Water
100 g. Light brown sugar
60 g. Clarified butter, or shortening
300 g. All purpose or type 550 flour
300 g. White rye flour
6 g. Baking powder
1 Packet Lebkuchen spices
16 g. Natron

In a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, heat together the honey, water and brown sugar until homogenous. Add butter/shortening and allow to dissolve. Let cool to room temperature.

Sift together dry ingredients and add the wet ones. Knead until a homogenous mass forms and refrigerate 6 hours, or overnight.

On a well-floured surface, roll out dough and cut into shapes. Bake at 180℃ about 15 minutes, or until just beginning to brown at the edges.

American Molasses Gingerbread
Adapted from Moje Wypieki

750 g. All purpose flour
15 g. Baking powder
5 g. Ginger
3 g. Nutmeg
2 g. Cloves
2 g. Cinnamon
2 g. Allspice
1 g. White pepper
113 g. Butter
113 g. Shortening
235 ml. Molasses
180 g. Brown sugar
120 ml. Water
1 Egg
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Tsp. Salt

Mix dry ingredients. Heat together the sugar, water, and molasses until dissolved in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Add the butter and shortening and allow to dissolve. Let cool.

Add to dry ingredients along with egg and vanilla, and mix until homogenous. Refrigerate 6 hours, or overnight.

Roll out on a well-floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake at 180℃ for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool and harden on sheets before removal.

Royal Icing:
1 Egg white
2/3 C. Powder sugar
Pinch of salt
1 Tsp. Lemon juice

Beat all at high speed until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Soft Piped Icing:
1 1/3 C. Powdered sugar
3 TBSP Shortening
1 Tsp. Vanilla
About 1 TBSP milk

Beat all at high speed until smooth, adding just enough milk to achieve a pipable consistency.

Quarkstollen

This is a really great way to get a nice-tasting stollen when you don't have time to let it rest for the usual 3-4 weeks- for instance, when you're craving stollen out of season, or need to make another at the last minute. While it doesn't have quite the same texture as a yeast stollen, it's still tender and tasty, especially when spices are added. Keep in mind that it doesn't last as long as regular stollen in terms of freshness, so consume soon after baking!

Quarkstollen
Adapted from allrecipes.de

For the Fruits and Nuts:
200 g. Light and dark raisins, mixed
50 g. Candied orange peel, diced
50 g. Candied citron peel, diced
125 g. Chopped/slivered almonds
About 1/4 - 1/3 C. Dark rum, preferably spiced

Cover fruit and nuts in rum and soak overnight.

Final Dough:
500 g. All purpose flour
2 1/4 Tsp. Baking powder
Pinch of salt
100 g. Sugar
1 Packet vanilla sugar, or 1 TBSP homemade
200 g. Butter
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
6 Drops (about 1/4 tsp.) Bitter almond extract
1 Packet of stollen spices, or 1/2 Tsp. each nutmeg, mace and cardamom (optional)
2-3 TBSP Rum or milk
Zest of one lemon
250 g. Quark (I used homemade)

To Finish:
50 g. Butter, melted
1 Sachet vanilla sugar or 1 TBSP homemade
50-100 g. Powder sugar

Preheat oven to 180℃.

Beat butter and add quark. Add the lemon zest, bitter almond extract, and sugars. Incorporate the eggs. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt before adding.

Mix in the fruits and nuts. Add enough rum or milk to make the dough rollable and soft. 

Shape into two loaves and bake for about an hour, covering with aluminium foil if browning too fast. 

Let cool and brush with butter. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar and thoroughly cover in powder sugar. Wrap up in aluminium foil and let rest overnight before cutting and eating.

Marzipan-Stollen (with Milk Roux and Preferment)

I really, really, really love making Stollen. I have many fond memories of doing it with my mother following an old recipe from my grandmother, soaking the raisins and proofing the dough, rolling out the marzipan for the centre and brushing it with butter when it was done. It was a sure sign that Christmas was on the way- Stollen is to be made weeks before, at least three to four, but for us it was usually early or mid-November when we started to give it optimal time to age. Even though there's over a month to the holidays, the fact that there's a stollen in the pantry wrapped up and ready meant the promise of Christmas right around the corner.

The unbaked Stollen, ready to go.

There are many recipes for Stollen, and none are right or wrong- though for my family, the ultimate stollen has got to be a buttery yeast dough full of raisins, currants, citrus peel and almonds, and the marzipan core is a must. I plan to make another batch closer to Christmas with a baking powder-egg-quark dough that's nothing like what we usually have, but there's got to be something traditional there, too- it's Christmas, after all.

Powdered up and ready to lie in wait until Christmas...

While this isn't my Oma's recipe, I think this is an improvement- more butter and less sugar in the dough, with copious amounts of fruit and nuts and lots of different spices. There's a roux in the dough to keep it soft and moist until Christmas, and of course plenty of my beloved marzipan. It's crusted thickly in two types of sugar along with the butter, and is less breadlike and more dense than what we usually have. I think it helps that we didn't use a high-gluten flour this year, instead opting for type 550/all purpose flour, and didn't overdo it with the resting times. I've seen a lot of bread-like stollen recipes, but it just doesn't seem right to me- but hey, to each their own. Stollen is a very personal business.

After baking, I always pick out the burnt nuts and fruits that get totally carbonized on top (it seems you can't avoid that) before brushing on the butter and powdering it up. Next, the loaves get wrapped in baking parchment and aluminium foil and placed in the cabinet above the range for a nice, long time. I'm always a little nervous letting them sit, although I know they've got to- then again, I've heard of fruitcakes that sit for a full year (or more) before consumption. 

And after a long wait... fantastic stollen that's moist and soft but not too much so, crusted in vanillaey sugar and complete with a marzipan centre.

Marzipan-Stollen
Adapted from Hefe und Mehr

For the Fruit and Nuts:
225 g. Mixed yellow, green and dark raisins/sultanas
75 g. Currants
100 g. Slivered/chopped almonds
70 ml. Dark spiced rum
Boiling water, to cover

Mix all and cover with just enough hot water to almost top off the fruits. Leave overnight in the refrigerator to absorb.

(NOTE: I forgot to presoak my fruits overnight, so mine only got about 3-4 hours in the rum mixture... if you want a strong rum flavour, though, go for the full 12-14 hour soak, or add a few drops of rum extracts to the fruits to boost the flavour as a quick fix. I also went a little overboard with the sultanas- but that's a matter of personal taste. The amount given is already very generous.)

For the Roux:
30 g. All purpose/type 550 flour
150 g. Milk

In a small saucepan, cook on medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until 65℃- or until it forms an almost translucent, pudding-like paste. Place in a cool bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let cool to room temperature before using.

For the Preferment:
100 g. All purpose/type 550 flour
100 g. Milk, cold
35 g. Fresh yeast

Mix all and let rise until doubled.

Final Dough:
400 g. All purpose/type 550 flour
5 g. Salt
0.5 g. Each mace, nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom (approximate with the amount on the tip of a knife!)
Half a vanilla bean, scraped
75 g. Sugar, plus one or two sachets vanilla sugar (optional)
Zest of half a lemon (optional)
250 g. Butter
50 g. Candied citron, diced
50 g. Candied orange peel, diced
150-200 g. Marzipan

Cream butter and sugar (including vanilla sugar, lemon zest and scraped-out vanilla seeds, if using). Sift together flour, spices and salt, and add to the butter mixture, along with the roux and preferment. Knead until homogeneous, keeping the dough cool. 

Let rest covered for 30 minutes. In the mean time, shape the marzipan into two long rods.

Drain the fruits and nuts and mix with the diced peels. Knead into the dough until just incorporated, and divide into two parts. Let rest covered and preheat the oven to 200℃.

Flatten each piece of dough into an oblong oval. In the centre, form a dent and place in the marzipan roll, folding the dough over it. Bake right away for 40 minutes, covering with foil if browning too quickly.

To Finish:
50 g. Melted butter
80 g. Superfine sugar
100 g. Powder sugar

Brush with melted butter and coat thickly in sugar. Dust all over with powder sugar once cool (after a few hours, or the next morning) and roll up in aluminium foil. Store in a cool, dark, dry place for at least a week before eating.

Nusskuchen/ Hazelnut Cake

I've had a bag of hazelnut meal, already bought on clearance, in my freezer for months now. I remembered it after seeing this recipe for a nut cake, realizing rapidly that freezing an article doesn't put it in a state of permanent suspension, and I didn't want to waste those nuts by letting them go rancid. So, I combined the desire to use that ingredient with my wish to test the cute new Moomin cake pan I got from my mother...

...And made a simple, soft, buttery nut cake. It's deliciously moist, especially if you use part oil as well as the butter, and the flavour of the rum extract is highly complimentary to its nuttiness. You can use real rum if you want, a tablespoonful or two. The texture is very fine, and best illustrated with the fluffy appearance of a forkful:

Tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. Mmmm.

The cake on its own is quite sweet, so the nougat garnish may be excessive. in fact, a dark chocolate or complete absence of garnish might be even better. But, surprise surprise, I had half a packet of nougat that I needed to finish! I also wanted to outline the Moomin design a bit, but unfortunately I tried to pipe the nougat when it was already too cool, and the lines came out messy. Still delicious, though.

This is the ideal kind of cake to have with a cup of coffee (or milk, or milky coffee), and will stay soft for days. It's likely to work well with other kinds of nut, too. My mother really liked it, and she usually isn't a sweets person, so I count this recipe as a keeper. Sometimes the simple recipes are the best.

Nusskuchen/ Hazelnut Cake
Adapted from chefkoch.de

180 g. Butter (I used 80 g. Hazelnut oil and 100 g. butter)
200 g. Sugar 
1 Sachet vanilla sugar, or 1 TBSP homemade
200 g. Ground hazelnuts
120 g. Flour, cake or all-purpose
Pinch of salt
5 Eggs
2 1/4 Tsp. Baking powder
A few drops of rum extract (optional)

To decorate (optional)
-1-2 TBSP powder sugar
- about 100 g. Nussnougat, chocolate, etc.
-Whole roasted hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 180℃. Grease a large loaf pan, or a 21cm. springform. Sprinkle the inside with vanilla sugar, or dust with flour.

Beat butter and sugars until fluffy- add oil and/or rum extract as well, if using. Add the eggs one by one and beat in until well-incorporated.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk into the egg mixture until well-incorporated.

Mix in the hazelnuts until just incorporated. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, checking after 30 minutes with a fork or baking thermometer every 10 minutes.

Let cool about 20 minutes before unmolding.

If desired, sprinkle with powder sugar, or melt the nougat/chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water and spread/pipe on. Use whole or slivered nuts for an additional touch.

Homemade Quark- German Fresh Cheese

For the longest time I've mourned the fact that you just can't get the insane variety of dairy products available in Germany in Canada. Particularly quark cheese, which is the backbone of a classic Käsekuchen, not to mention a key ingredient in countless other doughs, dishes, and fillings- I've seen one ultra-low fat 0.25% version for sale, but I don't want to make a pastry with that! Vastly superior would be something of at least around 10% fat. 

Of course, there are other types of quark. Magerquark is, to my knowledge, any quark with less than 10% fat- but something to the higher end of that spectrum is better for baking, while that with less fat can be eaten like yogurt with fruit or jam. Topfenquark, which is used in a ton of strudels, Auflaufs, and pastry fillings, is about 20% fat. And Speisequark is about 40% fat, and can be used as a bread spread amongst other uses in giving richness to dishes. 

When I found this recipe for homemade quark that didn't need rennet and could be done within the temperature range that my oven offers, I was suspicious that it was too good to be true. And while this isn't "true" quark in that it isn't cultured the same way... it's definitely a good enough approximation for me! I made mine with half 18% cream and half 3.8% buttermilk to get something with a slight amount of richness, but not too much- perfect for enhancing bread doughs, or for the Quarkstollen that I plan to be making. I'll definitely be trying the recipe out with different fat proportions, like a 20% fat version made partly with whipping cream... then I can try my hand at Topfenstrudel and Topfenpalatschinken. And delicious German cheesecake, of course.

I got just over 400 g. of quark out of this batch, but because I drained it in the fridge overnight, it was really a lot firmer than one would be used to for quark- but that's good, because you typically want to wring out as much whey as you can. Then, you can remoisten it to the desired level by adding some buttermilk or cream. I froze the majority of mine (hey, Google told me I could, but only time will tell if that was really a smart idea) but reserved a small amount to try right away. I added a spoonful of extra buttermilk, some chopped green onion, and some salt and pepper to make a spread for some freshly-baked buns, and it was received with great enthusiasm.

I never would have expected something so good to come of a recipe so simple and easy- any sort of homemade cheese always feels intimidating, but it's really not. My grandmother used to make her own fresh cheeses this way, and in my humble opinion, it tastes much better fresh and homemade.

You can also control the quality of all your ingredients very easily! I'm going to try my hand at other fresh cheeses in the near future. And get back on that Quarkstollen.

Homemade Quark
Adapted from chefkoch.de
(makes 400-500 g.)

500 mL.Buttermilk, 3.8%
500 mL Light cream, 18%

Mix both and let sit for about 15-30 minutes. Pour into a large Dutch oven or other baking pan. Place in an oven preheated to 100℃ and bake for 2 hours. Let cool. 

After cooling completely, strain for 2 hours (or better yet, longer in the fridge- I drained it overnight) with cheesecloths over a pot or bowl. Squeeze the curds dry and add a little buttermilk or cream to get a suitable consistency- you usually want it to be about as thick as Greek yogurt.