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.

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. 

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.

Whole Wheat Butter Biscuits - Petit Beurres

Whenever my family goes to Europe, we somehow end up buying whole wheat butter biscuits. It's just a given. When we go to a grocery store to get some supplementary snacks for our touristing, it's always these- I suspect because the "whole wheat" gives them that health aura that overshadows the "butter biscuit" part for my dad. Well, it's still a biscuit- but I'm not complaining. They're delicious.

I found that they tasted even better than the regular butter biscuits- more nutty and texturally interesting, with the whole wheat flavour complementing the butter well. I decided that I had to try to do it myself, before starting a mad search to buy them at Starsky or the like. They probably have them somewhere, but this way I can ensure they're really all-butter and free of additives.

I used graham flour (from hard red wheat) in my first batch- though I suspect the ones I bought were made with a mixture of whole wheat and white pastry flour, since the texture was way different. Not bad- but different. They're a lot less delicate, but taste fantastic, and everyone who tried them thought them superior to the bought ones. The taste of the butter works very well in the thin, browned biscuit, as well as the taste of toasted whole wheat. The cane sugar was a touch to give a little more complexity to the biscuit, but isn't necessary. The baker's ammonia is likewise an idea I had to make the cookies more biscuit-like and crispy, but baking powder will also work. I didn't roll all mine out to equal thinnesses, regrettably- next time I'll make sure they're all uniformly thin, since many turned out too thick. Getting them very thin will help make them crispy, which is one of my main goals.

The dough is nice in that it holds its shape well, allowing you to make all kinds of cut-outs. I tried out my new cookie cutters, courtesy of the magic of internet shopping, to make both the classic squares and some cute Miffy and panda shapes. Even after baking, the details were there- Nice. There's these stampers you can use to spell messages out on cookie dough that would work great here. It also reminds me of that Polish folk-design stamping rolling pin that I really want. Somebody stop me. 

In my next batch I'll try out soft, white wheat whole grain pasty flour. If that isn't quite right, I'll try a 50/50 blend of white and regular whole wheat and work from there. Until then, these are good enough to hold their own- they'd be awesome in the place of graham crackers for a richer, less sugary taste in crusts or for s'mores. Adding cinnamon or cardamom might also be nice, instead of the vanilla. I'll be making them again to have with tea regularly, freezing any extras for later since they've got enough wheat germ to go stale otherwise.

Even if you don't normally like whole wheat baked goods, try them. Whole wheat can be a very good thing, trust me. It belongs here.

Whole Wheat Butter Biscuits- Petit Beurres
Adapted from Simply So Good

100 g. Butter
1/3 C. Water
100 g. Sugar (I used 60 g. white and 40 g. cane)
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Tsp. Baking ammonia, or baking powder
250 g. Graham flour, or any fine whole wheat flour

Melt butter in saucepan. Add water (reserve 2 TBSP), sugar and salt.

Let cool to room temperature. Dissolve ammonia in reserved water (this isn't necessary for baking powder) and add along with vanilla and flour. Knead together and refrigerate at least 3 H.

Preheat oven to 180℃.

Roll out very thin (about 2 mm) and cut into desired shapes. Bake for 8-10 min on parchment..