Elf Cookies - Nissehoveder

Elf Cookies - Nissehoveder

December 11th - Time for remembrance.

I have never seen these elf cookies aka nissehoveder (elf heads) anywhere else than in my family. The cookies were very much appreciated by my brother and me, but I know my mom hated making these, because they are a bit labor-intensive. The cookie itself is straight forward and easy, but it's a sticky mess to cut out all the eyes and mouths. The first year I made them, I even had made a nose, but that was a bad idea, a bad bad idea.

Thank you mom and dad for teaching me to make elf cookies - I miss you guys so very much.

Here is how to make my family's elf cookies.

Ingredients:

• 250 g all-purpose flour

• 200 g butter

• 100 g confectionary sugar

• 1 egg yolk

Topping:

• red and green cherries

• confectionary sugar

• water

• red food coloring

Directions:

Crumble the butter in the flour, until it looks like bread crumbs. Add the sifted confectionary sugar and the egg yolk and mix until it’s all combined.

Form dough into a rod with an inch in diameter. Press to form a top on the rod, this makes the elf hat. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Cut the green cherries into small cubes, these will be the eyes.

Cut the red cherries into quarters and slice the quarters, these will be the mouths.

Cut the logs into ¼-inch thick cookies and put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spacing about 1 inch apart. Place eyes and mouths on the cookies.

Bake until slightly golden around the edges, about 10-12 minutes at 350°F. Cool cookies on the pan on wire racks.

Icing: Mix confectionary sugar with a few drops of water and food coloring. Paint  the cookies with the red icing. Let the cookies dry on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

The Danish version:

Nissehoveder

Ingredients:

• 250 g hvedemel

• 200 g smør

• 100 g flormelis

• 1 æggeblomme

Pynt:

• røde og grønne cocktailbær

• flourmelis

• vand

• rød frugtfarve.

Directions: 

Smørret smuldres i melet. Flormelis sigtes i og æltes let i dejen sammen med æggeblommen. 

Dejen formes til en pølse på godt og vel et kosteskafts tykkelse. 

Pølsen trykkes lidt i den ene side så den kommer til at spidse, gerne meget. Pølsen lægges i køleskabet i mindst 0,5 time. Herefter skæres den i tynde skiver med en skarp kniv. 

Når kagerne er kommet på bageplanden, pyntes de med øjne, og mund (cocktailbær). 

Herefter bages de i 7-8 min ved 200ºC. 

Inden de er helt afkølede kan nissehovederne få hue på, med lidt rød glasur.

Mulled Wine - Gløgg

Mulled Wine - Gløgg

December 9th and time for another christmas treat. What could be good for a Monday? What about wine? Wine it is - mulled wine.

Mulled wine aka gløgg is the scandinavian version of mulled wine, and has been a christmas tradition for over a hundred years.

Back home with my parents we always had store bought gløgg and I loved it. I didn't know better. When we moved to California, I had to figure out to make my own gløgg extract. This is what I came up with after testing for a few years. 

It's a sweet spicy mix not too strong in alcohol. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Ingredients:

Extract:

• 750 ml water (3 cups)

• 4 tablespoons sugar

• 1 orange, zest and juice (add the juice after the extract has been strained)

• 1 lemon, zest

• 2 sticks of cinnamon

• 2 star anis

• 5 green cardamom capsules

• 10-12 whole cloves

• 7-10 whole allspice berries

Gløgg:

• 1 bottle red wine (Use a good red wine, it makes a better gløgg)

• extract (to taste)

• almonds, slivers

• raisins (soaked in port wine or a stronger liquor)

Directions:

Put the ingredients for the extract in a saucepan, let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Strain the spices and zests. Add the orange juice to the extract.

Gløgg:

Soak the raisins in port wine or a stronger liquor as snaps or cognac. 

Heat red wine and extract to 160-176℉ (70-80℃). Add the raisins and almond slivers. 

Serve in a nice mug.

Enjoy

Ebelskiver - Æbleskiver

Ebelskiver - Æbleskiver

December 8th. today my maternal grandmother would have turned 111. As long as my grandmother lived, the family would meet up at her apartment for gløgg and ebelskiver on her birthday. I loved this tradition, I loved this informal way to get together. So to celebrate my grandma Agnes, I'll share with you the recipe my mom used to make the ebelskiver for these gatherings.  

Ebelskiver is a traditional danish dessert served at christmas time. This tradition is over 200 years old.  

The word Ebelskiver (æbleskiver) means Apple slices. Ebelskiver started as slices of apples dipped in a sweet dough and fried in clarified butter, but evolved to these sphere shaped pancakes. Today ebelskiver is served with confectionary sugar and jam - best of all my moms homemade blackberry jam - yum.

Ebelskiver or Æbleskiver are plural, so no need to put a s in the end. ;0) 

Ebelskive pan

Ebelskiver is baked in a ebelskive pan like this.

This is my moms recipe.

Makes about 30 ebelskiver.

Ingredients:

• 250 g all-purpose flour

• 125 g butter (salted and melted)

• 375 ml milk (1,6 cups)

• 2,5 g salt (just under ½ teaspoon)

• 4 eggs

• ½ teaspoon cardamom

• 4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 large lemon, the zest of

Directions:

Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Whisk whites with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Mix milk with flour, cardamom and baking powder till there's no lumps. Add the melted butter, egg yolks, salt and lemon zest. Let the batter rest for about 5 minutes. 

Gently fold in the egg whites, do not over mix the batter, but you don't want spots of egg whites in the batter.

Turning the ebelskiver

Heat the ebelskive pan. Fill the holes about ¾.  As soon as the batter starts to bubble around the edge, turn* them halfway. When you have turned all halfway turn the ebelskiver all the way, so you end up with a perfect ball. Continue cooking, turning the ball to keep it from burning.

Serve the ebelskiver with confectionary sugar and a good quality jam.

* I use a knitting needle to turn the ebelskiver, but you can use a fork. I bought ebelskiver turning tools, but I have no idea how to work those.

The danish version:

Æbleskiver

Ingredienser:

• 250 g hvedemel

• 125 g smør (saltet og smeltet)

• 375 ml mælk

• 2,5 g salt (lige under ½ tsk)

• 4 æg

• ½ tsk kardemomme

• 4 tsk bagepulver

• 1 stor citron, reven skal af

Del æggene i hvider og blommer. Pisk hviderne stive.

Bland mælk, mel, kardemomme og bagepulver indtil der ikke er klumper i. Tilsæt det smeltede smør, æggeblommerne, salt og citronskallen. Lad dejen hvile i ca 5 minutter. Fold æggehviderne i dejen.

Varm æbleskivepanden. Bag æbleskiverne ved at fylde hulerne ca ¾ op. Når dejen bobler i kanterne vend æbleskiverne en kvart omgang, og når det er gjort med alle æbleskiverne, så vend dem hele vejen rundt, så de bliver helt runde. bliv ved med at vende æbleskiverne, så de ikke brænder på.

Server æbleskiverne med flormelis og en god marmelade.

Danish Shortbread - Finskbrød

Danish Shortbread - finskbread

It's December 7th, and I think Santa had a cookie or two, his stomach is full of shortbreads on the picture. 

This is the danish version of a shortbread, called Finskbrød or Finnish bread. I have no idea why the are called so, because they are for sure a danish cookie.

Compared to regular shortbreads these are sprinkled with coarse raw cane sugar and chopped almonds, which adds to the taste and texture of the cookies. 

As a child these cookies was one of my favorites. I loved these light and buttery crisp cookies. But for the last 5-6 years I haven't been making Danish shortbreads. Why? I don’t know, maybe I have just been focused on trying new cakes? 

Having this blog made me go back to the shortbread, and I think they are back to stay.

I somehow lost my moms recipe, but found this great one on Anne au Chocolat's blog. 

Ingredients:

• 375 g all-pupose flour
• 250 g butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 100 g sugar

Toppings:

• egg white
• coarse raw cane sugar 
• chopped almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃)

Mix flour and butter. I used a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter in the flour mixture. Mix until the the butter resembles wet sand. Mix in sugar and egg yolk. Be careful not to overwork the dough. 

Roll the dough, a little at a time, into logs the size of a finger. Press the log flat (about 1/5 inch thick). Cut the logs into 1 inch pieces. Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 12-15 minutes in the middle of the oven.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Almond Specier - Håkonskager

Almond Species - Håkonskager

December 6th, and I finally started decoration the house for christmas, and the stress of getting gifts bought for the family is starting to get to me. A great cookie and a cop of coffee helps me stay grounded. 

My mom always baked cookies in december, so we would have homemade cookies for all the family gatherings during the holidays. Danes doesn't celebrate thanksgiving, so all the winter family get-together is around christmas and new years.

One of my favorite cookies was not on my moms list, but they should have been in my opinion. The cookies are called "Håkonskager" after a Danish prince (Carl), who became the King Haakon (Håkon) of Norway. 

You might know these cookies from the tin of Danish Butter Cookies, but the homemade kind is so much better than the store bought. 

This is my take on Håkon cookies.

Ingredients: 

• 200 g butter (salted and soft)
• 135 g confectionary sugar
• 80 g marzipan (grated)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean 
• 235 g all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• raw cane sugar (coarse)

Direction: 

Cream the butter with the confectionary sugar and marzipan till it's light and fluffy in a stand mixer with a paddle. Add vanilla paste and flour. As soon as the dough comes together, stop the mixing. 

Divide the dough in to 2 pieces. Roll each part into a log (2 inch in diameter), wrap in glad wrap and refrigerate over night. Make sure to have a smooth surface to get an even look on the finished cookies.

Whip the egg and pour the raw cane sugar on a big plate. Brush or dip the logs in the egg wash and roll them in the sugar until completely coated. Wrap the logs in glad wrap again and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Cut the logs into ¼-inch thick cookies and put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden around the edges, about 12-15 minutes at 350°F. Cool cookies on the pan on wire racks. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

The Danish version:

Håkonskager

Ingredients: 

• 200 g blødt smør
• 135 g flormelis
• 80 g marcipan (revet)
• 1/2 tsk vanilla paste eller  kornene fra 1/2 vanillestang 
• 235 g hvedemel
• 1 æg
• perlesukker

Pisk smør og flormelis og revert marcipan til en luftig masse med en håndmikser eller røremaskine. Tilsæt mel og vanillesukker, og saml ingredienserne hurtigt til en smidig dej, pas på ikke at overmikse dejen.

Del dejen i 2 dele, og rul dem til stænger ca. 5 cm i diameter. Pak stængerne ind i plastfolie og opbevar dem i køleskabet til næste dag.

Pisk ægget i en skål, og kom perlesukker i en tallerken. Pensel stængerne med æg og rul dem i perlesukkeret.  Pak stængerne ind i plastfolien igen og lad dem ligge ca. 30 minutter i køleskabet.

Skær rullerne ud i 4-5 mm tykke skiver, læg dem på en bageplade beklædt med bagepapir. Læg ikke kagerne for tæt, da de flyder lidt ud. 

Bag kagerne midt i ovnen ved 175℃ i 12-15 minutter.  Afkøl kagerne på en bagerist og opbevar dem i en lufttæt kagedåse.