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(Last window on 25 December 2013)

The Old World Christmas Recipes Advent Calendar

Window nº 11
French St.Nicolas Mannele or Manalas Brioche of Alsace

It is enjoyed in Alsace on December 6 with hot chocolate, but it’s a wonderful treat throughout the holiday season and Santa Claus (ex-St.Nicolas) definitely won’t take offence.

500 g flour, 150 ml milk, 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 200 g butter (at room temperature), 80 g sugar, a packet of dry yeast, a packet of vanilla sugar, a few currants, 1 tbsp of orange blossom water

Mix all the ingredients except currants, knead well. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm place until double in volume. Roll 100 g or 50 g balls of dough, shape into little men, cutting hands and legs with a knife right on the buttered baking tray. Use currants for eyes and buttons. Let rest in a warm place till double in volume again. Bake at 360F for 20-25 minutes till done. Sprinkle with sugar if desired.

Window nº 15

Italian cavallucci cookies (’little horses’ from Siena, Tuscany)

300 g sugar
300 g flour
100 g chopped walnuts
50 g finely chopped candied orange peel
15 g powdered aniseed
5 g cinnamon and other spices including coriander and nutmeg

Boil sugar and a glass of water till syrup reaches the thread stage, remove from fire. Mix in all other ingredients and knead well. Roll our the dough (let it first rest for several hours to make it easier) about a finger thick. Cut into small diamonds snd put on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake for 30 minutes at low heat (300 F), they shouldn’t colour. They should be crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside and last well when stored in air-tight container.

Window nº 2

Marrons glacés (French crystallized chestnuts)

One of the traditional and very expensive Christmas indulgences can actually be made at home with much less trouble now that vacuum-packed cooked whole chestnuts are available in stores. Time-consuming (yes, it’s four days) but worth the effort if you really like marrons glacés (think Nesselrode pudding, vanilla ice cream, pureed chestnut Mont Blanc with whipped cream etc.). They also make excellent presents.

300 g cooked chestnuts
600 g sugar
0.6 l water
a vanilla pod or some vanilla essence
100 g icing sugar

1st day

Boil regular sugar with water and some vanilla seeds or a few drops of vanilla essence. Plunge chestnuts into the syrup and bring back to boil gently over a very slow fire. Remove from fire and let the chestnuts macerate in their syrup at room temperature for 24 hours.

2nd day

Take chestnuts out of the syrup with a slotted spoon. Bring the remaining syrup back to boil, get the chestnuts in and repeat the 1st day procedure.

3rd day

Repeat the 2nd day procedure.

4th day

Take chestnuts out of syrup with a slotted spoon and drain as well as possible. Heat the remaining syrup, mix it with icing sugar and plunge cryztallized chestnuts into the mixture. Dry them on a rack and then put them in the oven at 250 F for several minutes to make the glaze more firm. Your marrons glacés are done.

Window nº 10
Italian Biscottini di Prato (alias cantuccini)
Now back to stocking up for Christmas

250 g flour
200 g sugar
100 g unpeeled almonds, roughly sliced
2 eggs
1 tsp of baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 tsp of vanillin (yes, it’s an old recipe) or a few drops of vanilla essence

Mix all the dry ingredients (except almonds), make a well and break eggs into it. Knead the dough well, add almonds and mix. Shape three long loafs 3-4 cm large and put them (well apart) on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake in the preheated oven (360F) for about 30 minutes.

Take the loaves out, let cool for several minutes and slice diagonally to make biscottini 1 cm thick. Lay them flat on the baking tray and put back into the hot oven. Take them out after 5 minutes, turn them over and let dry in the oven for another 5 minutes. These biscottini last really well in tins so you can make them well ahead of time and send them as gifts too.

Window nº 23

German Christmas Eve Salad of Twelve (Zwölferlei Gericht)

Boiled potatoes, boiled carrots, onions, apples, dill pickles, herring fillets, bacon or pancetta, mustard, oil, white wine vinegar, salt and black pepper

Dice vegetables, apples, herring and bacon. Make a dressing of salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar and oil and dress the salad. Let stand at room temperature for a couple of hours before serving.

Window nº 16

German Dresden Stollen (Dresdner Christstollen)
Stollen was baked in Dresden for Christmas at least since the 15th century. Their shape is supposed to be faintly reminiscent of swaddled baby Jesus. It was such a signature dish in Dresden even back then that on one occasion in 1730 Augustus II ordered the bakers’ guild to bake a 1.7 ton giant stollen that fed about 24 000 people.
1 kg flour
100 g fresh yeast or 50 g active dry yeast
1/4 l warm milk
200 g sugar
400 g butter
½ tsp salt
400 g raisins or currants (more old-fashioned version)
200 g finely chopped mixed candied peel
250 g roughly chopped blanched almonds
grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
1/8 tsp each cinnamon, cardamom, mace
3 tbsp rum
bitter almonds essence
100 g melted butter for brushing
100 g icing sugar

Make a well in the flour, add yeast with a couple of spoonfuls of warm milk, a pinch of sugar and a little flour. Mix and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Add the rest of sugar, milk, melted butter, salt, spices and flavourings, mix well with flour. Knead until the dough doesn’t stick to hands anymore.
Let stand in a warm place for 30 more minutes, add raisins, almonds and candied peel, knead well and let stand in a warm place for an hour.
Shape two elongated oval loaves and press a vertical line with a rolling pin so that stollen is almost divided in 2/3 and 1/3. Let stand in a warm place 30 minutes more then put in a 360 F preheated oven. Bake for 80 minutes till golden-brown (cover with foil if stollen starts browning too early). Brush liberally with melted butter and coat with icing sugar. Wrap in foil and store in a cool dry place for at least 1-2 weeks before use, a month is even better for flavours to develop.

Window nº 6
Bishop (British version)

Feeling thirsty and exhausted after all the hard work in the kitchen? Let’s toast St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra with lovely hot tipple called the bishop, very popular with 19th century Oxbridge students. Wait, it requires more time and effort? Still totally worth it.

6 Seville oranges (if bitter oranges unavailable take 5 regular oranges and 1 yellow grapefruit)
36 cloves
120 g sugar
1 1/2 бottle dry red wine
1 bottle ruby port

Bake oranges in a hot oven for 30 minutes until they turn golden brown. Place in a warmed pot studding each orange with 6 cloves apiece, add sugar. Pour dry red wine over them (but not the port), cover and let stand at room temperature for a day. Squeeze oranges into wine and strain, bottle the orange-infused wine (it can keep in sterilised bottles for quite a few weeks). When in the mood for some bishop mix with port and heat well (but do not boil) and pour into warmed mugs or goblets, whatever is your style.

If using grapefruit squeeze it last and only use juice from one half of it first, taste and if you like the effect add juice of the other half.

Window nº 8
Classic French Dark Chocolate Truffles
(truffes au chocolat)

CAUTION: This recipe uses raw egg yolk, to be avoided if pregnant just in case!

250 g fine dark chocolate
150 g butter (this recipe hails back to mid-20th century at the very least, many people now tend to use 125 g butter or even 100 g butter to this quantity of chocolate with impunity)
2 egg yolks
cocoa powder for coating

Break chocolate into small pieces and melt it gently in the microwave or a double boiler. Once it is room temperature stir in egg yolks, mix well and then add room temperature butter. If desired add a spoon of good brandy, rum, Cointreau or any other subtle alcohol flavouring. Place in the fridge for an hour. Scoop truffles with a tea spoon or a melon-baller, coat in cocoa powder and put in the fridge in a container with a tight lid until needed. They keep quite well in the freezer too. Another great DIY Christmas present, requiring very little time and effort for a change.

Window nº 20

French Pompe de Noël (Christmas Eve olive oil bread of Provence)

600 g sifted flour
20 g active dry yeast (or 40 g fresh yeast)
150 g sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk for glazing (optional)
150 ml good quality olive oil (EV)
5 tbsp orange blossom water (may be replaced with freshly squeezed orange juice)
zest of 1 orange
250 ml warm water
a pinch of salt

The dough should rest 6 hours in total, quantity here enough for two pompe breads (traditionally for Christmas Eve dessert and for Christmas Eve breakfast).

Mix yeast with a little warm water, a pinch of sugar and 100 g of flour. Let rest for 2 hours. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl (a big one), knead well, then add the sponge and knead some more. Roll into a ball, cover and put in a warm place to rise for at least 3 hours.

Knead the dough again, divide in two, shape into balls and roll each out into a 2 cm thick circle on a lightly oiled surface. Cut six rays from 2-3 from centre out (another solar symbol, yes) and let pompes rest for another hour in a warm place before baking.

Glaze with egg yolk and bake in an oven preheated to 300 F for 15-20 minutes or more with a pan of water under the rack. Watch closely towards the end.

Window nº 25
Happy Christmas! Hope you have a great one, like the one described by Charles Dickens (at least in spirit if not in actual detail):

...I have been looking on, this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas Tree. The tree was planted in the middle of a great round table, and towered high above their heads. It was brilliantly lighted by a multitude of little tapers; and everywhere sparkled and glittered with bright objects. There were rosy-cheeked dolls, hiding behind the green leaves; and there were real watches (with movable hands, at least, and an endless capacity of being wound up) dangling from innumerable twigs; there were French-polished tables, chairs, bedsteads, wardrobes, eight-day clocks, and various other articles of domestic furniture (wonderfully made, in tin, at Wolverhampton), perched among the boughs, as if in preparation for some fairy housekeeping; there were jolly, broad-faced little men, much more agreeable in appearance than many real men--and no wonder, for their heads took off, and showed them to be full of sugar-plums; there were fiddles and drums; there were tambourines, books, work-boxes, paint-boxes, sweetmeat-boxes, peep-show boxes, and all kinds of boxes; there were trinkets for the elder girls, far brighter than any grown-up gold and jewels; there were baskets and pincushions in all devices; there were guns, swords, and banners; there were witches standing in enchanted rings of pasteboard, to tell fortunes; there were teetotums, humming-tops, needle-cases, pen-wipers, smelling-bottles, conversation-cards, bouquet-holders; real fruit, made artificially dazzling with gold leaf; imitation apples, pears, and walnuts, crammed with surprises; in short, as a pretty child, before me, delightedly whispered to another pretty child, her bosom friend, "There was everything, and more."...

So, let’s toast the season with a great English ‘cappuccino’ Samuel Pepys used to drink in the 17th century (boozy or not, it’s your choice)

Lambs Wool Hot Punch

4 cooking apples (preferably russet), 2 l ale or cider (apple juice works fine too), 6 cloves, 1 tsp grated nutmeg, 1/2 tsp grated ginger, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 allspice peppercorns, 2 tbsp brown sugar

Bake apples at 400 F for half an hour till soft with a little water, ale or cider. Bring ale or cider with spices and sugar to boiling pot. Scoop out soft fluffy apple pulp with a spoon and float on hot punch. Serve immediately.

Window nº 13
Swedish St.Lucy’s Saffron Buns (Lussekatter)

’Tis the year’s midnight, and it is the day’s,
Lucy’s, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;
The sun is spent, and now his flasks
Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;
The world’s whole sap is sunk...’

At the time of John Donne and presumably at the time of these buns’ creation before switching to Gregorian calendar it was St.Lucy’s day that was the shortest day of the year - hence these glorious saffron buns - perfect solar symbols.

1 kg flour
500 ml milk
25 g dry yeast
a little sugar
1 egg
½ tsp saffron
200 g butter
250 g sugar
raisins
Dry saffron in warm oven. Grind fine with a little sugar in a mortar and pestle. Dissolve yeast in warm water with a little sugar. Melt butter in a pot and pour in milk and warm to lukewarm. Blend saffron into milk. (The ground saffron can also be diluted in a little
brandy and poured into the milk mixture.) Pour liquid into mixing bowl and stir in
flour, a little at a time, until a loose, thick, smooth batter forms. Blend in the yeast, sugar, and then more flour, a little at a time. Knead vigorously, adding flour as needed until the dough is smooth, thick and shiny and doesn’t stick to the bowl. Sprinkle top of dough with a little flour and place a clean kitchen towel over the bowl and leave it in a warm place and let rise until
double in size.

Turn out onto board and break off pieces of dough and roll with hands into 10 cm
long and 1.5 cm thick ‘ropes’. Coil each end in, making a figure “S”.
Place on a greased baking sheet. Press a raisin into the centre of each spiral. Cover and let buns rise until about double in size (until they feel spongy when pressed
lightly with finger). Gently brush a lightly beaten egg onto the buns

Bake at 375°F (190°C) The buns should have a nice golden brown colour and feel light when done (approximately 10 minutes).

Window nº 4

Colourful German Christmas Bread
(Buntes Weihnachtsbrot)

500 g flour, 40 g fresh yeast (equals 20 g active dry, 16 g instant), 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, 1/8 l milk, 75 g diced ham, ½ cup diced dill pickles, ½ cup diced red and yellow bell peppers, 1 tbsp caraway, 40 g butter, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, a little milk

Make a flour well, put yeast crushed with sugar and some milk in the middle, sprinkle with flour and let rest for 15 minutes. Mix in butter (room temperature) and the rest of the ingredients, knead well. Let rest for 30 more minutes. Form a loaf of bread and put on a buttered baking tray to rest for 20 more minutes. Brush the surface of the loaf with a little milk and bake bread at 440F for about half an hour. Brush with more milk while baking for extra golden crust.

Window nº 7
Italian Boiled Meats with Green Sauce (bollito misto con salsa verde)

Enough baking already, here’s something meaty to get one’s teeth into!

Any boiled meat (usually an assortment of several kinds: tongue, beef, capon, cotechino sausage) may be served hot with green sauce for the Christmas Dinner in Northern Italy.

For salsa verde grind in a mortar (a food processor is also acceptable) 4 bunches of flat-leaf parsley (just the leaves) together with 6 anchovy fillets, 1 garlic clove, 2 tbsp capers and 2 egg-yolks, drizzle in 5 tbsp olive oil continuing to beat the mixture, add salt and vinegar to taste.

Window nº 3
Italian Certosino Christmas Cake (certosino di Bologna)

500 g flour, 400 g honey, 200 g almonds, 50 g pine-nuts, 80 g sultanas, 100 g candied fruit, 100 g fruit jam or pureed cooked fruit (e.g. applesauce), 50 g dark chocolate, cinnamon, aniseed (or a few tsp anise-flavoured spirits like ouzo or pastis), 1 tsp baking soda, 50 g butter

Mix flour with honey heated with a few tbsp of water, add the rest of the ingredients (except butter) and knead well. Bake in a buttered round baking tin at 360 F till done. Let cool and wrap tightly in foil. Keep at least for a week, glaze with honey and garnish with almonds and candied fruit before serving.

Window nº 18
English Clementine Curd

A Christmas take on classic English lemon curd, takes a solid hour to make, but totally worth it, an excellent gift as well as a perfect dessert and teatime addition.

5 eggs
5 clementines
1 lemon
150 g sugar
250 g diced cold butter

Wash and zest fruit. Juice, strain. Beat eggs until frothy, mix in sugar, juice and zest, continue beating. Pour into a saucepan and keep on a low-medium heat, beating continuously (a balloon whisk works great). When the mixture starts to get warm, add a couple of cubes of cold butter. Keep whisking all the time. When they are almost melted add a couple more and so on until all butter is gone. Don’t stop whisking. Curd is ready to go into jars when it coats the spoon.

Window nº 22
French bûche de Noël (Yule log roll)
Easy home-style version

4 eggs
140 g fine sugar
100 g flour
11 g baking powder

250 g chocolate
200 g butter
a little liqueur for flavouring: Grand Marnier, Kahlúa etc. (optional)

Beat egg yolks with sugar and 3 tbsp of warm water until frothy. Little by little add flour sifted with baking powder continuing to beat. Then gently mix in egg-whites beaten stiff. Spread 1 cm thick on baking tray lined with parchment. Bake in a preheated oven, 360F for about 10 minutes.Take out of the oven and slide on a damp kitchen towel. Roll and let cool a little.

Melt chocolate, let cool a little and mix with butter softened to room temperature. Spread a part of it evenly on the sponge base and roll it. Cover the roll with the rest of chocolate butter cream, line with a fork imitating bark and put into the fridge until serving. Decorate with crushed pistachios (moss), mushrooms out of meringue and so on.

Window nº 5
Dutch Peppernuts (pepernoten or kruidnoten)

The Eve of St. Nicholas Day is a great holiday in Holland, much like Christmas in other countries. Sinterklaas arrives with his helper Black Peter (Zwarte Piet), who tosses around candies and these hard spicy peppernut cookies very unlike their German counterpart (although spices are almost the same including a dash of white pepper). It’s time of family fun and presents giving,

250 g self-rising flour, 125 g brown sugar, 100 g butter, 50 ml milk, 1.5 tbsp Dutch spice mix (speculaaskruiden)

Beat room-temperature butter with sugar, add the rest of the ingredients and knead. Roll smallish balls of dough and put into a preheated (350F) oven on baking tray lined with parchment. Bake for 15 minutes.

Making Dutch spice mix (speculaaskruiden) at home:

4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground mace
1/3 tsp ground ginger
1/5 tsp ground white pepper (a pinch)
1/5 tsp ground cardamom (a pinch)
1/5 tsp ground coriander seeds (a pinch)
1/5 tsp ground anise seeds (a pinch)
1/5 tsp grated nutmeg (a pinch)

Self-rising flour can be replaced with all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt added (for ¾ cups flour 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp salt, here you will need 2 cups of flour, so you can add roughly 2.5 tsp baking powder and ½ tsp salt)

Window nº 12

German Nuremberg Gingerbread (Nürnberger Lebkuchen)

Another keeper that has to mellow for a couple of weeks for best results.

½ kg honey
3 eggs
125 g sugar
½ kg flour
50 g candied peel
50 g ground walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
a good pinch of ground cloves
½ cup of coffee or milk
1 tbsp of baking powder

icing:
90 g icing sugar
30 g cornstarch
a few drops of bitter almond essence
a little rum or lemon juice
a few tbsp hot water

Beat eggs with sugar, pour in honey, mix and add all other ingredients (flour sifted with baking powder). Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F until done.
For icing mix cornstarch with icing sugar, add bitter almond essence, rum or lemon juice and add a few tbsp. of boiling water whisking continuously so that a thick liquid is formed. Brush just baked warm gingerbread with this warm icing (if it is too thick add more boiling water). When iced gingerbread cools down slice it into small rectangles and store in air-tight containers.

Window nº 9

German raisin rolls (Rosinenbroetchen)

Quick breakfast rolls, especially delicious while still warm

250 g quark or bakers’ cream cheese
2 eggs
1 tbsp oil
250 g flour
1 tbsp baking powder (or even less)
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar – or more, to taste
70 g raisins

Mix quark, eggs and oil, add salt, sugar, and flour sifted with baking powder. Mix well and add raisins. Roll into a ‘log’, slice it, shape rolls and bake on parchment-lined baking tray at 400 F (preheated oven) for about 20 minutes. They can also be glazed with condensed milk or beaten egg yolk before baking, but they are actually quite fine without.

Window nº 21
Italian tortelli di zucca (Christmas pumpkin pasta from Mantua)

A fantastic Christmas Eve dish of Mantua, Ferrara and other close lying towns of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. Here is the old-fashioned mantuan version.

2.5 kg ripe flavourful pumpkin or squash
700 g flour
300 g mostarda from Mantua (better one-fruit, apple or pear, candied in mustard syrup)
300 g Parmesan or Grana
200 g butter
200 g amaretti
6 eggs
1 lemon
salt
pepper

Prepare the filling a day before to let flavours develop in full. Bake big pieces of pumpkin in the oven. Pass through the sieve, add crushed amaretti, finely minced mostarda with its syrup, 8-9 tbsp of grated Parmesan, a liberal pinch of nutmeg, salt and black pepper to taste and juice of half a lemon. The last three ingredients are often omitted (although sometimes a bit of finely grated lemon zest may be used). Mix well with a wooden spoon, the filling must be pretty dry, if it isn’t add more crushed amaretti (people who do not like their tortelli too sweet often replace most of amaretti by breadcrumbs, but it is not traditional). Cover and let stand in a cool place until required.

Make pasta out of flour, eggs and a pinch of salt. Roll out in a thin rectangle. Put balls of filling (size of small walnut) onto the first half of the rectangle spacing it every 5 cm or so, cover with the second half of rectangle, shape tortelli carefully (they should be resctangular and have dented edges). Cover with a damp kitchen towel until use.

Boil up a lot of well-salted water, add tortelli very carefully so as not to break them mixing them in gently with a slotted spoon. After they rise to the surface remove several at a time and put into a warm tureen in layers adding melted butter and grated Parmesan in between. Close the lid and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Window nº 19
German Fake Ginger (Falscher Ingwer)

Another imitation that was quite popular with German families in the beginning of the 20th century instead of costly candied ginger.

500 g ripe flavourful pumpkin or squash (peeled and seeded)
500 g sugar
2 tbsp water
4 tsp powdered ginger
chocolate for coating

Grate or grind pumpkin in a meat grinder. Cook it over a very low fire with sugar, ginger and a little water until it becomes really thick (a few hours), stitting often towards the end. Spread a layer 1-2 cm thick on a tray lined with parchment. Let stand overnight until set. Cut into cubes or rectangles and coat with melted chocolate. Excellent present too.

Window nº 24
Thirteen Christmas Desserts of Provence (les treize desserts de Noël)

In Provence there is an old tradition of 13 desserts served on Christmas Eve. They include a flat olive oil brioche (pompe à l'huile) and fruit and nut ‘beggars’ (mendiants) that symbolize the mendicant orders of Franciscans (dried figs), Augustinians (walnuts and hazelnuts), Dominicans (sultanas) and Carmelites (almonds) according to their robes' colours. Fresh fruit such as grapes, apples, pears, winter melons and even Mediterranean service tree fruit (sorbes) are also present. There is also nougat: both white and the more traditional black one.

Black nougat is relatively easy to make at home (although it might ultimately provoke an unlooked-for visit to your dentist!). Boil up 1 kg of honey (preferably lavender), add 1 kg of almonds (you may also add some pistachios and/or hazelnuts) and cook, stirring from time to time till honey darkens. Pour the mixture into a tray lined with rice-paper and spread evenly (about 1.5 cm thick). Cover with rice-paper and a board with a couple of weights. Cut into pieces as soon as nougat cools down. Enjoy!

And for those who want to get into special Christmas Eve mood here's a lovely Russian cartoon on Nativity, no words, just beautiful Bach music

http://youtu.be/4i903mye4K4?t=17s

Window nº 17
The Romans used to celebrate Saturnalia on December 17, the day when everything went topsy-turvy, masters served their servants, people played games and tricks on each other, especially at festive dinner. Fake chicken, fake pigs, fake salt fish and other things were often popular. In present-day France one can even get fake foie gras: although probably mostly for reasons of economy... Still it’s a good joke, and tastes great too.

French Fake Foie Gras Mousse

400-500 g chicken livers, about 200 ml port wine, 500 ml chicken stock, 250 g butter, 2 tsp brandy, salt and black pepper

Marinate cleaned chicken livers in port overnight. Poach them in chicken stock with 100 ml port wine in the morning for 12 minutes. Strain and mix in the food processor with butter and brandy. Add salt and pepper to taste, and let the mousse stand in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Serve in the same way as real foie gras mousse.

Window nº 14
English Wassail

Traditional recipe from Jesus College, Oxford, an interesting bottled version to be used as needed without hassle.

6 pints ale
8 oz sugar
nutmeg
ginger
4 glasses sherry
white toast
lemon slices

Put sugar into a jug, pour over it one pint of warmed ale. Grate some nutmeg and ginger into it then add sherry and the rest of ale. Stir well, add more sugar if desired. Allow to stand for three hours, add three-four slices of toasted bread and a few lemon slices. Bottle and drink (presumably heated)in a few days.

Window nº 1
Getting started...
German Peppernuts (Pfeffernüsse)

300 ml honey, 150 g sugar, 300 g butter, 700 g flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cinnamon. 1/4 tsp each ground white pepper, cardamom and cloves, zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
icing: juice of 1 lemon 300 g icing sugar

Heat butter with honey and sugar in a big pot, bring to boil and let the mixture cool to body temperature. Stir in flour sifted with spices and baking powder, knead well. Roll smallish balls of dough (3 cm diameter) and put into a preheated (360F) oven on a lightly greased baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes till done (they should not colour too much). Mix lemon juice with icing sugar and glaze peppernuts with this mixture while they are still warm. Let peppernuts cool. They’ll become quite hard but do not panic, keep calm and carry on. Put them away in tightly closed tins or jars and ‘forget’ about them for two or three weeks (if you want them to soften in a couple of days put a slice of apple with them, but it’s better to wait – the longer they keep the more flavourful they become). They become soft and melt-in-your mouth delicious with time. They keep fresh at room temperature for months – if they get a chance that is.

Season’s greetings from Sasha, Harbord Village, Toronto

[Re-start] [ Go to window 25]

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Window nº 25

Happy Christmas! Hope you have a great one, like the one described by Charles Dickens (at least in spirit if not in actual detail):

...I have been looking on, this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas Tree. The tree was planted in the middle of a great round table, and towered high above their heads. It was brilliantly lighted by a multitude of little tapers; and everywhere sparkled and glittered with bright objects. There were rosy-cheeked dolls, hiding behind the green leaves; and there were real watches (with movable hands, at least, and an endless capacity of being wound up) dangling from innumerable twigs; there were French-polished tables, chairs, bedsteads, wardrobes, eight-day clocks, and various other articles of domestic furniture (wonderfully made, in tin, at Wolverhampton), perched among the boughs, as if in preparation for some fairy housekeeping; there were jolly, broad-faced little men, much more agreeable in appearance than many real men--and no wonder, for their heads took off, and showed them to be full of sugar-plums; there were fiddles and drums; there were tambourines, books, work-boxes, paint-boxes, sweetmeat-boxes, peep-show boxes, and all kinds of boxes; there were trinkets for the elder girls, far brighter than any grown-up gold and jewels; there were baskets and pincushions in all devices; there were guns, swords, and banners; there were witches standing in enchanted rings of pasteboard, to tell fortunes; there were teetotums, humming-tops, needle-cases, pen-wipers, smelling-bottles, conversation-cards, bouquet-holders; real fruit, made artificially dazzling with gold leaf; imitation apples, pears, and walnuts, crammed with surprises; in short, as a pretty child, before me, delightedly whispered to another pretty child, her bosom friend, "There was everything, and more."...

So, let’s toast the season with a great English ‘cappuccino’ Samuel Pepys used to drink in the 17th century (boozy or not, it’s your choice)

Lambs Wool Hot Punch

4 cooking apples (preferably russet), 2 l ale or cider (apple juice works fine too), 6 cloves, 1 tsp grated nutmeg, 1/2 tsp grated ginger, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 allspice peppercorns, 2 tbsp brown sugar

Bake apples at 400 F for half an hour till soft with a little water, ale or cider. Bring ale or cider with spices and sugar to boiling pot. Scoop out soft fluffy apple pulp with a spoon and float on hot punch. Serve immediately.

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Window nº 1 1-12-2013	Getting started... German Peppernuts (Pfeffernüsse) 300 ml honey, 150 g sugar, 300 g butter, 700 g flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cinnamon. 1/4 tsp each ground white pepper, cardamom and cloves, zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon icing: juice of 1 lemon 300 g icing sugar Heat butter with honey and sugar in a big pot, bring to boil and let the mixture cool to body temperature. Stir in flour sifted with spices and baking powder, knead well. Roll smallish balls of dough (3 cm diameter) and put into a preheated (360F) oven on a lightly greased baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes till done (they should not colour too much). Mix lemon juice with icing sugar and glaze peppernuts with this mixture while they are still warm. Let peppernuts cool. They’ll become quite hard but do not panic, keep calm and carry on. Put them away in tightly closed tins or jars and ‘forget’ about them for two or three weeks (if you want them to soften in a couple of days put a slice of apple with them, but it’s better to wait – the longer they keep the more flavourful they become). They become soft and melt-in-your mouth delicious with time. They keep fresh at room temperature for months – if they get a chance that is.
Window nº 2 2-12-2013	Marrons glacés (French crystallized chestnuts) One of the traditional and very expensive Christmas indulgences can actually be made at home with much less trouble now that vacuum-packed cooked whole chestnuts are available in stores. Time-consuming (yes, it’s four days) but worth the effort if you really like marrons glacés (think Nesselrode pudding, vanilla ice cream, pureed chestnut Mont Blanc with whipped cream etc.). They also make excellent presents. 300 g cooked chestnuts 600 g sugar 0.6 l water a vanilla pod or some vanilla essence 100 g icing sugar 1st day Boil regular sugar with water and some vanilla seeds or a few drops of vanilla essence. Plunge chestnuts into the syrup and bring back to boil gently over a very slow fire. Remove from fire and let the chestnuts macerate in their syrup at room temperature for 24 hours. 2nd day Take chestnuts out of the syrup with a slotted spoon. Bring the remaining syrup back to boil, get the chestnuts in and repeat the 1st day procedure. 3rd day Repeat the 2nd day procedure. 4th day Take chestnuts out of syrup with a slotted spoon and drain as well as possible. Heat the remaining syrup, mix it with icing sugar and plunge cryztallized chestnuts into the mixture. Dry them on a rack and then put them in the oven at 250 F for several minutes to make the glaze more firm. Your marrons glacés are done.
Window nº 3 3-12-2013	Italian Certosino Christmas Cake (certosino di Bologna) 500 g flour, 400 g honey, 200 g almonds, 50 g pine-nuts, 80 g sultanas, 100 g candied fruit, 100 g fruit jam or pureed cooked fruit (e.g. applesauce), 50 g dark chocolate, cinnamon, aniseed (or a few tsp anise-flavoured spirits like ouzo or pastis), 1 tsp baking soda, 50 g butter Mix flour with honey heated with a few tbsp of water, add the rest of the ingredients (except butter) and knead well. Bake in a buttered round baking tin at 360 F till done. Let cool and wrap tightly in foil. Keep at least for a week, glaze with honey and garnish with almonds and candied fruit before serving.
Window nº 4 4-12-2013	Colourful German Christmas Bread (Buntes Weihnachtsbrot) 500 g flour, 40 g fresh yeast (equals 20 g active dry, 16 g instant), 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, 1/8 l milk, 75 g diced ham, ½ cup diced dill pickles, ½ cup diced red and yellow bell peppers, 1 tbsp caraway, 40 g butter, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, a little milk Make a flour well, put yeast crushed with sugar and some milk in the middle, sprinkle with flour and let rest for 15 minutes. Mix in butter (room temperature) and the rest of the ingredients, knead well. Let rest for 30 more minutes. Form a loaf of bread and put on a buttered baking tray to rest for 20 more minutes. Brush the surface of the loaf with a little milk and bake bread at 440F for about half an hour. Brush with more milk while baking for extra golden crust.
Window nº 5 5-12-2013	Dutch Peppernuts (pepernoten or kruidnoten) The Eve of St. Nicholas Day is a great holiday in Holland, much like Christmas in other countries. Sinterklaas arrives with his helper Black Peter (Zwarte Piet), who tosses around candies and these hard spicy peppernut cookies very unlike their German counterpart (although spices are almost the same including a dash of white pepper). It’s time of family fun and presents giving, 250 g self-rising flour, 125 g brown sugar, 100 g butter, 50 ml milk, 1.5 tbsp Dutch spice mix (speculaaskruiden) Beat room-temperature butter with sugar, add the rest of the ingredients and knead. Roll smallish balls of dough and put into a preheated (350F) oven on baking tray lined with parchment. Bake for 15 minutes. Making Dutch spice mix (speculaaskruiden) at home: 4 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground cloves 1 tsp ground mace 1/3 tsp ground ginger 1/5 tsp ground white pepper (a pinch) 1/5 tsp ground cardamom (a pinch) 1/5 tsp ground coriander seeds (a pinch) 1/5 tsp ground anise seeds (a pinch) 1/5 tsp grated nutmeg (a pinch) Self-rising flour can be replaced with all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt added (for ¾ cups flour 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp salt, here you will need 2 cups of flour, so you can add roughly 2.5 tsp baking powder and ½ tsp salt)
Window nº 6 6-12-2013	Bishop (British version) Feeling thirsty and exhausted after all the hard work in the kitchen? Let’s toast St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra with lovely hot tipple called the bishop, very popular with 19th century Oxbridge students. Wait, it requires more time and effort? Still totally worth it. 6 Seville oranges (if bitter oranges unavailable take 5 regular oranges and 1 yellow grapefruit) 36 cloves 120 g sugar 1 1/2 бottle dry red wine 1 bottle ruby port Bake oranges in a hot oven for 30 minutes until they turn golden brown. Place in a warmed pot studding each orange with 6 cloves apiece, add sugar. Pour dry red wine over them (but not the port), cover and let stand at room temperature for a day. Squeeze oranges into wine and strain, bottle the orange-infused wine (it can keep in sterilised bottles for quite a few weeks). When in the mood for some bishop mix with port and heat well (but do not boil) and pour into warmed mugs or goblets, whatever is your style. If using grapefruit squeeze it last and only use juice from one half of it first, taste and if you like the effect add juice of the other half.
Window nº 7 7-12-2013	Italian Boiled Meats with Green Sauce (bollito misto con salsa verde) Enough baking already, here's something meaty to get one's teeth into! Any boiled meat (usually an assortment of several kinds: tongue, beef, capon, cotechino sausage) may be served hot with green sauce for the Christmas Dinner in Northern Italy. For salsa verde grind in a mortar (a food processor is also acceptable) 4 bunches of flat-leaf parsley (just the leaves) together with 6 anchovy fillets, 1 garlic clove, 2 tbsp capers and 2 egg-yolks, drizzle in 5 tbsp olive oil continuing to beat the mixture, add salt and vinegar to taste.
Window nº 8 8-12-2013	Classic French Dark Chocolate Truffles (truffes au chocolat) CAUTION: This recipe uses raw egg yolk, to be avoided if pregnant just in case! 250 g fine dark chocolate 150 g butter (this recipe hails back to mid-20th century at the very least, many people now tend to use 125 g butter or even 100 g butter to this quantity of chocolate with impunity) 2 egg yolks cocoa powder for coating Break chocolate into small pieces and melt it gently in the microwave or a double boiler. Once it is room temperature stir in egg yolks, mix well and then add room temperature butter. If desired add a spoon of good brandy, rum, Cointreau or any other subtle alcohol flavouring. Place in the fridge for an hour. Scoop truffles with a tea spoon or a melon-baller, coat in cocoa powder and put in the fridge in a container with a tight lid until needed. They keep quite well in the freezer too. Another great DIY Christmas present, requiring very little time and effort for a change.
Window nº 9 9-12-2013	German raisin rolls (Rosinenbroetchen) Quick breakfast rolls, especially delicious while still warm 250 g quark or bakers’ cream cheese 2 eggs 1 tbsp oil 250 g flour 1 tbsp baking powder (or even less) a pinch of salt 1 tbsp sugar – or more, to taste 70 g raisins Mix quark, eggs and oil, add salt, sugar, and flour sifted with baking powder. Mix well and add raisins. Roll into a ‘log’, slice it, shape rolls and bake on parchment-lined baking tray at 400 F (preheated oven) for about 20 minutes. They can also be glazed with condensed milk or beaten egg yolk before baking, but they are actually quite fine without.
Window nº 10 10-12-2013	Italian Biscottini di Prato (alias cantuccini) Now back to stocking up for Christmas 250 g flour 200 g sugar 100 g unpeeled almonds, roughly sliced 2 eggs 1 tsp of baking powder a pinch of salt 1 tsp of vanillin (yes, it's an old recipe) or a few drops of vanilla essence Mix all the dry ingredients (except almonds), make a well and break eggs into it. Knead the dough well, add almonds and mix. Shape three long loafs 3-4 cm large and put them (well apart) on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake in the preheated oven (360F) for about 30 minutes. Take the loaves out, let cool for several minutes and slice diagonally to make biscottini 1 cm thick. Lay them flat on the baking tray and put back into the hot oven. Take them out after 5 minutes, turn them over and let dry in the oven for another 5 minutes. These biscottini last really well in tins so you can make them well ahead of time and send them as gifts too.
Window nº 11 11-12-2013	French St.Nicolas Mannele or Manalas Brioche of Alsace It is enjoyed in Alsace on December 6 with hot chocolate, but it's a wonderful treat throughout the holiday season and Santa Claus (ex-St.Nicolas) definitely won't take offence. 500 g flour, 150 ml milk, 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 200 g butter (at room temperature), 80 g sugar, a packet of dry yeast, a packet of vanilla sugar, a few currants, 1 tbsp of orange blossom water Mix all the ingredients except currants, knead well. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm place until double in volume. Roll 100 g or 50 g balls of dough, shape into little men, cutting hands and legs with a knife right on the buttered baking tray. Use currants for eyes and buttons. Let rest in a warm place till double in volume again. Bake at 360F for 20-25 minutes till done. Sprinkle with sugar if desired.
Window nº 12 12-12-2013	German Nuremberg Gingerbread (Nürnberger Lebkuchen) Another keeper that has to mellow for a couple of weeks for best results. ½ kg honey 3 eggs 125 g sugar ½ kg flour 50 g candied peel 50 g ground walnuts 1 tsp cinnamon a good pinch of ground cloves ½ cup of coffee or milk 1 tbsp of baking powder icing: 90 g icing sugar 30 g cornstarch a few drops of bitter almond essence a little rum or lemon juice a few tbsp hot water Beat eggs with sugar, pour in honey, mix and add all other ingredients (flour sifted with baking powder). Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F until done. For icing mix cornstarch with icing sugar, add bitter almond essence, rum or lemon juice and add a few tbsp. of boiling water whisking continuously so that a thick liquid is formed. Brush just baked warm gingerbread with this warm icing (if it is too thick add more boiling water). When iced gingerbread cools down slice it into small rectangles and store in air-tight containers.
Window nº 13 13-12-2013	Swedish St.Lucy's Saffron Buns (Lussekatter) 'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's, Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks; The sun is spent, and now his flasks Send forth light squibs, no constant rays; The world's whole sap is sunk...' At the time of John Donne and presumably at the time of these buns' creation before switching to Gregorian calendar it was St.Lucy's day that was the shortest day of the year - hence these glorious saffron buns - perfect solar symbols. 1 kg flour 500 ml milk 25 g dry yeast a little sugar 1 egg ½ tsp saffron 200 g butter 250 g sugar raisins Dry saffron in warm oven. Grind fine with a little sugar in a mortar and pestle. Dissolve yeast in warm water with a little sugar. Melt butter in a pot and pour in milk and warm to lukewarm. Blend saffron into milk. (The ground saffron can also be diluted in a little brandy and poured into the milk mixture.) Pour liquid into mixing bowl and stir in flour, a little at a time, until a loose, thick, smooth batter forms. Blend in the yeast, sugar, and then more flour, a little at a time. Knead vigorously, adding flour as needed until the dough is smooth, thick and shiny and doesn’t stick to the bowl. Sprinkle top of dough with a little flour and place a clean kitchen towel over the bowl and leave it in a warm place and let rise until double in size. Turn out onto board and break off pieces of dough and roll with hands into 10 cm long and 1.5 cm thick ‘ropes’. Coil each end in, making a figure “S”. Place on a greased baking sheet. Press a raisin into the centre of each spiral. Cover and let buns rise until about double in size (until they feel spongy when pressed lightly with finger). Gently brush a lightly beaten egg onto the buns Bake at 375°F (190°C) The buns should have a nice golden brown colour and feel light when done (approximately 10 minutes).
Window nº 14 14-12-2013	English Wassail Traditional recipe from Jesus College, Oxford, an interesting bottled version to be used as needed without hassle. 6 pints ale 8 oz sugar nutmeg ginger 4 glasses sherry white toast lemon slices Put sugar into a jug, pour over it one pint of warmed ale. Grate some nutmeg and ginger into it then add sherry and the rest of ale. Stir well, add more sugar if desired. Allow to stand for three hours, add three-four slices of toasted bread and a few lemon slices. Bottle and drink (presumably heated)in a few days.
Window nº 15 15-12-2013	Italian cavallucci cookies ('little horses' from Siena, Tuscany) 300 g sugar 300 g flour 100 g chopped walnuts 50 g finely chopped candied orange peel 15 g powdered aniseed 5 g cinnamon and other spices including coriander and nutmeg Boil sugar and a glass of water till syrup reaches the thread stage, remove from fire. Mix in all other ingredients and knead well. Roll our the dough (let it first rest for several hours to make it easier) about a finger thick. Cut into small diamonds snd put on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake for 30 minutes at low heat (300 F), they shouldn't colour. They should be crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside and last well when stored in air-tight container.
Window nº 16 16-12-2013	German Dresden Stollen (Dresdner Christstollen) Stollen was baked in Dresden for Christmas at least since the 15th century. Their shape is supposed to be faintly reminiscent of swaddled baby Jesus. It was such a signature dish in Dresden even back then that on one occasion in 1730 Augustus II ordered the bakers’ guild to bake a 1.7 ton giant stollen that fed about 24 000 people. 1 kg flour 100 g fresh yeast or 50 g active dry yeast 1/4 l warm milk 200 g sugar 400 g butter ½ tsp salt 400 g raisins or currants (more old-fashioned version) 200 g finely chopped mixed candied peel 250 g roughly chopped blanched almonds grated lemon zest from 1 lemon 1/8 tsp each cinnamon, cardamom, mace 3 tbsp rum bitter almonds essence 100 g melted butter for brushing 100 g icing sugar Make a well in the flour, add yeast with a couple of spoonfuls of warm milk, a pinch of sugar and a little flour. Mix and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. Add the rest of sugar, milk, melted butter, salt, spices and flavourings, mix well with flour. Knead until the dough doesn’t stick to hands anymore. Let stand in a warm place for 30 more minutes, add raisins, almonds and candied peel, knead well and let stand in a warm place for an hour. Shape two elongated oval loaves and press a vertical line with a rolling pin so that stollen is almost divided in 2/3 and 1/3. Let stand in a warm place 30 minutes more then put in a 360 F preheated oven. Bake for 80 minutes till golden-brown (cover with foil if stollen starts browning too early). Brush liberally with melted butter and coat with icing sugar. Wrap in foil and store in a cool dry place for at least 1-2 weeks before use, a month is even better for flavours to develop.
Window nº 17 17-12-2013	The Romans used to celebrate Saturnalia on December 17, the day when everything went topsy-turvy, masters served their servants, people played games and tricks on each other, especially at festive dinner. Fake chicken, fake pigs, fake salt fish and other things were often popular. In present-day France one can even get fake foie gras: although probably mostly for reasons of economy... Still it's a good joke, and tastes great too. French Fake Foie Gras Mousse 400-500 g chicken livers, about 200 ml port wine, 500 ml chicken stock, 250 g butter, 2 tsp brandy, salt and black pepper Marinate cleaned chicken livers in port overnight. Poach them in chicken stock with 100 ml port wine in the morning for 12 minutes. Strain and mix in the food processor with butter and brandy. Add salt and pepper to taste, and let the mousse stand in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Serve in the same way as real foie gras mousse.
Window nº 18 18-12-2013	English Clementine Curd A Christmas take on classic English lemon curd, takes a solid hour to make, but totally worth it, an excellent gift as well as a perfect dessert and teatime addition. 5 eggs 5 clementines 1 lemon 150 g sugar 250 g diced cold butter Wash and zest fruit. Juice, strain. Beat eggs until frothy, mix in sugar, juice and zest, continue beating. Pour into a saucepan and keep on a low-medium heat, beating continuously (a balloon whisk works great). When the mixture starts to get warm, add a couple of cubes of cold butter. Keep whisking all the time. When they are almost melted add a couple more and so on until all butter is gone. Don’t stop whisking. Curd is ready to go into jars when it coats the spoon.
Window nº 19 19-12-2013	German Fake Ginger (Falscher Ingwer) Another imitation that was quite popular with German families in the beginning of the 20th century instead of costly candied ginger. 500 g ripe flavourful pumpkin or squash (peeled and seeded) 500 g sugar 2 tbsp water 4 tsp powdered ginger chocolate for coating Grate or grind pumpkin in a meat grinder. Cook it over a very low fire with sugar, ginger and a little water until it becomes really thick (a few hours), stitting often towards the end. Spread a layer 1-2 cm thick on a tray lined with parchment. Let stand overnight until set. Cut into cubes or rectangles and coat with melted chocolate. Excellent present too.
Window nº 20 20-12-2013	French Pompe de Noël (Christmas Eve olive oil bread of Provence) 600 g sifted flour 20 g active dry yeast (or 40 g fresh yeast) 150 g sugar 2 eggs 1 egg yolk for glazing (optional) 150 ml good quality olive oil (EV) 5 tbsp orange blossom water (may be replaced with freshly squeezed orange juice) zest of 1 orange 250 ml warm water a pinch of salt The dough should rest 6 hours in total, quantity here enough for two pompe breads (traditionally for Christmas Eve dessert and for Christmas Eve breakfast). Mix yeast with a little warm water, a pinch of sugar and 100 g of flour. Let rest for 2 hours. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl (a big one), knead well, then add the sponge and knead some more. Roll into a ball, cover and put in a warm place to rise for at least 3 hours. Knead the dough again, divide in two, shape into balls and roll each out into a 2 cm thick circle on a lightly oiled surface. Cut six rays from 2-3 from centre out (another solar symbol, yes) and let pompes rest for another hour in a warm place before baking. Glaze with egg yolk and bake in an oven preheated to 300 F for 15-20 minutes or more with a pan of water under the rack. Watch closely towards the end.
Window nº 21 21-12-2013	Italian tortelli di zucca (Christmas pumpkin pasta from Mantua) A fantastic Christmas Eve dish of Mantua, Ferrara and other close lying towns of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. Here is the old-fashioned mantuan version. 2.5 kg ripe flavourful pumpkin or squash 700 g flour 300 g mostarda from Mantua (better one-fruit, apple or pear, candied in mustard syrup) 300 g Parmesan or Grana 200 g butter 200 g amaretti 6 eggs 1 lemon salt pepper Prepare the filling a day before to let flavours develop in full. Bake big pieces of pumpkin in the oven. Pass through the sieve, add crushed amaretti, finely minced mostarda with its syrup, 8-9 tbsp of grated Parmesan, a liberal pinch of nutmeg, salt and black pepper to taste and juice of half a lemon. The last three ingredients are often omitted (although sometimes a bit of finely grated lemon zest may be used). Mix well with a wooden spoon, the filling must be pretty dry, if it isn’t add more crushed amaretti (people who do not like their tortelli too sweet often replace most of amaretti by breadcrumbs, but it is not traditional). Cover and let stand in a cool place until required. Make pasta out of flour, eggs and a pinch of salt. Roll out in a thin rectangle. Put balls of filling (size of small walnut) onto the first half of the rectangle spacing it every 5 cm or so, cover with the second half of rectangle, shape tortelli carefully (they should be resctangular and have dented edges). Cover with a damp kitchen towel until use. Boil up a lot of well-salted water, add tortelli very carefully so as not to break them mixing them in gently with a slotted spoon. After they rise to the surface remove several at a time and put into a warm tureen in layers adding melted butter and grated Parmesan in between. Close the lid and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Window nº 22 22-12-2013	French bûche de Noël (Yule log roll) Easy home-style version 4 eggs 140 g fine sugar 100 g flour 11 g baking powder 250 g chocolate 200 g butter a little liqueur for flavouring: Grand Marnier, Kahlúa etc. (optional) Beat egg yolks with sugar and 3 tbsp of warm water until frothy. Little by little add flour sifted with baking powder continuing to beat. Then gently mix in egg-whites beaten stiff. Spread 1 cm thick on baking tray lined with parchment. Bake in a preheated oven, 360F for about 10 minutes.Take out of the oven and slide on a damp kitchen towel. Roll and let cool a little. Melt chocolate, let cool a little and mix with butter softened to room temperature. Spread a part of it evenly on the sponge base and roll it. Cover the roll with the rest of chocolate butter cream, line with a fork imitating bark and put into the fridge until serving. Decorate with crushed pistachios (moss), mushrooms out of meringue and so on.
Window nº 23 23-12-2013	German Christmas Eve Salad of Twelve (Zwölferlei Gericht) Boiled potatoes, boiled carrots, onions, apples, dill pickles, herring fillets, bacon or pancetta, mustard, oil, white wine vinegar, salt and black pepper Dice vegetables, apples, herring and bacon. Make a dressing of salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar and oil and dress the salad. Let stand at room temperature for a couple of hours before serving.
Window nº 24 24-12-2013	Thirteen Christmas Desserts of Provence (les treize desserts de Noël) In Provence there is an old tradition of 13 desserts served on Christmas Eve. They include a flat olive oil brioche (pompe à l'huile) and fruit and nut ‘beggars’ (mendiants) that symbolize the mendicant orders of Franciscans (dried figs), Augustinians (walnuts and hazelnuts), Dominicans (sultanas) and Carmelites (almonds) according to their robes' colours. Fresh fruit such as grapes, apples, pears, winter melons and even Mediterranean service tree fruit (sorbes) are also present. There is also nougat: both white and the more traditional black one. Black nougat is relatively easy to make at home (although it might ultimately provoke an unlooked-for visit to your dentist!). Boil up 1 kg of honey (preferably lavender), add 1 kg of almonds (you may also add some pistachios and/or hazelnuts) and cook, stirring from time to time till honey darkens. Pour the mixture into a tray lined with rice-paper and spread evenly (about 1.5 cm thick). Cover with rice-paper and a board with a couple of weights. Cut into pieces as soon as nougat cools down. Enjoy! And for those who want to get into special Christmas Eve mood here's a lovely Russian cartoon on Nativity, no words, just beautiful Bach music http://youtu.be/4i903mye4K4?t=17s
Window nº 25 25-12-2013	Happy Christmas! Hope you have a great one, like the one described by Charles Dickens (at least in spirit if not in actual detail): ...I have been looking on, this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas Tree. The tree was planted in the middle of a great round table, and towered high above their heads. It was brilliantly lighted by a multitude of little tapers; and everywhere sparkled and glittered with bright objects. There were rosy-cheeked dolls, hiding behind the green leaves; and there were real watches (with movable hands, at least, and an endless capacity of being wound up) dangling from innumerable twigs; there were French-polished tables, chairs, bedsteads, wardrobes, eight-day clocks, and various other articles of domestic furniture (wonderfully made, in tin, at Wolverhampton), perched among the boughs, as if in preparation for some fairy housekeeping; there were jolly, broad-faced little men, much more agreeable in appearance than many real men--and no wonder, for their heads took off, and showed them to be full of sugar-plums; there were fiddles and drums; there were tambourines, books, work-boxes, paint-boxes, sweetmeat-boxes, peep-show boxes, and all kinds of boxes; there were trinkets for the elder girls, far brighter than any grown-up gold and jewels; there were baskets and pincushions in all devices; there were guns, swords, and banners; there were witches standing in enchanted rings of pasteboard, to tell fortunes; there were teetotums, humming-tops, needle-cases, pen-wipers, smelling-bottles, conversation-cards, bouquet-holders; real fruit, made artificially dazzling with gold leaf; imitation apples, pears, and walnuts, crammed with surprises; in short, as a pretty child, before me, delightedly whispered to another pretty child, her bosom friend, "There was everything, and more."... So, let’s toast the season with a great English ‘cappuccino’ Samuel Pepys used to drink in the 17th century (boozy or not, it’s your choice) Lambs Wool Hot Punch 4 cooking apples (preferably russet), 2 l ale or cider (apple juice works fine too), 6 cloves, 1 tsp grated nutmeg, 1/2 tsp grated ginger, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 allspice peppercorns, 2 tbsp brown sugar Bake apples at 400 F for half an hour till soft with a little water, ale or cider. Bring ale or cider with spices and sugar to boiling pot. Scoop out soft fluffy apple pulp with a spoon and float on hot punch. Serve immediately.