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Lagkage med jordbær og marcipan – Layered cake with strawberries and marcipan

Posted in Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 30, 2011| 19 Comments »

Lagkage med jordbær og marcipan

I have been meaning to make a real Danish Lagkage for quite some time now, but for some reason, I kept putting it off.  Then I went to my friend Tina’s house for our monthly Danish meeting and she served the most wonderful Lagkage which really inspired me.  The following morning I started researching Danish Lagkager and by late afternoon I had made my first ever real Danish Lagkage. The combination of fresh strawberries, crisp macaroons, sweet marcipan and light sponge cake made for an amazing combination of flavors and textures. It turned out to be a big success and it will definitely not be the last time that I make Danish Lagkage for dessert.

It can seem a little complicated to get all the right ingredients together but you can buy the sponge cake, Danish macaroons and raw marcipan on the internet and making the homemade custard really is very easy. I could have baked a sponge cake myself and cut it into thirds but this particular store-bought cake it very light and thin and actually perfect, in my opinion, for making a Lagkage. If you feel inspired to make a Lagkage, I am confident that you will not regret it.

Ingredients:

3 round sponge cakes

Custard:

2 eggs

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 cup milk (2 1/2 dl)

1 tsp vanilla sugar

Strawberry filling:

1 pint whipping cream (1/2 liter)

1 tbsp confectioner’s sugar

1 lb fresh strawberries (500 g)

Other fillings:

1/2 lb marcipan (250 g)

Confectioners sugar for rolling out marcipan

Danish macaroons – crumbled

small amount of chocolate – grated or shaved, for decoration

Directions:

To make the Custard – Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar together in a small cooking pot. Measure out milk and add cornstarch, stir to combine. Add milk to eggs in cooking pot and while stirring constantly bring to a simmer. Custard will thicken rapidly and once you notice it bubbling remove from heat. Place custard in small dish, cover with cling wrap directly onto the custard surface to avoid a skin from forming. Place in refrigerator to cool down a little.

To make Strawberry filling – Clean strawberries under running water, cut top off and cut into half, set aside. Using an electrical mixer, whisk whipping cream until it starts to thicken a little (the beaters leave a soft track in cream). Add confectioners sugar and whisk just a little more, careful not to get whipping cream too thick. Take a little under half of strawberries and break up using a fork. Add a little under half of whipping cream to smashed strawberries and stir to combine. Set aside. Set aside the remaining half of whipped cream and strawberries.

Take marcipan and divide into 2 equal portions, roll to a ball. Sprinkle confectioners sugar onto clean tabletop and roll out balls to flat disks approximately same size as your sponge cakes. Lift from tabletop and set aside.

To assemble cake:

1. Place first sponge cake onto serving dish

2. Spread out half of custard

3. Add one disk of marcipan

4. Spread out half of strawberry filling

5. Add second sponge cake

6. Spread out remaining custard

7. Add second disk of marcipan

8. Spread out remaining strawberry filling

9. Crush a couple of crisp Danish macaroons and sprinkle over filling

10. Top with third sponge cake

11. Spread the last remaining whipped cream over top and sides of layered cake

12. Decorate with grated or shaved chocolate and remaining strawberries

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Danish Lagkage

Source: inspired by Maduniverset.dk

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Rabarber Koldskål – Rhubarb Koldskål

Posted in Breakfast, Danish, Dessert, Quick and Easy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 22, 2011| 5 Comments »

Rabarber Koldskål

I know what you’re thinking, and your right. It’s time for Koldskål! The days are longer and the temperatures are rising and Koldskål is just such a perfect dish for summer evenings. This version is made with rhubarb which makes it a little more tart but you can always add more sugar if you like. I like the tang though. I also chose to used Greek yogurt which made it a little thicker, yet it turned out with a wonderful “airy” consistency which I really enjoyed. When ready to serve make sure you serve it very cold and with your favorite topping. I hope you enjoy this Danish summer dish.

Koldskål – 3 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup Greek plain non-fat yogurt

4 tablespoons sugar

Rhubarb Compote:

1 1/2 large Rhubarbs

4 tbsp sugar (50g)

1/2 vanilla bean

1/2 cup cold water (1 dl)

Topping:

Kammerjunkere – delicious cookies typically served with Koldskål

Direction:

Beat buttermilk, yogurt and sugar together. Cover and place in refrigerator.

Meanwhile, clean and cut rhubarbs into 2 inch slices and place in small cooking pot. Add sugar, seeds plus vanilla bean and water. Simmer covered for 15 minutes, uncover, turn off heat and let stand another 5 minutes. Remove vanilla bean ,place in blender and blend until smooth. Allow to cool before whipping it into the Koldskål. Place back in refrigerator until ready to serve. Add your favorite topping. Enjoy.

Rabarber Koldskål med Kammerjunkere

Adapted from: Det Søde Liv

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Fastelavnsboller

Posted in Danish, Dessert, Pastry, tagged , , , , , , , on January 31, 2011| 20 Comments »

Fastelavnsboller

Fastelavn is a Nordic holiday celebrated on Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday. It is similar to the American Halloween where children dress in customes and beg for candy. Some towns may have a parade followed by the traditional “slå katten af tynden” which is a wooden barrel that has cats painted on it and is filled with candy. The children takes turn hitting the barrel with a bat and the one to hit the bottom out, spilling the candy, is crowned “kattedronning” (queen of the cats). Hitting of the barrel continues and the one hitting down the last plank is crowned “kattekonge” (king of the cats).

If the children go door to door begging for candy they will come to the door and sing a little tune called Boller op, boller ned. This song basically says: Buns up, buns down, buns in my stomach, if I get no buns, then I will make trouble. The buns mentioned in the song is reffering to the Fastelavnsboller which is a popular pastry served on this particular day.

There are many different varieties of Fastelavnsboller recipes. Some is made from a Wienerbrød dough and some are a regular yeast dough. Some are prefilled with a custard or jam while others are sliced open and then filled with a custard or whipped cream filling. The Fastelavnesboller which I made here is a regular yeast dough which was prefilled with custard. I absolutely adore custard and would (if no one was watching) eat it by the spoonful. However, for these particular Fastelavnsboller which I choose to prefil and then bake, it turned out that the wonderful custard got almost completely absorbed into the bread and loosing its intensity. So next time I make this recipe I think I’ll prefil with jam instead because the jam still has its intensity even if some of it gets absorbed into the bread.

Ingredients:

Dough:

2 deciliter milk (1 cup)

25 grams butter (2 tablespoons)

50 grams cake/fresh yeast (or 4 teaspoons dry active yeast)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

450-475 grams flour (3 3/4 cups)

1 additional egg for glazing (optional)

Custard filling:

1 vanilla bean

1 cup milk

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons superfine sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Jam filling:

your favorite jam (if using)

Chocolate icing:

1 cup confectioners sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

hot water

White icing:

1 cup confectioners sugar

hot water

Sprinkles for decorating

Directions:

In a small saucepan heat up milk and butter to finger temperature, melting the butter. Break up cake yeast and place  in a small bowl, pour warm milk over and stir to dissolve yeast. Add sugar, salt and egg, stir to mix. Add flour a little at the time, stir to combine. Note: it may not be necessary to add all the flour. Knead the dough until smooth. Leave dough in bowl and cover with a dry tea towel. Place in a warm location and let rise for 1 hour.

While dough is rising, make the filling. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds with the tip of a knife. Place vanilla seeds and milk in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until pale in color and fluffy. Add cornstarch and mix together. While continuing to beat the eggs, slowly pour half of the hot milk into the eggs to temper it. Then pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan and return to low temperature on the stove. Continue to whisk mixture over low temperature until the custard starts to thicken, making sure the custard does not boil. Remove from heat, place in a small bowl, cover with cling wrap directly on the custard surface to prevent a skin from forming and place in refrigerator to cool.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Lightly dust with flour and turn dough out onto the working surface. Knead dough a little until smooth and elastic. Roll out into a 40 by 40 cm square (15 x 15 inches) and cut dough into 12 pieces. Place a heaping teaspoonful custard or jam (if using) in center of each square. Using the leftover egg whites, brush the edges of the square dough to help seal the edges. Fold each of the four corners up to the center and press to seal all edges, letting the air inside escape. Turn the dough ball over, tuck under all edges and place on baking sheet with seam side down. Repeat with remaining squares. When done forming dough balls, cover with a dry tea towel and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm location.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit). After dough has been allowed to rise, break open an egg and lightly beat it in small bowl. Brush egg-wash onto each dough ball before baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before icing.

To make icing, combine ingredients in a small bowl and mix until desired thickness (somewhat thick but spreadable). Spread icing onto each fastelavnsbolle and place sprinkles on top before glaze sets. Enjoy.

Source: dough from Lone Kjær – Hverdag de luxe and custard filling adapted from Trina Hahnemann – The Scandinavian Cookbook

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Kanelsnegle – aka Cinnamon Buns, and a few words on Yeast

Posted in Breakfast, Danish, Dessert, Other, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 3, 2011| 14 Comments »

Kanelsnegle

I made my first Kanelsnegle (Cinnamon Buns) in Home-Ed class. Does any high schools offer Home Education classes anymore? The class gave me a basic knowledge of cooking and baking. It sparked an interest for baking in particular and I baked quite a bit when I was a teenager. This is still something that I truly enjoy. By the way, I also took woodworking, but no sparks came from that class ha ha 🙂

Rolling up dough

Kanelsnegle ready for baking

Just a note about yeast. In Europe the preferred type of yeast is Fresh Active Yeast as compared to the American preference of Dry Active Yeast. Fresh yeast (also called Cake yeast or Bakers compressed yeast) can sometimes be found in the dairy section of certain grocery stores. It has a short expiration date and so it’s very perishable but works faster and longer. Fresh yeast is dissolved in liquid 70-80 degrees F. Store it in the refrigerator or freeze for up to 4 months. Dry yeast on the other hand has a much longer expiration date and is more forgiving of mishandling. To activate it sprinkle on water that’s between 100-110 degrees F and wait to see small bubble (about 10 minutes). Note if your liquid is too warm you’ll kill the yeast and adding a teaspoon of sugar to the liquid will provide a little food for the yeast, encouraging it to “wake up”. Typically, 50 grams of Fresh yeast = 4 teaspoons Dry yeast (12 grams).

Fresh active yeast

Ingredients:

25 grams Fleischmann’s Fresh Active Yeast

2 1/2 deciliter milk (1 cup)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cardamom

400 grams flour (3 1/2 cups)

small amount of oil for the bowl

plus 1 egg for brushing cinnamon buns

Filling:

75 grams butter at room temperature (5 tablespoons)

75 grams sugar (1/2 cup)

2 tablespoons cinnamon

50 grams marzipan (about 1/4 cup) (optional)

Glaze:

1 cup confectioners sugar

1-2 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in cold milk stirring gently. Add oil, sugar, salt and cardamom. Add flour a little at the time and knead until you have a firm dough. Place a small amount of oil in the bowl and turn the dough in the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise to double in size (30-60 minutes).

Place room temperature butter, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. If you’re using marzipan, break it up into small pieces and mix into butter using a fork to help break it up a little.

Prepare two round 8 inch baking pans by placing a round piece of parchment paper in bottom of pan and spray with non-stick oil. Or you can place parchment paper on a baking sheet.

Sprinkle tabletop with flour and roll out dough to 40 x 50 centimeter (15 x 19 inches). Spread butter filling onto dough and roll into a log starting at the long edge. Cut dough into 14 even slices. If using round baking pans, place cinnamon slices in a circular fashion – 7 slices in each pan. If you using a baking sheet, place cinnamon slices right next to one another. By placing slices close to one another during baking is keeps the finished cinnamon buns moister. Cover baking pans or baking sheet with a dry kitchen towel, place in a warm location and allow to rise for another 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees Celsius (about 425 degrees Fahrenheit). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before glazing. To make glaze, simply combine confectioners sugar and water until desired consistency. Enjoy!

Kanelsnegl

Source: Signes Mad

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12 Days of Christmas – Risalamande – Almond Rice Pudding

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2010| 33 Comments »

Ris a la Mande

Risalamande

During the 1800’s the citizen’s of Copenhagen felt the need to separate themselves from the farming community and this also affected our Christmas food. They added whipped cream and almonds to our beloved Danish Risengrød and called it Risalamande to give it some French flair, because that is what was in fashion at that time. Kristeligt Dagblad

Danish Christmas Tradition: Mandelgaven (the Almond Present)

Today you still see Ris a la mande served in most Danish households on Christmas Eve. Since then, we have add a warm Cherry Sauce to top it off and traditionally a fun game goes along with eating this wonderful Christmas treat. A single whole Almond is blanched and stirred into the Risalamande to hide it. The dish is served after Christmas dinner and whoever finds the almond wins a gift. The problem with the Almond gift is that the winner could be anyone from a child to grandmother. This is often solved by giving a traditional small Marzipan pig as the gift, but today, the gift could be anything. Also, there is a lot of cheating going on with this game. Some may choose to place an Almond in each of the children’s bowls so all the children gets a gift. I think my Mom did that one year but we thought the game should be done “the right way”. I can honestly say that I have never won this game. The winner in our home was typically my Dad. He would often times get the almond and then he would keep it hidden against his cheek until all the Risalamande was eaten up. Sneaky.  One year my Dad took pity on me and gave me the Almond under the table 🙂 but I didn’t feel right taking the gift since I did not honestly win it.

I should also mention that some households may chop blanched Almonds into small pieces and add them to the dish. We have never done this at our house, instead pure Almond Extract is added giving the dish a wonderful Almond flavor. This dish is by far one of the biggest highlights of Christmas for me and I continue to serve it every single year, for it would not be Christmas without it.

Risalamande with warm Cherry sauce

Update:

I am very honored to be asked to participate in the LexioPhiles International Recipe Advent Calendar 2011. My recipe for Risalamande with warm Cherry sauce will appear on December 2nd, 2011.  LexioPhiles will feature a new recipe every day during the month of December from bloggers around the world.

Ingredients for 1st stage – Risengrød:

1 1/4 cup water

1 cup rice (Grødris)

4 1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Ingredients for 2nd stage – Risalamande:

1 1/2 cup whipping cream

3 tablespoon confectioners sugar

4 teaspoon pure almond extract

2 whole almonds

For the Cherry Sauce:

15 oz can Oregon Bing Cherries in heavy syrup

1 tablespoon cornstarch

water

Directions:

Place water and rice in a medium cooking pot, cover with a lid and simmer for 2 minutes. Add milk and vanilla sugar and simmer covered over low heat for 40-45 minutes. Stir often to make sure the milk does not burn, especially the last 30 minutes. You may have to turn the heat all the way down as low as your stove will allow for the last 15 minutes.

Place in Tupperware and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Once mixture is completely cooled remove from refrigerator and break it up with a spoon. In a small bowl add whipping cream, confectioners sugar and almond extract. Beat with a handheld mixer until you see tracks from beaters in the cream. Add half of the whipping cream to rice mixture and combine well with a spoon, add remaining whipping cream in small increments. The final  texture should be creamy and easily mixed with the spoon. Place covered in refrigerator until ready to serve.

To blanch almonds. Place almonds in a small dish and pour boiling water over to cover. Let sit in water for 1 minute, drain and rinse with cold water. Pat dry and slip the skins off. I usually blanch two almonds in case I have trouble with one. Before serving Risalamande, place one blanched almond in mixture and stir well to hide almond.

In a small dish mix together the cornstarch and some water to form the thickening agent. In a small saucepan bring cherry and syrup to a simmer. Add the cornstarch/water mixture to cherries a little at the time, stirring until syrup starts to thicken. Simmer for 1 minute and remove from heat.

Serve Risalamande cold with the warm cherry sauce on top.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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12 Days of Christmas – Risengrød – Rice Porridge

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2010| 28 Comments »

Risengrød

Risengrød

Danish Christmas Tradition: Nissen (a mythical creature of Scandinavian Folklore)

The Danish Nisse is a fictional character which has its roots from the 1800’s farming community. Nissen would help with the successful drift of the farm, that is, if you were respectful of the nisse and if you behaved yourself. A special dish which were served for Christmas is Risengrød. It may not seem special by todays measure, but back then milk, rice, butter, sugar and cinnamon was a commodity. And so, it makes sense that Nissen would be part of a festive event like Christmas.

Today, the Nisse folklore is still alive and well, but in a different way. Songs have been written about the Nissen and he’s often seen in Children’s Christmas calendars whether it be on TV or on paper. He is an important part of decorating for Christmas in Denmark and Risengrød is still his favorite meal. In the picture above, which is part of my Christmas Tree skirt, you can see the Nissen getting ready to eat his Risengrød.

Risengrød

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup water

1 cup rice (Grødris)

4 1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

butter

sugar

cinnamon

Directions:

Place water and rice in a medium cooking pot, cover with a lid and simmer for 2 minutes. Add milk, salt and vanilla sugar and simmer covered over low heat for 40-45 minutes. Stir often to make sure the milk does not burn, especially the last 30 minutes. You may have to turn the heat all the way down as low as your stove will allow for the last 15 minutes.

Mix sugar and cinnamon together according to your taste. Serve the Risengrød warm, sprinkled with sugar/cinnamon mixture and place a dollop of butter in the center, letting the butter melt.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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12 Days of Christmas – Gløgg – Danish Mulled Wine

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Danish, Drinks, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 26, 2010| 13 Comments »

Red Wine Gløgg

In the weeks leading up to Christmas there are many “get togethers” at work, in town, schools, clubs, friends and family stopping by to say hello. You can serve just about anything for your guests, really, or you could serve the traditional warm drink Gløgg and some warm Danish Æbleskiver. This combination is especially wonderful when you are coming in from the freezing cold outside.

Gløgg was imported to Denmark from our neighbors in Sweden and it started to take hold on the Danes in the years around WWII. There are many variations of Gløgg recipes out there and no one correct way to make it. Some contain brandy, cognac, port wine, vodka or snaps but the base is almost always red wine, although there are also some white wine versions, as well as non-alcoholic children’s versions. Back in the old days it was also thought to have some healing effects for winter depression, well at least for a short while 😉

Ingredients:

1 bottle red wine

1 cup white port wine

1 tablespoon Cardamom pods

1 stick Cinnamon

8 whole Cloves

4 pieces crystalized ginger

1 1/2 deciliter dark brown sugar (1/2 cup)

1 cup raisins

slivered almonds

Directions:

Place the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, cloves, crystalized ginger and sugar in the port and red wine overnight or at least 1-2 hours before serving. Before serving, gently heat the liquid on the stove but do not allow to boil. Run the wine through a sieve to remove the spices, then add the raisins and almonds to the wine and serve warm.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas ♥

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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12 Days of Christmas – Æbleskiver (Aebleskiver)

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , on November 22, 2010| 21 Comments »

Danish Æbleskiver

Æbleskiver is a tasty Danish dessert that looks like round puffy pancakes. The word æbleskive means apple slice and it first appeared in the middle ages where slices of apple were dipped in a batter and fried. When the æbleskive pan was introduce sometime in the 1700’s, æbleskiver were baked with small pieces of apple or prunes in the center. Today in Denmark æbleskiver is typically baked without anything in the center and they are served with a strawberry, lingonberry or raspberry jam or simply just dipped in sugar.

Æbleskiver are often served during the Christmas month perhaps as a special treat at a Christmas fair, when family or friends are visiting, little Christmas Eve (Dec 23rd) or maybe New Years Day. These Danish delicacies are served warm with a dusting of powdered sugar and sometimes with a warm glass of either red or white Gløgg.

Æbleskiver

Æbleskiver (makes 35)

Ingredients:

60 gram butter (4 tablespoon) – melted and set aside

250 gram flour (2 cups)

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 large eggs

4 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon Cardamom

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup buttermilk

a pinch of salt

zest of 1 lemon

Directions:

Melt butter and set aside. Sift flour and baking powder in a bowl. In a second bowl, beat eggs, sugar and cardamom until frothy and lighter in color. In a third bowl, stir together the buttermilk and cream. Taking turns, add flour and buttermilk to egg mixture while beating, mix until smooth. Add salt, lemon zest and cooled butter, stir to mix. Place batter in refrigerator and let rest 30 minutes. If batter is very thick after resting add a little more buttermilk. Use Canola oil or butter for frying.

Tips:

Must have a Æbleskive pan for cooking, making sure it is well seasoned if cast iron.

Traditionally, æbleskiver are turned with a thin knitting needle (why a knitting needle ? not sure, but you can find a knitting needle in most Danish households and the metal needle works really well grabbing the æbleskive to rotate in a cast iron pan). If you don’t have a knitting needle, try using a metal skewer or it can be done with a fork although a bit clumsy.

Make sure your heat is high enough, medium heat.

Make sure to preheat your pan, 5 to 10 minutes.

Use enough oil or butter for frying.

Some source recommend turning the æbleskiver in 1/3 turns or 1/4 turns while others turn them in 1/2 turns. Try the different methods and see what you feel most comfortable with. Here is a link with a video on how to make and turn the æbleskiver.

If you’re having trouble with the æbleskiver turning out right, don’t worry, the first pan-full rarely turn out perfect, keep going.

Æbleskiver can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 4 months.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Æbleskiver pan

Æbleskiver

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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12 Days of Christmas – Vaniljekranse (Vanilla Wreaths)

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Cookies, Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 15, 2010| 18 Comments »

Vaniljekranse

Vaniljekranse

Vaniljekranse is a traditional Danish cookie made in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  I have very fond memories of helping my Mom and Dad make vaniljekranse when I was a little girl. It’s a fun process of the dough coming out of the grinder into strips, cutting the strips into pieces and forming them into circles. The cookies have a sweet vanilla flavor and are slightly crunchy on the outside. Making Vaniljekranse makes for wonderful Danish family “hygge” (coziness).

Vaniljekranse are not difficult to make, however, it took some doing to actually make it happen. The reason being, that in Denmark there is an attachment to your meat grinder that has a star shape on it. So the dough is run through the meat grinder with the star attachment. I could probably just have used a pastry bag with a star tip, I tried it, but it takes a lot of muscle to get the dough out. The other option would be to use a cookie press and you can get some sort of circle pattern, but I really wanted to show the making of this cookie the authentic way.

Vaniljekranse

Vaniljekranse

So I described the attachment to my wonderful husband Joe, he looked at the thickness of the meat grinder discs, and him being a Blacksmith and all, he was able to fabricate the disc for me…Yeah! My wonderful husband is so brilliant, I think I’ll keep him  🙂  He helped me make this cookie the authentic way. Thanks Joe.

Update: I have since then been able to buy a star attachment in Bilka in Denmark while we were home for a visit, it fits my KitchenAid mixer perfectly.

Star attachment for KitchenAid

Star attachment for KitchenAid

Star attachment for KitchenAid

Star attachment for KitchenAid

Vaniljekranse

Ingredients:

375 grams flour (13 oz)

125 grams cornstarch (4.4 oz)

375 grams salted butter (13 oz)

100 grams slivered almonds (3.5 oz)

250 grams sugar (8.8 oz)

1 vanilla bean

2 teaspoon vanilla powder

1 egg

Directions:

Place slivered almonds in food processor and blend until a powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl add flour and cornstarch, blend together. Cut butter into small pieces, add butter to flour mixture and blend together on low-speed with a handheld mixer until it starts to become crumbly. Cut open vanilla bean and scrape out seeds. Add vanilla seeds, vanilla powder, almonds and sugar, blend to combine. Add egg and mix to combine. Using your hands, press mixture together until it forms a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using the star attachment for your meat grinder, pastry bag or cookie press to form your cookies. Traditionally, you will use a star attachment for your meat grinder. Cut dough into small segments and load into the meat grinder. Run the dough through the star attachment into long strips, place dough onto floured surface. Then cut dough into 4 inch long pieces and form into circle. Place on prepared baking sheets.  Bake in the middle of oven for 8 minutes or until slightly golden. Cool on baking sheets.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Ground up slivered almonds

Dough coming out of grinder

Strips of dough

Vaniljekranse

Source: adapted from my Mother’s recipe

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12 Days of Christmas – Coconut Macaroons

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2010| 9 Comments »

Coconut Macaroon

Coconut Macaroon

Coconut Macaroons are one of Joe’s absolute favorite cookies and I am right there with him. They are simply delicious! Crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside and they could not be any easier to make. If you like, you can dip the bottom of the cookies in melted chocolate. I do half and half since Joe likes the addition of the chocolate, I however, thinks it takes away from the coconut flavor. Coconut Macaroons do not belong exclusively to Christmas time but they are likely to show up in our house anytime of the year. If you enjoy coconut then I’m sure you’ll love these wonderful little treats.

Coconut Macaroon

Coconut Macaroon

Danish Christmas Tradition: Kalenderlyset (Calendar Candle) and Juledekorationer (Christmas Center Pieces)

In addition to the Advent Reef, in Denmark we also have Calendar Candles which play in important role in the days leading up to Christmas. This tradition became popular under the German occupation in 1942 when Denmark was blanketed in darkness. The candle has the numbers 1 thru 24 printed on it and you light it every day just long enough to burn down one number. Once the candle is burned down to the 24th, it’s Christmas. Back home in Denmark, we would light our calendar candle at the breakfast table and one of us kids got to blow out the candle before it burned down too far.

In Denmark it is also tradition to either buy or make Juledekorationer which are centerpieces with one or multiple candles. My parents always made our own and my Dad really got carried away with this task. We would typically end up with three or four beautiful juledekorationer placed at different locations throughout the house. When making the juledekorationer you can pretty much let your imagination run wild. You can use items like pine cones, cinnamon sticks, small christmas bulbs, bows and fresh greens (pine, holly etc). The juledekoration with its candles bring a calming, beautiful focal point into the room and a sense of that all important Danish “Hygge” (coziness) is created.

This juledecoration was given to me by my Danish friend Kaja

Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups (9 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut

Direction:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an insulated baking sheet (or use 2 baking sheets stacked on top of one another).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, flour and vanilla extract until well blended. Stir in coconut.

Using a 1-tablespoon measuring spoon,  drop the dough into mounds on prepared sheet, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 14-16 minutes, until they are golden brown around the edges and a few strands of coconut on the tops of the cookie start to turn golden. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheet on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Once the cookies are cooled completely, you can dip the bottom of the cookie in melted chocolate, if you desire.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Cookies are best on the day they are made.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Piled like a haystack

Right out of the oven Coconut Macaroon

Source: The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle

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