Vanillekipferl

Christmas is approaching, and so is the birth of our own baby boy. Every day that he doesn't make a move to appear, is another day for projects like making Christmas biscuits. So yesterday/today I decided to make zimtsterne, as has become traditional... And this time I decided to try vanillekipferl (vanilla crescents) as well. This was initiated by thinking it might be a good way to use up the egg yolks left from the zimtsterne - I read that somewhere... but then I also read that traditionally vanillekipferl shouldn't have any egg in them to maximise their crumbliness. So anyway, once the seed was sown I wanted to make them, and having reviewed a few recipes decided to follow this one - with one egg yolk.

Makes c. 48 biscuits

For the dough:

120 g butter, at room temperature
50 g icing sugar
175 g flour 
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
100 g ground almonds
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt

For dredging after baking:
125 g icing sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar

Beat together butter and 50 g icing sugar. Add the flour, 1 tbsp vanilla sugar, ground almonds, egg yolk and salt and mix until it comes together as a smooth dough. Split the dough into three equal parts and roll each into a cylinder with a diameter of 1 in. Wrap each cylinder in clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least one hour, and up to 2 days.

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 163C and line two baking sheets with paper. Take one roll from the fridge and cut it into slices 1/2 in long. Roll each slice between fingers until about 2 in long, with slightly tapered ends. Curve to make a crescent, and place on the baking sheet. Leave approx. 1 in space between biscuits on the sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough, taking one roll out of the fridge at a time, until the sheets are full. Bake for 10-15 min, or until just lightly browned.

After removing from the oven, allow to sit on the baking sheet for c. 5 min. Mix 125 g icing sugar with 1 tbsp vanilla sugar in a shallow bowl. Carefully dredge each cookie in the icing sugar and place on a baking rack to cool.

Walnut, raisin, honey and oat cookies (no dry sugar, no butter, no white flour)

These were another go at perfect quick cookies using walnuts and honey - pretty tasty, probably the best yet, although maybe could cut down the oil just a bit. This recipe.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup olive oil (or sunflower or vegetable)
1 tbsp mulberry molasses (or normal)
1 egg (beat with 1 tbsp water)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts

 In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (except raisins and walnuts) together. In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together (note: measure oil before honey so the honey doesn't stick). Mix the wet into the dry. Add the raisins and walnuts and mix. Chill for c. 20 min in the fridge.

Heat the oven to 335F / 170C. Dollop the mixture in heaping teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper, and press gently with a fork. Bake for 15-20 min or until golden on the bottom of the cookie.


These came out good - perhaps a little soft/greasy, try reducing the oil a bit. Also, the recipe said they freeze well - test that next time. The flavour is all there though, and they stick together well despite not containing much flour. Could maybe also try cramming in a few more raisins+walnuts.

Syltede asiers (Danish pickled cucumber-marrows)

We first saw pickled asiers in the jar aisle of the supermarket ages ago - and weren't sure what they were. The picture on the label looked a bit like a cassava, the contents looked like thick-sliced peeled pears... Eventually we bought some, and S fell in love with them. Turns out they are crisp, chunky, sweet-pickled slices of giant cucumber. They are traditionally eaten on smørrebrod with leverpostej - but we like them with hard cheese like Pråst or mature cheddar.

A few weeks ago, we found some fresh ones for sale in Irma, and decided we should try pickling some ourselves. We used approximately this recipe. I'm still not sure if asiers are just a marrow version of the American kind of thick-skinned cucumbers, or a different kind of cucumber intended to be grown to marrow size - either way, they are a little different from your average pickled cucumber.

2 kg asiers (cucumber marrows)
50-75 g salt
150 g small red onions, peeled and sliced (or shallots)
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
fennel seeds
chilli flakes

1.5 l vinegar (ideally white wine or apple cider vinegar) (5%)
750 g sugar
 
Peel the asiers, cut them in half lengthways, scrape out the seeds and cut into 1 cm thick slices. Sprinkle with the salt, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and set aside in a cool place for 2–3 hours. Rinse the salted asier slices in cold water and wipe them lightly with kitchen paper. Place in sterilised jars, layering with the sliced onions, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, and fennel seeds and chilli flakes too if you like. Heat the sugar and vinegar almost to the boil in a pan, whisking until the sugar has dissolved. Pour over the asier slices in the jars until they are all covered, and immediately seal. Leave for at least a week before eating. Keep in the fridge.


There were some variations in different recipes I checked - for example, the asiers could be salted after just cutting in half and deseeding instead of after slicing; and they could be left for a day instead of just a few hours in the salt... Another option would be using 'atamon' - I had to look this up, but apparently it is a preservative with a strange label (with a caricature of a chinese face on it) that is often used in Danish pickles. So if I make them again, perhaps I'll try something a little different: with atamon+chilli (perhaps most interesting?), with atamon+star anise, and another one.

Also, these come out nice, but not really crunchy enough - should they be salted more or less? Or should I add something tannic?

Another banana cake - but I haven't found the perfect one yet

I ended up with a lot of bananas that needed eating again - this hardly ever happens, but then now all of a sudden twice within a short time... This time my main requirement was that it didn't involve softened butter, since I didn't feel like waiting for it. I found this recipe pretty quick, and decided just to go with it - I guess banana and chocolate sounded pretty good!

3 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup (115 g) butter, melted
3/4 cup (145 g) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla essence
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (130 g) plus 1/4 cup (35 g) plain flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup (about 20 g) cocoa
3/4 cup (130 g) chopped chocolate

Heat oven to 175C/350F. Grease a loaf tin and line the base.

Melt butter and put into a medium bowl, then mash the bananas into it. Whisk in the sugar, egg, vanilla, bicarb, and salt until thoroughly combined. Add 130 g flour, stirring until just combined. Pour half of batter into a second bowl. Into one bowl, mix the remaining 35 g flour and the cinnamon. Into the other bowl, mix the cocoa and chocolate. Dollop batters into the prepared loaf pan in large alternating spoonfuls. Use a flat knife to make a few figure-8s through the batters, to marble them together. Bake for 55-65 min, until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool for 10 min, then invert onto a cooling rack. Keep in a cake tin or wrapped in foil.


While baking this, I realized I have developed a banana cake wishlist: it should have oil in it (not butter), honey (not sugar), and should have walnuts and/or chocolate chips. With this in mind, I checked around for the perfect recipe... I found three possibilities - next time I have an excess of bananas, I will have to try one of these: cake 1, cake 2, cake 3.

Banana Cake I (also: Baking with Honey V)

We just returned from a very pleasant couple of weeks in Scotland. I had long promised S that we would go to Scotland for an actual holiday, and tour around a bit so he can see more than just Edinburgh and the Lothians. The beginning of Festival time is probably one of my favourite Edinburgh times - things just warming up, not quite in full swing yet, then a taste of the real thing. I accidentally booked a table at the Kitchin for Aug 2... and then it turned out my uncle was planning a big party and my dear friend would be in town for the first look at a play-experiment based on her book (part of the Books Festival), both on the same day (Aug 12), and so a Scotland tour suddenly developed bookends in Edinburgh. The promise to S had been that he would get a 'whisky tour of Scotland', so we decided we'd need a car to get around... but then remembered how much we both dislike driving so I tried to come up with a route that would give a good taste of Scotland and take in some serious distilleries without too much driving. Along the way, I realized how long it's been since I travelled around much in Scotland, and how little I really know, since almost all my travels there have been as a kid/teenager, and usually with someone else doing the planning... In the end, we planned a few days on Islay (for max. whisky tour potential plus gorgeousness of western isles), and stops in Glencoe on the way and at Loch Tay on the way back, for a bit of highlands.

We stayed in B+Bs all the time we were travelling, then with my uncle while in Edinburgh. For the drive/hike days, we visited a big supermarket and pretty much created a larder in our car boot - we had little luggage, it was full of food+drink. Since we were heading for some slightly out of the way places, and we're both veggie, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of emergency supplies. We actually did a very good shop, and got decent food that lasted for most of our lunches and even some picnic dinners. The one thing we bought and didn't eat was bananas - we came back to Edinburgh with a full hand of week-old bananas. At that point, I decided it was about time I contributed some baking to the party preparations - there was already a gang of about 8 people staying over, so I was pretty sure some banana bread would find an audience. A quick Google found this recipe, which I doubled since there were lots of us, and made two loaves - one with walnuts, the other with chocolate (also from our uneaten car-supplies). The chocolate one baked in C's silicone loaf tin was a particular success.

olive oil
250 g self-raising flour
3 ripe bananas
2 tbsp apple juice
125 g butter (at room temperature)
2 large eggs
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp honey

Optional: 50 g chopped pecans, walnuts, or chocolate

Heat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf tin, and line the base. Mash the bananas in a medium bowl, then add the apple juice and stir. In a separate, large bowl, cream the butter, then beat in the eggs one at a time. It might look a little lumpy, but it's OK. Fold in the flour, cinnamon, honey and banana mixture until just combined. Mix in the chopped nuts or chocolate.
Dollop into the prepared loaf tin, then bake in the hot oven for around 40 min, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 min, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Baking with Honey IV: Ginger, honey and chocolate biscuits

A Delia recipe for ginger-chocolate biscuits caught my eye, but I ended up making the first one that came up on Google instead - this. It's quite similar to National Trust biscuits, but why not try something else instead... Since I haven't managed to find golden syrup or treacle here, I subbed honey, and so this ended up being another honey recipe.

225 g / 8 oz butter
100 g / 3½ oz golden syrup (used honey instead)
200g / 7 oz soft brown sugar
150g / 3½ oz flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt flakes
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
400 g / 14 oz rolled oats
2 eggs, beaten
50 g / 1¾ oz stem ginger, chopped
115 g / 4 oz good quality dark chocolate

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with paper. Melt the butter and the golden syrup / honey in a pan over a low heat. Set aside to cool slightly. Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and spices and mix well to combine. Stir in the rolled oats and mix well. Pour in the melted butter and syrup/honey and stir until well combined. Then stir in the beaten eggs and the stem ginger.

Spoon in even, heaped teaspoons onto the lined baking trays, leaving room for them to spread. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove the biscuits from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of barely simmering water. Dip the biscuits in the melted chocolate (or spread a bit on them with a knife/spoon), and place on a cooling rack until the chocolate has set.


These were nice. Not super special, but nice and gingery - anything with ginger, especially stem ginger, usually works for me... They are a soft, cakey kind of a biscuit - rock bun kind of texture. I did some with chocolate and some without - I thought we liked them both equally but the chocolate ones did disappear first...

Baking with Honey III: Gooseberries, mint and honey

I got a punnet of gooseberries from the vegetable share (well, fruit share) on Wednesday, and decided to bake them with a bit of honey and some mint, inspired by this recipe. I just put the gooseberries, honey and mint in appropriate-looking quantities into a ceramic baking dish, then baked at about 200C for c. 15 min. We ate it together with skyr.