Amaretto Walnut Coins

I am doing you a favour today and spare you my usual blabber. It is Christmas Time and there is such a great recipe to share on the final day of my countdown/bake-o-thon! It is nutty and fruity with a nice shot of booze - what better way is there to get merry?

Amaretto Walnut Coins

Amount depends on size of biscuit/cookie cutter. Makes about 36 (18 prepared) biscuits with a 7 cm (2.75 inches) cutter.

• 250g (8.8 oz) all-purpose flour
• 1 ts baking powder
• 100g (3.5 oz) butter
• 60g (2.1 oz) ground walnuts
• 80g (2.8 oz) sugar
• 1 egg
• 100g (3.5 oz) apricot jam/jelly
• 3 ts almond liqueur
• 150g (5.3 oz) icing/powdered sugar
• 3 ts almond liqueur
• 18 walnut halves (or more, depending on size of biscuit/cookie cutter)

 

1. Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
2. Knead together flour, baking powder, butter, sugar, ground walnuts and egg (I did this with my hands again as usual, since I am kind of a fan of putting some elbow grease into my biscuits).
3. Roll out dough (it should be about 1,5-2 cm or 0.6-0.8 inches thick). Cut out biscuits/cookies. Bake on centre rack for 10-12 minutes or biscuit start to brown. Let them cool down completely.
4. Meanwhile, stir together apricot jam with almond liqueur.
5. Spread on half the batch of your biscuits/cookies. Top each biscuit with a plain one.
6. Stir together icing/powdered sugar with rest of almond liqueur. Spread icing on biscuits/cookies.
7. Decorate each one with an almond halve.

I am wishing you all happy holidays and a wonderful time!

Pfeffernüsse (Pepper Nuts)

Christmas Day is coming closer and closer. The tree is up and decorated, half of the presents are bought and the grill assembled. You've heard me. Is said Grill. With a capital G. It's December, it's cold and wet (no snow for me at Christmas this year probably) and my wacky mother is holding up her tradition to invite people in the late morning and have the last barbecue of the year. That's how she rolls. Bless her heart.

And by Christmas Day, I actually mean Christmas Eve, which is the 24^th December. Unlike in many other countries where the presents are being unwrapped in the morning of the 25., it is all about Christmas Eve here. The family comes together, (religious people may go to a Christmas mass where children usually re-enact the Nativity), you eat and then it is time for gifts (and other religious people may skip the first mass and go to a later one sans Nativity as the latest is usually held at midnight). That is probably the rough plan for many German families. When I was little, one of my gifts always was a board game that we played after the gift giving.

Oh yeah, and the food! What I am about to write will probably make a few people's heart stop for a second. As long as I can think, the dinner on Christmas Eve always consisted of one thing, and I know it is the same in many German families: Potato-Salad and bangers/wieners.

I do not know what the story behind serving a humble meal like this is, though.

The two days afterwards (the official Christmas Holidays) however, Germans usually step it up a notch and prepare more festive meals like duck, goose or roasts.

Coming to the fourth recipe of my 5 Day Christmas Countdown/Bake-a-thon.

This one has really got the Christmas flavours tingling. With allspice, cardamom and ginger, it is a spice-fest. But the kick (or a certain “je ne sais quoi”) is definitely giving the white pepper. Pepper in a biscuit? Yes. But don't worry, it is not hot and the pepper is not overpowering. This really tastes like Christmas to me.

Pfeffernüsse (Pepper Nuts)

You can find the original here (German).

The dough needs to rest over night so it is easy to whip it up in the evening.

• 275g (9.7 oz) all-purpose flour
• 1 generous pinch of baking soda
• 75g (2.6 oz) butter (or margarine for a vegan version)
• 3 tbsp. honey (ca. 50g; replace with maple syrup or more dark beet syrup for a vegan version)
• 75g (2.6 oz) dark beet syrup/molasses (alternative: simple molasses)
• 75g (2.6 oz) demerara sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1/4 ts ground white pepper
• 1/2 ts ground dried ginger
• 1 generous pinch of cardamom
• 1 generous pinch of allspice

• 75 g (2.6 oz) icing/powdered sugar 

1. Mix together flour and baking soda
2. In a medium pot, boil up butter, honey, dark beet syrup, demerara along with pepper, ginger, cardamom and allspice.
3. Add flour and quickly stir it up into a homogeneous mass. Let it cool down completely. Wrap it up in cling film/saran wrap and keep in in the fridge over night (the dough can become rather tough but do not fret, that is alright).
4. The next day, let dough regain room temperature again. Preheat oven to 180°C (355°F).
5. Roll dough into hazelnut-sized balls and bake on second rack from the bottom for about 12 minutes (the pepper nuts will not rise a lot, so you do not need to leave too much space between the balls while baking).
6. Let them cool completely. Stir icing/powdered sugar with about 1 ts of water to icing. Brush on pepper nuts.

On the first day, the pepper nuts will be rather tough and crunchy. But keep them in a jar or box for a couple of days and they will soften, developing their spicy flavour.

Enjoy!

How do your traditions on Christmas look like?

Caramel Fudge glazed Zucchini-Almond Loaf with Dark Chocolate Chunks and Roasted Almond Topping (aka "The Monster")

Here. it. Comes.

Look at the thing that I have created. C'mon. Take a good look, long and ample. It can kill people. Poor, diabetic people. Seriously. It's basically a cake covered in caramel fudge, covered in roasted almonds, covered in caramelized sugar. It's snotty. It thinks it's better than you. It's dangerous.

It all started out nice and tame with a lovely little semi-HEALTHY loaf cake that even has ZUCCHINI in it. Do you hear me? Zucchini! How can this not be at least half good for you? I thought I was being extra considerate by using only half the amount of oil and replacing it with applesauce, creating something that could even be turned into breakfast muffins.

And then I must have fallen in a trance induced by the captivating fragrance of  roasting ground almonds and something took possession of my body and mind. Not something. Someone. I could swear that on the other side of the planet, Paula Deen was having an out of body experience. She controlled me and MADE ME do this. That must be it. I mean, I have to blame someone else but me, right?

The moment I gained control over myself again – with an inexplicable scent of fried cheesecake still lingering on me - I gazed at what I have done. It just sat there, taunting me with those roasted, sugar coated sliced almonds topping its glistening, buttery, fudgy glaze. “It – it's a MONSTER” were the first words that I managed to stutter. As if that wasn't enough, after cutting it, big chunks of dark chocolate came to light. How did they...?! Well, nevermind, y'all.

I don't have to tell you just how good this cake was, do I?

However, because of this...incident...I can never be sure of my own sanity again (like I ever could...).

Therefore, I have created a badge that, whenever something like this happens again, dares you to:

That's right. Whenever a recipe on this blog transcends into a different sphere of arteries clogging lusciousness, I am going to warn you with this. So look out for future monsters coming!

But now the recipe, y'all! :

Caramel Fudge glazed Zucchini-Almond Loaf with Dark Chocolate Chunks and Roasted Almond Topping (aka "The Monster")

Cake

I apologize for the measurements being in oz. but as the recipe this one is based on was written on an old note in grams, converting it into cups would only end up in an inaccurate mess.

• 12.8 oz. sugar (360g)
• 1 ts vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 4.5 fl. oz. applesauce (130ml)
• 4.5 fl oz. oil (130ml)
• 1 ts cinnamon
• 13.8 oz. AP flour (390g)
• 8.5 oz of finely grated zucchini, slightly squeezed out (about 240g)
• 3.5 oz ground almonds (100g)
• 1/2 ts baking powder
• 3.5 oz. dark chocolate or a bit more to taste, coarsely chopped (100g)
• Oil and breadcrumbs for the pan or if you are as lazy as I am, parchment paper to line it.

1. Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C), prepare a 12'' (30cm) loaf pan/tin by greasing it and lighly covering the surface with breadcrumbs afterwards.
2. In a small pot, carefully roast the ground almonds over medium heat until golden brown and the kitchen smells like heaven, set aside.
3. Whisk together eggs, sugar, oil and applesauce along with cinnamon and vanilla extract.
4. With a hand-mixer, add flour, baking powder and ground almonds.
5. Either with a dough scraper or tablespoon, fold in grated zucchini and dark chocolate.
6. Pour batter in loaf pan/tin and bake on centre rack for about an hour or a stick comes out clean.
7. Put on cooling rack and remove from pan/tin when temperature allows.

Alright, if you stop here, you'll end up with a nice late-summery loaf and loads of discipline. Congratulations. I couldn't.

Sliced Almond Brittle

• 3.5 oz. (100g) sliced almonds
• 3 tbsp sugar (heaping)
• 1 tbsp butter

1. While loaf is baking, put a small pot on high heat. Add almonds and stir until light golden.
2. Add sugar, keep stirring.
3. When the sugar starts to dissolve, add add.
4. Stir for another minute maybe, making sure that it won't become too dark.
5. Spread flatly on baking try lined with parchment paper.

You should do this step before preparing the glaze as you need to be able to touch the brittle when topping the cake.

Caramel Fudge Glaze

• 1 cup (225g) natural brown sugar (demerara/ turbinado, but what's in a name...)
• 3.5 oz. (100g) butter
• 1.7 fl. oz. (50ml) evaporated milk

1. In a small pot or saucepan, stir together all ingredients over medium heat,
2. Bring them to boil, stirring constantly
3. Keep stirring for 3 minutes

Finishing Touches

1. Place loaf on parchment paper
2. Evenly pour glaze on top.
3. With a spoon, spread dripped down glaze onto sides of the loaf until nothing is left.
4. Top loaf with brittle, crumbling it between fingers if needed.

That's it, from mah kitchen to yerrrrs WHO SAID THAT???

Do you have any recipes like that, that make you feel guilty and cry in a corner after having a bite (or two, or three or...). I'd love to hear them!