"Frozen streams and vapours gray,
cold and waste the landscape lay...
Then a hale of wind
Hither - whirling, Thither - swirling,
Spin the fog and spin the mist...
Still we walked on through woods and wintry gray,
home through woods where winter lay - cold and dark...
Waiting for a change in the weather
Waiting for a shift in the air
Could we get there together, ever?
Waiting for our late, late return.
Through the woods, home, through the woods where winter lays..."
- Lyrics from the song "Wintry Grey" by the Norwegian band Arcturus
Dreamy, immaculate landscapes looking as if they were covered in a pelicula of heavenly icing sugar, feather-like flakes enchantingly falling upon us like fairy stardust, diaphanously monocromic sceneries which seem frozen in time, nature that would have made a wonderful subject for the Flemish Renaissance painter Bruegel (See his artwork here), goddess Skadi's icy breath congealing the earth, the eerie silence of the blizzard and gloomy croaking of crows punctuating the quietness with their evil complaints, the electrifying crunch of snow under our footsteps and cosy evenings spent lazily watching Scandinavian movies while nibbling on Xmas cookies and fantasizing about majestic fjords, the grandeur of Norse wildness and desolate Arctic mountains... This is the reason why I adore the cold season and cannot get enough of winter's bewitching atmospheres. Its splendor and the frivolous as well as nostalgic mood it confers are just unparalleled...
Although the whole shebang and kitschiness of the end of year festivities is not exactly my cup of tea, tends to make me smirk and leave me cold, I have to confess that I still wish to have a white Christmas. I am no different from everybody else on this planet. I guess that snow connects me to my inner child, helps me escape the bleak reality, soothes my soul and talks to my romantic heart.
As I was born on the 25th of December and I have the blood of Norsemen flowing through my veins, it is no wonder that I feed a hunger for living in a wood cabin in the middle of Norwegian, Swedish or Finnish woods, that I love chilly weather and rejoice when frost bites the tip of my nose. After all, my genetic background programmed me to prefer cool climates and Nordic settings.
"The sun has vanished
Freezing northwind now rules the land
From the realm of ice and eternal darkness
Mother winter snow-clouds sends
White warlord rides the sky
Hundred steed pull his sledge of ice
The roaring noise follows him
It's the sign that the winter solstice have arrived
The ancient song fills the air
On the mound sacred fire burns
People dance the magic dance of rebirth
For the sun's sooner return
Here is the longest night of the year
When the evil spirits of darkness is awake
Old witch woman dances across the room
She drives whole evil spirits back in the bloom
Over the frozen field the northwind walls
Falling snow turns into the raging snowstorm."
- Lyrics from the song "Night Of The Winter Solstice" by the Latvian band Skyforger
Hence, if the Christian celebration means not much to me, I nonetheless consider this period of the year to be festive, because Yule symbolizes the return of the Sun (light) and the completion of the cycle of life (birth, life, death and rebirth), thus it brings hope and offers the promise of a new beginning.
As during any other joyful fete, eating well is a must and there is no way I'm going to refrain from stuffing myself with yummy holiday food designed to make my taste buds shiver or from busying myself around the oven. Every year, I bake a vast array of international cookies and candies for my friends, P.'s parents and ourselves. In my gift bags you'll generally find classics such as "Pfeffernüsse" (Germany), "Mailänderli" (Switzerland), "Speculoos" (Germany, France, Belgium and Netherlands), "Mexican Wedding Cookies/Russian Tea Cakes" (USA and Russia), "Chocolate Truffles" (France) and "Fudge" (UK).
Being adventuous in the kitchen and having an inclination for novelty, I decided to prepare a new speciality in order to vary things a little: "Basler Läckerli (Leckerli)". This world famous pastry composed of many ingredients such as honey, almonds, candied orange or lemon peel, kirschwasser as well as a variety of spices. It is a traditional Swiss cookie bar we enjoy all year long and which is very similar to gingerbread. This biscuit's name means "small goody" ("lecker" = yummy and the Swiss German suffix "li" indicates smallness) and it originates from Basel in Switzerland where it was created by local spice merchants around 1431, at the time of the Council of Basel. At the origin, "Lackerli" were only fabricated on the occasion of the New Year, to sustain the assembled church dignitaries and were accompanied by mulled wine, but it became so popular that people started producing it whenever they fancied it. Before the commercialisation of professional mixers, train station porters were employed to knead the stiff dough as big muscles were needed to successfully carry out the harsh task of mixing.
The recipe I am presenting today was adapted from a "Cuisine De Saison" magazine I possess. As usual, I had to make a few changes (ingredients- and method-wise) as I found that it could be slightly improved. So, I added more honey to the mass because I found it far too dry, for more flavor I incorporated a pinch of salt and some ground nutmeg to the mix, and confectioned my icing with cherry booze in order to give it oomph. The result was just mindblowing. My no-brainer "Basler Läckerli" turned out really great as they were marvelously chewy, exhaliratingly spicy, so pretty and above all they were mindboglingly comparable to the ones that are made by the renown Läckerli Huus (no need to buy this expensive confection anymore).
If you are still looking for a Xmassy gift idea to bake, then you should give this confection a try as you'll not be deceived. Your friends and family will be raving about them!
Have A Merry Yuletide!
Joyeux Noël!
Makes about 20 cookies.
Ingredients For The "Bars":
240-250g Runny honey
80g Castor sugar
100g Matchstick almonds, chopped coarsely
240g All-purpose flour (+ extra flour for rolling)
1 Tsp Baking soda
1 Tsp Ground cloves
1Tsp Ground cinnamon
1/3 Tsp Ground nutmeg
A pinch of fine sea salt
100g Candied orange peel
Ingredients For The "Icing":
1 1/2 Tbs Kirsch, lemon/orange juice or water
3 Tbs Icing sugar
Method For The "Bars":
1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
2. In big bowl (or in that of your KA), mix the honey together with the sugar until it looks pale, then add the almonds, the flour mixture and the candied peel.
3. Knead lightly in order to obtain a stiff dough.
4. Cover with clingfilm and let rest for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C).
6. On a floured work surface, roll out the dough to a 0.4 inches (1cm) thick rectangle.
7. Transfer the sheet of dough to a baking pan covered with baking paper.
8. Bake for 13-16 minutes in the centre of the oven (I baked mine 16 minutes).
Method For The "Icing":
9. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the kirschwasser together with the icing sugar.
10. Brush the top of the dough with the icing and cut it into about 20 equally-sized rectangles.
Comments:When mixing, if your dough is a little dry add a bit more honey so that it comes together in ball.
As the dough is very stiff, I recommend you to knead it in a stand mixer.
When coming out of the oven, the baked läckerli must be pale in color and soft to the touch (they will harden while cooling).
The läckerli can be kept for up to a month in an airtight container.
Serving suggestion:
Eat those cookies at any time of the day and serve with a good cup of tea or an eggnog.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Basler Läckerli ~
Recette adpatée du magazine "Cuisine De Saison".
Pour environ 20 läckerli.
Ingrédients Pour les "Läckerli":
240-250g de Miel liquide
80g de Sucre cristallisé
100g d’Amandes allumettes, hachées grossièrement
240g de Farine (+ un peu pour abaisser la pâte)
1 CC de Bicarbonate de sodium
1 CC de Clou de girofle en poudre
1 CC de Cannelle en poudre
1/3 de Noix de muscade en poudre
Une pincée de sel de mer fin
100g d’Orangeat
Ingrédients Por Le "Glaçage":
1 1/2 CS de Kirsch, jus de citron/d'orange ou d'eau
3 CS de Sucre en poudre
Méthode Pour les «barres»:
1. Dans un bol moyen, mélanger la farine, le bicarbonate, les épices et le sel. Mettre de côté.
2. Dans un grand bol (ou dans le bol de votre robot ménager), mélanger le miel avec le sucre jusqu'à ce que le mélange devienne pâle, puis ajouter les amandes, le mélange de farine et l'orangeat.
3. Pétrir légèrement afin d'obtenir une pâte ferme.
4. Couvrir avec un film alimentaire et laisser reposer pendant 30 minutes.
5. Préchauffer le four à 180 ° C.
6. Sur un morceau de papier sulfurisée fariné, abaisser la pâte à 0,4 cm (1 cm) d'épaisseur rectangle.
7. Transférer le tout sur une plaque de cuisson.
8. Cuire au centre du four pendant 13-16 minutes (j'ai cuits mes läckerli pendant 16 minutes).
Méthode Pour Le "Glaçage":
9. Laisser refroidir pendant 10 minutes. Pendant ce temps, mélanger le kirsch avec le sucre glace.
10. Badigeonner la pâte cuite avec le glaçage et la couper en ~ 20 rectangles égaux.
Commentaires:
Lors de l'assemblage de votre pâte, si cette dernière est trop sèche, alors ajouter un peu plus de miel afin d'obtenir une boule qui ne colle pas, mais n'est pas sèche non plus.
Une fois cuite, la pâte à läckerli doit être claire et molle (elle durcira en refroidissant).
Les läckerli peuvent être conservés pendant un mois dans une boîte hermétique.
Idées de présentation:
Mangez ces cookies quand cela vous chante et accompagnez-les d'un thé ou d'un lait de poule.
