BASLER LÄCKERLI - LÄCKERLI BÂLOIS

"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!

~ Basler Läckerli ~

Recipe adapted from "Cuisine De Saison".

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.

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~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.

ENGLISH MINCEMEAT

 

Christmas (or Yule-tide) is getting closer everyday and although this year it falls on a Saturday meaning that some of us might not have a longer weekend, most people will want to celebrate this day in a very festive way. No matter if you are not Christian or if the commercial misuse of this event disgust you or puts you off, I guess that like me, you'll nonetheless want to cook or bake something fine for the occasion and will want to do some extreme cocooning...

As I miss England and feel awfully nostalgic when thinking about my second country (I am lucky and proud to have dual nationality and beserker ancestors - Swiss and English) I thought that it would be a great idea to make it a british Xmas this year and eat foods that would remind me of my beloved roots. So in 2010, I will be serving turkey with stuffing (sage & onion) and it's accompaniment (Brussel sprouts with chestnuts & bacon, buttery mashed tatties and gravy). To make it even the more British than it is already, we'll have "Mince Pies" for dessert - an exquisite treat that I have alaways loved as a kid and have been craving since a while.

After having received my Christmas issues of Delicious, Good Food and Jamie Magazine there was no reason I was not going to make my own "Mincemeat". All three magazines offer wonderful recipes for this amazing speciality which originates from Great Britain and can be traced back to the end of Middle Ages (circa the 15th century).

During this epoch finding a method of storing food was of the highest importance and many ways had been developped (pickling, jarring, curing, spicing, etc...). So, initially "Mincemeat" began as a way to preserve food therefore that paste-like mixture can be kept for quite a while (1 month and depending on the kind of fat used, for up to a year).

This brown colored, fruity (apple, raisins, currants, sultanas, candied peel, oranges & lemons), richly spiced ( mixed spice, cinnamon, ginger & nutmeg), boozy (rum) filling enriched with fat (lard, suet or butter) is used in the confection of "Mince Pies" that are traditionally baked for Christmas or Easter (eaten all year long too).

It is very interesting to note that our modern era "Mincemeat" is quite different from the one which was prepared until the 19th century. The original preparation was made with beef, lamb, venison or heart which was finely minced and mixed to suet, dried fruits, citrus peel, alcohol and spices, hence the name it carries. Although this version is now unusual and quite rare to find, some families still perpetuate the tradition.

Although I've eaten my share of "Mince Pies" in the past, this is my first homemade "Mincemeat" and I must say that the result surpasses my expectations by far. Without trying to boast too much, I must recognize that mine is exactly the way it should be and tastes perfect. It has a fresh, tangy, frangrant, fruity, heady, delicately nutty, divinely spicy, well-balanced flavor and isn't too sweet nor sickly. Very Xmassy and so festive.

~Mincemeat ~
Recipe adapted from "Delicious" magazine, December 2010.

Enough to fill 4 jam jars.

Ingredients:
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 large organic lemons
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 large organic oranges
1 Large (about 300g) Boskoop apple (or Bramley apple)
80g Unsalted butter
20g Lard
70ml Dark rum
200g Raisins
150g Sultanas
150g Currants
100g Candied Orange peel, chopped
50g Candied lemon peel, chopped
1 1/2 Tsp Ground cinnamon
1 Tsp Ground ginger
1/2 Tsp Freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 Tsp Mixed spice
175g Light muscovado sugar
60g Lightly toasted almonds, chopped

Method:
1. Put the orange and lemon zest and juices into a biggish pan.
2. Peel, quarter and core the apple. Grate it and add it to the pan. Stir into the juices so that it doesn’t discolour.
3. Add the butter, lard, rum, dried fruits, candied peels and spices. Cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, for 1 hour until the apple has broken down, the dried fruits are plump and all the liquid has evaporated.
4. Let cool, then add the sugar and the toasted almonds. Mix well.
5. Spoon into cool, sterilised jam jars, press a waxed disc firmly onto the surface of the mixture and seal.
6. Put in the refrigerator and use within 1 month.

Remarks:
Instead of using dark rum, you can use calvados, sherry, brandy or whisky.
You can replace the almonds by hazelnuts or any other roasted nut of your choice (not traditional but ok).
Mincemeat flavors develop over time, so make in several weeks in advance of the holidays.
If you want you mincemeat to have a longer shelf life, then omit the butter and stir in 100g shredded suet at the end (don't add 20g lard at the beginning), along with the sugar and almonds. In that way your mincemeat will keep for up to a year in a cool dark place.
It freezes well too – for up to 6 months.

Serving suggestions:
Make "Mince Pies" using your homemade "Mincemeat".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Mincemeat ~
Recette adaptée du magazine "Delicious", Décembre 2010.

Pour 4 pots à confiture.

Ingrédients:
Le zeste et jus de 2 citrons bio
Le zeste et jus de 2 oranges bio
1 Grosse (300g) Pomme boskoop (pomme goûteuse pour compote)
80g de Beurre non-salé
20g de Saindoux
70ml de Rhum foncé
200g de Raisins
150g de Sultanines
150g de Raisins blonds
100g d'Orangeat en cube
100g de Citronnat en cubes
1 1/2 CC de Cannelle en poudre
1 CC de Gingembre en poudre
1/2 CC de Noix de muscade fraîchement moulue
3/4 CC de Mixed spice (voir remarques pour recette)
175g de Sucre "muscovado"
60g d'Amandes torréfiées et hachées

Méthode:
1. Mettre les zestes et jus d'orange et de citron dans une assez grande casserole.
2. Peler, nettoyer et couper en quartiers la pomme, puis la râper et la mélanger au jus dans la casserole.
3. Ajouter le beurre, le saindoux, le rhum, les fruits secs, l'orangeat, le citronnat et les épices, puis cuire (avec couvercle) endant 1 heure à basse température en mélangeant régulièrement jusqu'à ce que la pomme se soit désintégrée, que les raisins soient imbibés et que le jus se soit évaporé.
4. Laisser refroidir, puis ajouter les amandes et le sucre.
5. Remplir des pots à confiture stérilisés et recouvrir le mincemeat avec un rond de papier sulfurisé. Fermer les pots.
6. Conserver le mincemeat au frigo pendant 1 mois maximum.

Remarques:
Au lieu d'utiliser du rhum, vous pouvez prendre du calvados, du whisky, du sherry ou du brandy.
Les amandes peuvent être remplacées par des noisettes ou les noix de votre choix - au préalable torréfiées (pas traditionnel mais ok).
Le mincemeat développe toute sa saveur avec le temps, alors prenez bien soin de le confectionner quelques semaines avant les fêtes.
Si vous voulez garder votre mincemeat encore plus longtemps, alors omettez le beurre et remplacez-le par du saindoux râpé que vous ajouterez à la fin avec le sucre et les amandes. De cette manière vous pourrez le conserver une année au frais et dans un lieu sombre.
Il se congèle aussi très bien – 6 mois maximum.
Pour obtenir le mélange d'épices "Mixed Spice", mélanger ensemble 1 CS de tout épice en poudre, 1 CS de cannellle en poudre 1 CS de noix de muscade moulue,
2 CC de macis en poudre, 1 CC de clous de girofles moulus, 1 CC de Coriandre en poudre et 1 CC de gingembre en poudre.

Idées de présentation:
Confectionner des "Mince Pies" avec votre "Mincemeat".