All over Germany there are traditional specialties on
offer which you can only get during Advent. From classical treats like
gingerbread all the way to home-baked Christmas cookies.
Fresh from the oven
For many families, baking together in the run-up to Christmas is a
popular tradition. Cut-out cookies are quick and easy to prepare. Cookie
cutters shape the rolled-out pastry into hearts, moon and stars or
Christmas trees. Brushing them with egg yolk makes them all shiny. And
once they have cooled off they can be brightly decorated.
The festive vanilla aroma
These are the most popular treats in Germany: the vanilla Kipferl.
The name Kipferl given to this crescent shaped biscuit originated in the
Austrian-Bohemian area. The small short pastry is shaped like a
crescent and flavored with vanilla. Some recipes add grated almonds or
other nuts. The smell of freshly baked Kipferl tends to be irresistible -
especially when they're still warm.
With or without butter?
In the Middle Ages, Advent was a time of fasting, so Stollen
fruitcake contained neither butter nor raisins. The aristocracy,
displeased with the lack of flavor, complained and eventually Pope
Innocent VIII permitted the use of butter. Later raisins were added to
the mix. These days there is even a low-fat version, which some now
consider a sin against the traditional cake.
Well moulded
The short-bread Spekulatius biscuit has its origins in the region of
the lower Rhine on the Dutch-Belgian border. The dough gets its
distinctive shape, usually rural motifs, from wooden molds. Before
baking the biscuits are knocked out of the mold. Biscuits depicting St.
Nicholas are a preferred gift to mark that saint's feast on December 6.
Antique moulds are a much sought after collector's item.
A traditional Christmas treasure chest
A Christmas package from Nuremberg is a coveted gift around the
world. Filled with Lebkuchen, a kind of spiced gingerbread, it's one of
the oldest festive sweet treats. This Bavarian town has been a
production center for Lebkuchen since the 14th century. Lebkuchen are
still produced according to ancient secret recipes, including the
Elisenlebkuchen delicacy containing only 10 percent flour.
It's all in the spice
Exotic spices like aniseed, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla or cinnamon
have always made Christmas biscuits a special treat. If you like
Zimtsterne, or cinnamon stars, then make sure they have been made using
Ceylon-cinnamon. It might be slightly more expensive, but contains less
of the harmful coumarin. But unless you plan to eat tons of them,
cinnamon is unlikely to affect you at all.
A feast of gingerbread
Aachener Printen, a type of gingerbread, really took off in the 19th
century. Made without fat and sweetened with sugar beet syrup rather
than honey, it was ready to be mass produced. Another variation to be
added to this range is the "Dominostein" or dominos: a square piece of
gingerbread, with a layer of sour cherry or apricot jelly, a layer of
marzipan and covered in dark or white chocolate.
It's the filling that counts
For advanced bakers Ochsenaugen, or ox eyes biscuits, also known
regionally as saucer eyes, present no great challenge. The basis is a
shortbread pastry either with or without almonds and with or without
marzipan. The center of the biscuit is filled with currant or raspberry
jam - to give it a fruity zing. For those who like it fruity but sweet
they can also fill it with strawberry or apricot jam.
Inspired by snowflakes
Light and airy the mass of grated coconut, egg white, sugar and a
pinch of salt is neatly positioned on a wafer. What in Germany is known
as a Makrone, is called a macaron in France - a kind of meringue made
with almond flour. The use of a wafer base dates back to medieval
kitchens. Incidentally it was not unusual to have an entire coconut
adorn a plate of Christmas treats in the past in Germany.
There is no witch in sight
A gingerbread house made of Lebkuchen is the sweet opposite of what
the Grimm brothers described in their fairytale "Hansel and Gretel." A
house made of sweets was so tempting that the poor and hungry kids
couldn't resist entering the wicked witch's abode for a bite. Should you
chose to make your own gingerbread house there are spice mixes and kits
available to ensure you get it just right.
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