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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Spritzgebäck


There are some foods, when you think of them, a whole scenario is launched in your head, and a wonderful journey is starting. Spritzgebäck is one of them. When I think Spritzgebäck, I think about snow, about mountains, about a cozy spot with a fireplace, where people are sitting together, drinking hot chocolate or coffee. And I feel it's Christmas time. Christmas time is a wonderful time I find. When people take the time to sit with their families and friends to enjoy the little culinary wonders of the season and just let the magic happen. Over here, it is also very common to gather with family or friends and bake for the whole day. I used to do that a lot with my friends when I was a student and great memories were created, which will make us smile for a long time. 


Spritzgebäck is specifically known in Germany or Austria, and figure among the all-time classics and are considered one of the best Christmas cookies. When I was younger, my family used to go to Austria for Christmas, and my parents always bought them to accompany the Christmas coffee. Years before, my grandfather even made them himself. There was a small gap between generations, but here I am, baking them again. And for now, still determined to continue, because they are just so delicious. You can have them with or without chocolate, make cookie sandwiched with a little bit of jam in between or even a chocolate ganache and enjoy them. The good thing is, you can bake loads of them, and if they survive the first tastings, keep them the whole advent season. 


For around 25 cookies you need:

300g butter
260g icing sugar
150 ml milk
130g cornstarch
1 pinch of salt
500g flour
125g good quality dark chocolate


Preheat the oven to 180°

In a bowl, whisk together the butter, icing sugar and cornstarch. Add the milk and a pinch of salt. Then mix again. Now pour in the flour gradually. Knead the dough for a few seconds, then put the batter into a piping bag with a medium-sized star nozzle and press little S shapes or circles on a baking sheet. 

Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown.

While the cookies are cooling down, prepare the chocolate coating. Melt the chocolate bain-marie style and dip 1/3 of the cookies and place them on a cooling tray. 

Enjoy!!!

4 comments:

  1. Very great post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your weblog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing on your feed and I am hoping you write again very soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your comment. It's always nice to hear that people enjoy the recipes. Sorry for this very late reply, but somehow I've never seen this feedback. The Xmas season is back, yet another occasion to bake these lovely spritz cookies

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  2. interesting, that's a lot of cornstarch....and no eggs or vanilla??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can add vanilla or lemon to the recipe. I preferred to keep their buttery taste. So far no one ever complained about their taste ;)

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