Frohe Weihnachten! Part 4: Marzipan Slices

Frohe Weihnachten! I present to you the fourth part in a series on German-style Christmas biscuits: delicious marzipan filled biscuit slices!

From my personal observation, Germany loves Christmas, and Germany loves marzipan. It makes perfect sense, then, that Germans would combine the two to make delicious Christmas marzipan biscuits.

These started off life as a different concept, but evolved. Here, you see they are individually sliced biscuits, in a slice-and-bake style. However, my first attempt at these was based on German recipes that I read online, that instructed the baker to cook the whole filled log and slice it after baking. This technique was unsuccessful; twice. I found that chilling the log entirely then slicing it made for much nicer looking biscuits. Maybe I just wasn't using the right kind of pastry, or the correct oven temperature. Either way, I prefer the slice and bake method.

As you can see on mine, the marzipan isn't entirely in the centre. Be careful when you're wrapping the biscuit pastry around the marzipan log.

INGREDIMENTS

6 ounces (170 grammes) salted butter, at room temperature

6 ounces (170 grammes) caster sugar

1 medium egg

12 ounces (340 grammes) plain white flour: spelt, wheat, or gluten-free

2 tsps vanilla essence

1/2 tsp almond essence

A pinch of salt

1 pound (455 grammes) white marzipan, tinted in different Christmassy colours

METHOD

• In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and essences until fully incorporated.
• Sieve in the flour and salt and mix in by hand or with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. It will be slightly dry, but don't worry: that's what gives them such a delicate, sandy texture.
• Flatten into a disc and wrap in cling film, and chill for half an hour, until it's firm to the touch.
• Divide the marzipan into two or more Christmassy colours, and roll into ropes. Use the coloured ropes to make a larger twisted rope about an inch (2.5 centimetres) thick. Just play with it until it's the right thickness.
• On a floured surface, roll the dough to a quarter-inch (5 millimetres) thick, and as wide as the marzipan rope is long, trimming the edges if needed. Brush the marzipan rope with water and place on the edge of the dough sheet. Roll up the marzipan with the dough until is it evenly wrapped; trim the excess. Depending on your shaping and sizing, you might have enough dough leftover to make a few cut-outs.
• Wrap up the whole roll in cling film and chill completely, at least 2 hours or even overnight. 
• Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F, Gas Mk.2). Line one or two flat baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
• Slice the dough log into half-inch (1 centimetre) slices and place on the baking sheet(s) about an inch (2.5 centimetres) apart.
• Bake for 12 minutes, turning the tray(s) around halfway through cooking. Remove from the oven, and allow the biscuits to cool for 5 minutes before transferring the biscuits to a wire rack: the marzipan filling is very soft and sticky immediately after coming out of the oven, so it will get completely messed up if you try to transfer them immediately.

Bat 'n' Burg Cake (Wheat and Dairy Free)

 

In my world, everyday is Halloween: I usually wear black with spiders and bats and spikes (gotta love a Goth stereotype), but when it's actual real-life calendar accurate Halloween, it's essentially my Christmas.

So, as my first offering of the Halloween season, I present to you this punderful delight: the Bat 'n' Burg! I think it's appropriate in two ways, as this is a delicious seasonal retelling of a traditional tea time classic, and also the name is a nice visual homage to Dr Frank 'n' Furter, who--for those of you in the know--is so fittingly seasonal. Credit to my lovely companion for coining the name of this delight...

Although this is a mini cake which would give a little slice to four people, a bigger version would be a delicious centre piece for any party table! Speaking of a bigger version, keep your eyes peeled for this Bat 'n' Burg's bigger brother in my upcoming Halloween video!

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DIFFICULTY

Requires cutting cake into layers,
shaping, and coating with marzipan

TIME

About 3 hours

RECIPE RATING

Experienced

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INGREDIMENTS

For each 4 inch (10 centimetre) cake

2 ounces (55 grammes) white spelt flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar

1 medium (US Large) egg

1 fluid ounce (30 millilitres) sunflower oil

1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

A few drops almond essence

Green and orange food colouring

To decorate

6 or 8 ounces (170 to 225 grammes) white marzipan, bought or homemade

Purple and black paste food colouring

Raspberry or apricot jam, warmed

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FREE FROM

Dairy, nuts, wheat

CONTAINS

Spelt, eggs, refined sugar, almonds

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METHOD

First, bake the cakes.

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the bottom and sides, line the bottom of the tin with non-stick baking paper, and flour your 4 inch (10 centimetre) round deep cake tin.
• Separate the egg, put the whites into a mixing bowl, and mix the yolk with the oil in a jug.
• Whip the egg white, adding the sugar gradually, until you have a meringue that holds soft peaks. Mix in the vanilla, a few drops of almond essence, and orange food colouring. You want a nice shade of colour, but the colour will darken slightly after baking.
• Sieve in the flour and baking powder and add the milk, then fold gently until well blended, making sure not to knock out the air.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and tap a few times on the work surface. Bake in the centre of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the surface feels springy to the touch, and a cocktail stick poked into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack before loosening from the sides of the tin and turning out onto the rack to cool completely.
• Wash the tin so you can grease, line, and flour it for the next cake. If you have two tins, you can cook both cakes together.
• Repeat the whole procedure for the second cake, this time colour it with the green colouring.

Next, decorate!

• Cut the domes off both cakes and cut evenly into two layers each: all layers should be very close in height.
• Using a 2½ (6 centimetre) inch and a 1½ (4 centimetre) inch cutter, cut each layer into concentric circles. Take the concentric circles apart, brush the insides with warm jam, and put them back together again with alternating colours.
• Take the best three layers, and sandwich them together in alternating colours, using the jam to join them. Brush the entire cake with jam.
• Dust the surface with icing sugar, and pinch off a tiny bit of white marzipan to use later. Knead purple colouring into the rest of the marzipan. Roll it out to about a quarter inch (5 millimetres) thick, and cover the cake completely and evenly. Cut off the excess.
• Knead some black colour into the remaining marzipan and roll it out again to the same thickness. Cut out two wings, two eyes, two heat shapes, and a smiley mouth. Stick a cocktail stick onto the wings and fix in place with some more marzipan. Fix some cocktail sticks onto the hearts, making sure the pointy end is pointing out, and then pinch the two rounded bits together to make ears. Leave everything to dry completely before assembly.
• Using the little bit of white marzipan, put shines on the eyes and make two little pointed teeth.
• Assemble the bat face, fixing the black marzipan on with water. Stick the wings and ears into the cake using the cocktail sticks.

STORAGE

This cake will keep for up to 10 days in an airtight container at room temperature, but is best enjoyed within a week of making.

Shrove Tuesday: Semlor, Scandinavian Cream Buns (Wheat Free)

In keeping with the theme of Shrove Tuesday, here is another delicious offering, this time from the Subarctic realms of Scandinavia: semlor!

Originally, semlor (singular: semla) were eaten on Shrove Tuesday before the start of Lent, but once the Scandinavian countries had the Protestant Reformation, Lent was no longer as important. Nowadays, these cream buns are eaten throughout the year as a sweet treat. Traditionally, semlor are eaten in bowls of warm milk, like a pudding, but I'm not sure how often they are eaten like that anymore.

In Sweden, semlor are filled with whipped cream and almond paste made into a creamy filling by mixing with milk. In Finland, they are called laskiaispulla, and are made with raspberry or strawberry jam instead of almond paste filling. However, both are sold all over Scandinavia, and are differentiated by their appearance: almond semlor have almonds on top, and jam semlor are simply dusted with some icing sugar.

The bread dough is also subtly perfumed with some ground cardamom, which is a spice which I don't think is used anywhere near enough. However, if you don't like cardamom, you could use cinnamon, or just leave it un-spiced entirely.

I made both, but I preferred the jammy ones: I found the almond paste ones too heavy and cloying. But, make both and

INGREDIMENTS
Makes 16 or 20 buns, depending on size

• One batch of sweet bread dough, seen here, with 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom added
• 1 medium egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) of milk, or water
• 17½ fluid ounces (500 millilitres) whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) icing sugar
• Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

For Finnish style buns

• 5 or 6 ounces (140 or 170 grammes) raspberry or strawberry jam
• Icing sugar, for dusting

For Swedish style buns

• 5 ounces (140 grammes) marzipan*
• Milk, for mixing*
• Flaked almonds, for decorating
• Optional: warm milk, for serving

HOW-TO

• Prepare the dough according to this recipe, adding the cardamom, and once it has risen the first time, divide into 16 or 20 balls, roughly 2 ounces or 1½ ounces (55 or 45 grammes) each. Make sure the tops are nice and smooth and taught.
• Lightly dust two large flat baking tray, and place the dough balls--8 or 10 on each tray--in a 3-2-3(-2) pattern, about two inches (5 centimetres) apart to allow them to double in size without touching each other.
• Allow to rise in a warm place, loosely covered with some oiled cling film or a slightly damp clean tea towel, for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.
• In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4). Arrange the oven so two shelves are close to the centre of the oven.
• Once the buns have risen, brush each bun gently with the egg beaten with milk or water. If you want some Swedish style buns, sprinkle the top of each one with some flaked almonds for decoration.
• Place the trays in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown and risen nicely.
• When they are baked, remove from the oven and transfer each bun to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.
• To fill the buns, whatever style you choose, whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla, if using, to firm peaks.

To complete Swedish style buns,

• Mix the marzipan with milk, a tablespoon (15 millilitres) at a time until a smooth paste is achieved. Be gradual with the milk as a little goes a long way and you don't want it too thin: it should be creamy. A fork is the best tool for this job.*
• Cut the top off each bun, about an inch (2½ centimetres) from the top. Fill the bun with some almond paste, about a rounded teaspoon (7 millilitres), and a dollop of cream. You could put the cream in a piping bag fitted with a star shaped nozzle, if you prefer.
• Place the top back on the bun, and serve either on a plate with a cup of tea or coffee, or for an authentic experience, serve in a shallow bowl of warm milk.

To complete Finnish style buns,

• Cut the tops off the buns as before, but fill each bun with a rounded teaspoon (7 millilitres) or so of jam, and then some cream, replacing the top as before.
• Serve individually on plates, dusted with icing sugar. Enjoy with tea or coffee.

These are best consumed immediately after preparing, or on the day they're made. The next day, they are alright, but by day three are best used for bird food.

* UPDATE (27/02/17): Instead of using pre-made marzipan, you can make your own almond paste filling. In a mixing bowl, mix together 3 ounces (85 grammes) ground almonds with 3 ounces (85 grammes) icing sugar and a pinch of salt, and add a few drops of almond essence. Add milk or water gradually, about a tablespoon (15 millilitres) at a time until it becomes creamy, as shown above.

Christmas Cake Decoration Idea

Merry Christmas, everyone! In this post, I'm going to provide you not with a recipe, but with a decoration idea for Christmas cake.

I have many different Christmas cake recipes on this blog, which I will list. If rich fruit cake is not something you would like, you could make a chocolate cake, or a gingerbread spiced cake. You don't need to honour tradition every year!

This year, I decorated the cake with a little Christmas tree and presents scene, using meringues and marzipan models. I started the process three days before Christmas, and used:

• One 8 inch (22 centimetre) round rich fruit cake
• Marzipan, as prepared below
• Meringue trees, as prepared below
• One 12 ounce (350 gramme) bag of instant royal icing powder
• Red, purple, blue, green, and yellow gel colouring
• Icing sugar

To make the meringue trees, I separated one medium egg into white and yolk, and kept the yolk for a different project. I whipped the egg white with a few drops of lemon juice until it became foamy, then gradually added 2 ounces (55 grammes) of white caster sugar while whipping until it reached stiff peaks. I mixed in a few drops of green colouring gel to get a delicate slightly minty green. I lined a baking tray with non-stick paper, and put the meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. I piped little swirls, about an inch and a half (4 centimetres) tall, sprinkled them with coloured hundreds and thousands, and some star shaped and snowflake shaped decorations. I baked them in an oven preheated to 120°C (250°F, Gas Mk.½) for 45 minutes. When cooked, I allowed them to cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I made some homemade marzipan, following this recipe but upping the almond to icing sugar ratio to 3:4, as opposed to 1:1, and adding a few extra drops of water to account for the extra sugar. I used 6 ounces (170 grammes) of ground almonds, and 8 ounces (225 grames) of icing sugar.

I rolled the marzipan to a half inch (1 centimetre) thickness, cut a circle to fit the top of the cake, and fixed it to the cake with a simple icing sugar and water glaze. Using the remaining marzipan, I divided into 5 parts, colouring each part red, purple, green, blue, and yellow. Using the marzipan, I made a selection of little presents, varying from an inch (2½ centimetres) to a quarter inch (5 millilmetres) in size, and in a few different shapes, like ovals and rectangles.

I made some royal icing (from a bag; yes, I cheated) to cover the 8 inch (22 centimetre) round fruit cake. I set aside about 3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) of the icing to ice the presents, and used the rest to coat the cake. I hit the icing with the back of a metal spoon to peak it.

I arranged the trees onto the icing while it was still wet. I filled a small greaseproof icing bag with the remaining royal icing, and arranged the marzipan presents in piles, using the icing to fix them together and decorate them with a tied ribbon effect. 

After everything was fixed to the cake, I sprinkled everything lightly with some icing sugar, to simulate some now.

Here are some more photographs of the finished cake:

 

 

THIS TIME IN 2015: Gingerbread Pandas (Wheat Free with a Dairy Free Option)
THIS TIME IN 2014: A Multitude of Different Kinds of Fudge [Back Dated]
THIS TIME IN 2013: No blog

Rondos: Almond "Fingers" (Wheat Free with a Dairy Free Option)

Happy 2016, readers! I had a nice break, but as soon as I got back to my home, after having been at my childhood home for the Christmas celebrations, I got back into the kitchen and made some delicious almond 'fingers'!

Admittedly, they're not finger shaped. They would be if I had the special mould, but I had to improvise and use a muffin tin instead. For those of you who aren't familiar with an almond finger, this is what I'm talking about:

source

These were always a favourite of mine when we went to the shop to get cakes as a kid, so it was a joy to recreate them. When I was researching the recipe to make these childhood favourites at home, I discovered that their native Dutch name is 'kanos', or 'rondos' for round ones.

FREE FROM

☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Dairy (use substitute in italics for dairy free)
☑ Wheat

CONTAINS
☒ Refined sugar products
☒ Nuts (almonds)
☒ Gluten
☒ Egg

INGREDIMENTS
For the pastry,

• 9 ounces (255 grammes) white spelt flour
• 6 ounces (170 grammes) butter, room temperature, or block margarine
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) icing sugar
• 1 medium egg
• Zest of half a lemon

For the filling,

• 5 ounces (140 grammes) ground almonds
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) icing sugar
• 1 medium egg
• A few drops of almond essence

For finishing,

• 1 medium egg, beaten with a little water, for glazing
• 6 almonds, halved with skins removed

HOW TO

First, make the pastry.

• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with a wooden spoon until soft. Add in the sugar and lemon zest and cream again until smooth and fluffy. 
• Add in the egg and mix until fully incorporated, and then sift in the flour. Mix gently until you get a nice soft and slightly sticky dough. You might need to resort to your hands if the mixture is too stiff for the spoon.
• Divide the dough in half equally, using a scale, and then wrap each half in cling film, flattening it to make it chill faster. Chill in the fridge for at least 60 to 90 minutes, or in the freezer for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Next, make the filling and assemble.

• Preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F, Gas Mk.2½, or very moderate).
• In a mixing bowl, stir together the ground almonds and icing sugar until fine and free of any lumps. Add in the egg and almond essence, and mix until it becomes a paste.
• Sprinkle the work surface with flour, and roll out the first half of the dough to just under a quarter inch (3 millimetre). Using a round cutter, or glass, or mug, cut out rounds to line a 12 hole patty tin, or muffin tin. Keep the trimmings aside.
• Fill the cases with a rounded teaspoon of filling. Don't go mad: you want a gap of a few millimetres at the top of each case. I discovered the hard way that too much filling leads to cracked tops.
• Roll out the second half of the dough and cut into slightly smaller circles for the lids. Brush the underside with water and use them to close each little cake. Pressing with the fingers is fine; no need for a fork.
• Brush the top of each cake with beaten egg wash, prick with a fork to let air out, and press half an almond into the top.
• Gather the trimmings together and squish into another dough ball. Wrap and keep for another project: you will have a little left over.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. If they puff up too much and crack, it's no biggy: just put less filling in them next time.
• Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly in the tray, and then lift them out with the assistance of a blunt, thin bladed knife (like a palette knife). Move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Egg-Free Marzipan

One of my all-time favourite bakery and sugar craft staples, and something I have touched on surprisingly seldom in my blog, is marzipan! I forget about it all year, and then Christmas comes around and I'm marzipan mad.

Marzipan is one of my most favourite things: I could eat blocks of marzipan until I felt very ill, and still like it. When I was in school, I had a good German friend who one year got a solid marzipan Easter egg from her father back home in Germany. She gave me some, and it was some of the nicest marzipan I had tasted; she told me it was by a company called Niederegger, and that the factory shop was in Lübeck, which was a town close to her own home. I visited her home in 2008 (my first foreign holiday) and asked her to take me to the shop, where I bought a nice amount of the delicious marzipan to nibble on and bring home.

Despite my love of marzipan, I'd never tried to make it before this year. In May, I made a circular Battenberg layer cake, which was my first attempt at making it. I never realised it was so easy! It is a little fragile because it lacks those good egg white proteins, but it's easily moulded like clay and sets quickly.

FREE FROM

☑ Soya
☑ Yeast
☑ Dairy
☑ Gluten
☑ Eggs

CONTAINS
☒ Nuts
☒ Refined sugar products

INGREDIMENTS:

• 7 ounces (200 grammes) ground nuts of your choice: almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc.
• 7 ounces (200 grammes) icing sugar
• ¼ teaspoon (2 millilitres) almond essence, or to taste
• Cold water, to bind
• Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon juice
• Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon zest
• Icing sugar, for dusting

HOW-TO:

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground nuts and icing sugar until well combined. Add in the almond essence (and lemon juice and zest if using), and stir with the tip of a knife.
• Continuing to mix with the knife, add in water a teaspoon (5 millilitres) at a time until it comes together in a soft dough.
• Dust the work surface with a little icing sugar, and turn out the marzipan. Knead and squash the dough together very gently until smooth; if you over knead it, it becomes oily and unworkable.
• You can use the marzipan straightaway, or wrap it in cling film and keep in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.

Marzipan is used very often in Northern European bakery and sweet-making: Denmark, Holland, and Germany all produce a lot of almond based delights. I will be exploring all of these things in the New Year.