Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas

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The dough is actually very similar to a strudel dough or rough filo (just flour, oil and water) and is incredibly easy to make. It’s important when making this at home to heat the baking sheet up in the oven first as this ensures a crisp base, or if you have a pizza stone that’s even better. I’ve given some suggestions for my favourite alternative flavour combinations below the recipe, but really anything goes for the dough. There is no good reason. So, with apologies for changing my mind already, here it is as a review for any of you out there who are in need of a good book for yourself or a baking friend in need of a culinary warm hug.

Advent, Anja Dunk: We put the ultimate festive baking Advent, Anja Dunk: We put the ultimate festive baking

To make the dough, put all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix using your hands. Knead for a couple of minutes until a supple, silky dough is formed. Divide the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll each half out as thinly as possible. So long as it fits on the baking sheet it doesn’t matter what shape it is, although I aim for a rough oval. The recipe says bake for 25-30 mins until golden, then you let it cool before slicing into individual biscotti and baking for another 25 mins to crisp them up. I sneak a peek halfway through and see my mangled log has already expanded to the edges of the baking tray. Eek! In one bite-sized biscuit, they swept me directly to cold snowy cobbled streets with people’s breath hanging in clouds under the glow of street lamps. There was just something about them that seemed so old-fashioned that was hard to put my finger on – the vodka somehow brought a mysterious feeling of cold into your mouth. The recipes were wonderful, they are explained really well and I was surprised how well recipes that sounded complicated actually turned out. All of the recipes are vegetarian, all are easily made vegan and the author gives instructions on how to replace the egg in a recipe.

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I have a massive apology to make here. In Monday’s post, I listed Advent by Anja Dunk as one of my Advent books, the small volumes I wrap and give myself on the Sundays of Advent. That was written at my desk in the office, where I do most of my writing and without all of the books actually being present in front of me. A celebratory chocolate that looks showstoppingly good yet is a cinch to make. In Germany, Kirschwasser, a double-distilled morello cherry brandy, is often used with chocolate, most famously in a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, and these little Swiss peaks are no exception – sometimes I also sit a sour cherry at the bottom of the foil case before piping the chocolate in. Place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2cm/¾in between each, and bake in the centre of the oven for 22–25 minutes until golden brown all over, turning the sheet around once halfway through to ensure an even bake. Available as just an ebook, and a short, sharp read, is Enjoying a Self-Care Christmas: Easy Ways to keep the Joy of Christmas, and your Sanity, intact. It’s an easy read, with ideas and hints to keep you sane through the season. The self-care advent calendar is one I’ve followed for a few years now, and it really is a small daily dose of calm in a manic month.

Anja Cook this: Lebkuchenherzen — Lebkuchen hearts — from Anja

tsp Lebkuchengewürz (recipe follows), or 1 tsp ground cinnamon mixed with
1 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground cloves and 1/4 tsp ground cardamom Germany really has the Christmas baking range covered! I love these recipes and will really look forward to cooking these each year.Although Advent is over and the holiday season is ending, I've found myself flipping through Advent making notes for the 2022 holiday baking season! And while I got to enjoy a small taste of Anja Dunk's latest book there are so many recipes (both sweet and savory) I didn't get a chance to make. Such a delightful holiday cookbook, I learned much about the rituals and traditions surrounding Advent and the festive German bakes made to celebrate it. Chocolate-coated walnut marzipan, excerpted from Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas by Anja Dunk. In this beautiful book Anja Dunk presents over 100 classic German baking recipes. Illustrated throughout with the author's own photography and artworks, and with a luxurious cloth cover complete with foil finishes, this is a stunning, comforting book that will be a family favourite for many years to come.

put the ultimate German festive What happened when we put the ultimate German festive

Now food writer Anja Dunk has collected together a whole slew of festive German bakes in her new cookbook, Advent.Put the mixed peel, raisins and currants into a bowl, pour over the rum and set aside to infuse while you prepare the dough. Put the flour, salt and butter in a mixing bowl and, using your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar and mix it through. Now add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and bring everything together into a dough with your hands. Knead for a few minutes. Honestly, Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas (with its specific German Yuletide focus) is pretty well perfect, is pretty well absolutely and utterly superb. The advent season – which we are three-quarters of the way through – is steeped in tradition and rituals and, just like the astronomical seasons, much of it is centred on light. The advent wreath is traditionally adorned with four candles and is lit at mealtimes, providing precious light and warmth during the shortening days.

Advent by Anja Dunk | Cookbook Corner | Nigella Lawson

Take the sheets out of the oven and lay the dough on top; this can be a little fiddly – I use a pizza shovel to do this but a large flat spatula or a hand supporting the underside centre of the dough while you move it also works. Baking as a vegan is often pretty hit or miss, but this was a definite win – probably because few of the ingredients had to be changed, it was just subbing out the butter for a dairy-free alternative and using golden syrup instead of honey. The biscuits weren’t soft or crumbly like shortbread or cookie (that’s down to the rye flour) – but tasted more like gingerbread. As we hunker and snuggle around the stove each day, we are entertained, warmed and comforted by it. If ever there was a time for the oven to prove its worth as the real hearth of our home, advent is it. I hope you enjoy making these festive German bakes, which are made to share with friends and family for years – together or as presents. Almond domes recipe Everyone goes on about the palaver of the turkey come December 25, but some of the best festive cooking at this time of year is actually spent in the run-up to the big day.Once cool, put one cake on to a plate, spoon the jam on top and spread it out evenly. Place the second cake on top.