German Holiday Traditions: Glühwein

It is my dream to one day visit Germany during the Christmas season so I can experience the magic of and, let's face it, abundance of delicious food at the Weihnachtsmärkte. Yes, I would be sure to hit more than one of their festive holiday markets because I doubt just one would be enough to satisfy me. I can't even imagine how much weight I'd gain feasting on everything from the Gebrannte Mandeln (candied almonds) to the bratwurst, something I'd ordinarily turn my nose up at any other time of the year. Not to mention the pounds of marzipan I'd smuggle home in my suitcase. One trip could lead to a five-month-long eating binge if I play my cards right.

Glühwein is a hot mulled wine, perfect for warming one's bones while wandering through an outdoor market in Germany. I'd imagine it's also perfect for curling up in front of the fireplace while gearing up for Christmas. While it's a bit early for Christmas treats when we haven't even gotten through November, I figure a glass or two of this might help you survive Thanksgiving so you can live to see December. Especially if your family's anything like mine!

I'm not sure if the recipe I followed is anywhere close to authentic but, likely because of the addition of liberal amounts of sugar, I found it to be the first wine I could actually stand to drink. I found several different recipes out there that vary widely so if this one doesn't strike your fancy feel free to poke around the net yourself and experiment. Some recipes called for lemons instead of oranges and different proportions of spices. I quite like the strong orange flavor in this one and the sweetness from the orange juice and sugar.

Glühwein
Recipe adapted from Dreaming of Winter

2 cups red wine
1/4 cup granulated sugar
One orange, cut into slices
8 whole cloves
Juice from one orange, strained to remove pulp
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
4 whole allspice
Brandy (optional)

1) Stick the whole cloves into the orange slices and combine everything in a pot. For an extra kick add some brandy. (I didn't because I'm a lightweight.) Heat over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and being careful to not let it boil.
2) Taste and add more sugar if desired. Continue to heat over low temperature, again making sure it doesn't boil, for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3) Strain out the cloves, allspice, and cinnamon or ladle carefully and drink up! If you're feeling especially generous this holiday season you could even share with friends.

German Holiday Traditions: Lebkuchen Hearts

I'm starting to get a little of my Christmas spirit back now that I've started thinking about all of the holiday foods that come with the season. Christmas is probably the time of year I'm most in touch with my German heritage as my mother made sure to include a lot of German holiday traditions as I grew up. I've chosen to keep most of those traditions now that I'm grown and live on my own, but the one tradition I refuse to uphold is waiting until December 24th to put up the Christmas tree. That's all good and well when you're a kid and believe that Santa sneaks into the house on Christmas Eve to deposit your presents and tree but now that I know better I want to enjoy my tree for longer than two weeks.

Of course, there are wonderful German traditions I'm only too happy to incorporate, namely the food. Christmas wouldn't be complete for me without a marzipan pig for good luck in the upcoming year and Gebrannte Mandeln (toasted sugar almonds) threatening to shatter my teeth. Another of my favorite treats is Lebkuchen, a soft, spiced cookie with citrus flavors.
My mom and I pay a pretty penny every year to buy some imported from the fatherland. Considering how frugal we both are the rest of the year this is a testament to our love for the stuff.

Lebkuchen is often sold in giant heart-shaped forms with little messages written across the middle. They're usually nice, sweet messages like, "I love you" but I made a few for my brother that are less than kind. I wouldn't want to miss out on an opportunity to insult him.

Dummkopf = stupid head
Ich liebe dich = I love you
Schatzi = darling
Frohe Weihnachten = Merry Christmas

The recipe below is a nice substitute when the real stuff can't be found but I have to say it's nowhere near as good. The flavors are all there but something is lacking. Must be that magical German air. Still, they herald the start of the holiday season for me and I'm happy to have them to tide me over until my international shipment arrives. Although similar to gingerbread cookies with the variety of spices, I prefer these because they're softer and the chewy bite from the mixed peel stands out. This is the reason I made that candied citrus peel and I think it was well worth it. I hope you give them a try to bring a little German spirit into your Christmas this year!

Lebkuchen Hearts
Recipe from Taste.com.au


60 grams unsalted butter
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
1/4 cup mixed peel, finely chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds, slightly broken
1 egg
Dark chocolate, melted (optional)

1) Place the butter, honey and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until butter melts and mixture comes to the boil. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly.

2) Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and cardamom into a large bowl. Add the lemon rind, mixed peel and almonds and stir to combine. Add the egg and the honey mixture and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 1/2 hours to rest.

3) Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Roll out to a 5mm-thick disc. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes from dough and place on the lined trays, leaving space for spreading. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside on trays to cool completely.

4) When cool, if desired, spread melted chocolate on the bottom of each cookie.

Buttercream Frosting (For Decorating)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 heaping cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon heavy cream
Food coloring

1) Beat butter and sugar until combined. Add cream and beat until smooth.
2) Divide frosting and tint with food coloring. Pipe decoratively onto cookies.

German Apple Cake

Ignore the evidence of my gluttony that couldn't wait until after I took a picture. Even if it's not up to snuff it's still cake!

In her prime, my grandmother was one heck of a baker and one of her baking standards was her Apfelkuchen (apple cake). She seemed to always have one in the fridge or one in the works, and I know I took it for granted that there would forever be a never-ending supply of apple cake in my life. Of course that has turned out to not be true and with the advent of fall and apple season I was craving one something fierce. Unfortunately, I don't have my grandmother's recipe so I hunted around online until I found one that looked similar from the picture. And while mine turned out more or less looking right – aside from the somewhat deformed apples – that's where the similarities ended.

I guess it's time to revoke my German heritage membership card after this weekend's abysmal attempt at making my own German apple cake. How is that my grandmother was always able to effortlessly whip one up while I stood there and struggled with coring and slicing the darn apples for what felt like forever? Only to wind up with deformed-looking hunks of apple. Even worse is that I either overbaked the cake or the recipe I found wasn't close enough to her version because it's much dryer and less flavorful than what I'm used to. Huge disappointment for my first attempt at recreating one of my childhood favorites. Maybe I should stick to a simple marble cake instead since that's hard to screw up and I've been baking those since I was eight.

If any of you happens to know of a better recipe I could try please help a wayward German girl out and point me in the right direction. I don't want to give up on my dream of having apple cake like Oma used to make!

German Apple Cake
Source

1 3/4 cup flour
2 teasp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 teasp. cinnamon
1 tip of a knife ground cloves
1 teasp. lemon zest
10 tablesp. butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teasp. vanilla extract
4 tablesp. rum or milk (rum is recommended)
2 or 3 apples

1) Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease baking pan. (The recipe didn't specify so I used a springform pan.)

2) In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon zest.

3) In a second bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix. Stir in flour mixture, one tablespoon at a time. Add rum or milk and mix in. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.

4) Peel apples and cut them into quarters. Core apples and score the quarters lengthwise (see picture), cutting deeply. Place apple pieces cored side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on top.

5) Bake cake for 40-55 min. until golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack ten minutes, remove from pan and continue to cool on rack.

Welcome, One and All!

Yes, this is yet another random blog dedicated to the womanly arts of sewing and baking. While I don't actually expect anyone outside of my small circle of friends and family to read this blog a girl can dream. However, I believe in keeping my dreams realistic and achievable (ever the pragmatic German), so at best I'm hoping this will be another resource for those who, like me, want as much information as possible before embarking on a project. I spend a lot of time browsing pictures and reading blogs of those who have boldly gone before me once I have my heart set on a certain sewing pattern, recipe, or crafting project. I'm grateful for all of the information out there but sometimes wish I could find more. This is my way of chiming in and adding my experiences in the hopes of helping those in the crafting and baking communities. Maybe I'll even inspire a few readers to try something entirely new!