Friday, December 24, 2010

Springerle




















Here it is, Christmas Eve.  I am continuing our German family tradition of baking lots of cookies in celebration of Christmas. Usually I try at least one new recipe but there are a few recipes that must be baked each year.  At the top of that list are Springerle. Springerle are a very basic egg, sugar, and flour cookie flavored with anise and formed with a carved mold or rolling pin. Some people paint them with food color after they are baked.  I don't.

Making Springerle is like stepping into a culinary time machine. Food historians think that these cookies date back to Pagan Germanic winter festivals. Molded breads in the shape of animals and fruits were made as tokens in place of live offerings to the Gods. Early Springerle molds can be dated to the fourteenth century.  Many from the nineteenth century are very elaborate and some may have been used as edible holiday greeting cards. I have to confess that Springerle (fondly called Springers by people who know and love them) are not my favorite cookie to eat. I do love the mold I use to make them and the fact that my friends and neighbors are delighted that there is still someone around who can produce a small, tasty, work of art that reminds them of their mother or grandmother.
My Springerle mold was a given to my Mom when she was a young woman. It was from an elderly bachelor neighbor and it belonged to his mother so I can guess that it is at least a century old.  As with most antique molds it is hand carved wood, in this case walnut. When I am not using it, it hangs in a shadow box frame in my kitchen because it is a work of art and a piece of history.




















My recipe is a combination of old and new ingredients. My Mom got this 'new and improved' version from the woman I grew up calling Aunt Verana even though she was not related to our family. The powered sugar is a new convenience. It makes incorporating the sugar into the eggs much easier.  The hartshorn (ammonium carbonate) dates to the time before commercial baking powder. The method I use to beat the eggs also dates from that time. Springerle that are made correctly are light and a little chewy, not hard square rocks as many I have tried.
Here is the recipe I use:












Let me elaborate on the ingredients and method a bit.

As I have said hartshorn is ammonium carbonate. It is a white powder much like baking soda but it smells of ammonia. Some old fashion drug stores still carry it but you have to ask for it. I am lucky that there is a small family owned place called Crystal and Spice Shoppe a few miles from the farm that keeps it in stock during the holiday season. They also carry a good quality anise oil. You want anise oil, not extract.












Eggs: Bring them to room temperature before you beat them because they will develop more volume. Then beat them until they are very light and frothy, maybe five minutes or so. When you dip your finger in them they should almost hold a peak. Remember you are using the eggs as a form of leavening also.












I refrigerate the dough overnight to make rolling and getting a good impression from the mold easier.













Place the cut cookies on baking parchment covered cookie sheets and let them dry at least 3 hours. Sometimes I let them overnight. This "sets" the impressions.



















When they are finished baking, the cookies should be white with no signs of browning with the exception of a little color on the bottom surface. Do NOT take a deep breath when you open the oven door to check on them. The ammonia can be overwhelming but will dissipate quickly.



Merry Christmas and may we find our way forward into the new year by remembering the people that bring love and joy into our lives.