EPALE

Christmas Recipe Book 2017

IntroductionThe recipes in this book have been put together by EPALE NSSs across Europe.

Some of the recipes have been translated using Google Translate.

Enjoy!

Contents

Austria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Vanillekipferl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Belgium German speaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Stollen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Bosnia i Hercegovina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Baklava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Bulgaria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Tikvenik - Bulgarian Sweet Pumpkin Pie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Croatia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Orahnjača (Croatian Walnut Strudel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Roast Turkey with Mlinci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Czech Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Czech Vanilla Crescents (Vanilkove Rohlicky) Recipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Vaniljekranse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Æbleskiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Rheinischer Doebbekooche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Beigli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Gerbaud cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Iceland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Liquorice Tops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Traditional Irish Christmas Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Theodora Ftizgibbon’s Traditional Christmas Pudding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Latvia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Latvian Bacon rolls (Speķa pīrāgi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Lithuania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Christmas Eve Biscuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

White Salad (Potato Salad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Montenegro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Pringanice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

The Netherlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Kale with kielbasa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Almond tuiles (Bestemors mandelfl arn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Polish beetroot soup with dumplings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

(Barszcz z uszkami) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Poppy seed roll (Makowiec) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Portugal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42RABANADAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Romania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Cozonaceala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Slovenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Walnut Potica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

POPRTNIK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Swedish Saff ron Buns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Swedish Gingerbread Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Turkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Pogaca (milk buns) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

United Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Gingerbread Christmas tree recipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Belgium German speaking

Stollen

A delicious yeasted cake fi lled with dried fruit and a swirl of marzipan. It takes time to make but is well worth the eff ort.

Equipment and preparation: for this recipe you will need a large baking tray.

By Paul Hollywood from The Great British Bake Off

Ingredients

* 500g/1lb 2oz strong white fl our, plus extra for fl ouring

* 100g/3½oz caster sugar

* 10g fast action yeast

* 10g salt

* 150g/5½oz unsalted butter, so� ened

* 250ml/9fl oz full-fat milk

* pinch ground nutmeg

* pinch ground cloves

* ½ tsp vanilla extract

* 2 drops almond extract

* 55g/2oz blanched almonds, fi nely chopped

* 200g/7oz raisins

* 100g/3½oz currants

* 125g/4oz mixed peel

* 25g/1oz butter, melted

* 225g/8oz marzipan

To serve

* 25g/1oz butter, melted

* 2 tbsp icing sugar

Austria

Vanillekipferl

Enjoy a little Austrian Christmas atmosphere at home with this wonderfully light, crescent-shaped biscuit.

Published by the Austrian National Tourist Offi ce

Ingredients for the dough

* 180g butter

* 70g shelled and ground almonds

* 50g sugar

* 2 egg yolks

* 210 g plain fl our

* Plus some powdered sugar and vanilla sugar (mixed)

Preparation

1. Quickly mix all the ingredients to a short-crust dough and leave it in a cool place for one hour.

2. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1 cm before cutting into small pieces and forming crescent-shaped biscuits.

3. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking tray and bake at a moderate temperature (200°C) for around 10 minutes or until they turn a light brown color.

4. Mix icing sugar and vanilla sugar together, then toss the hot cookies in the mix.

5. Store the biscuits in a sealed tin for several days for them to become crumbly.

Bosnia i Hercegovina

Baklava

Ingredients

* 1 (16 ounce) package fi lo pastry dough

* 1 pound chopped nuts

* 1 cup butter

* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

* 1 cup water

* 1 cup white sugar

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 1/2 cup honey

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.

2. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll fi lo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fi t pan. Cover fi lo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.

3. Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

4. Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

5. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

Directions

1. Put the fl our and sugar in a large bowl. Add the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other. Add the so� ened butter and 200ml/7fl oz of the milk and stir together.

2. Add the remaining milk and bring the mixture together to form a so� dough. Transfer to a generously fl oured work surface and knead for 6-7 minutes, or until smooth and pliable.

3. Mix the nutmeg, cloves, vanilla and almond extract, almonds, dried fruit and mixed peel together in a large bowl. Put the dough on top and knead from the outside into the centre incorporating the dried fruit and spices as you go. When everything has been fully incorporated, cover the bowl with cling fi lm and leave to rise for 1-2 hours in a warm place, or until doubled in size.

4. Flatten the dough and roll out on a lightly fl oured work surface to a rectangle about 45x35cm/18x14in (or so the short side of the dough matches the longest side of your baking tray). Brush with the melted butter.

5. Roll out the marzipan to about 35x15cm/14x6in (the long side should approximately match the width of the dough). Place on top of the dough in the middle. Roll the dough up to enclose the marzipan and transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Cover and leave to rise for about an hour, or until risen and doubled in size.

6. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 (fan 170C).

7. When the dough is risen, bake for an hour. Remove from the oven, brush with melted butter, and dust with icing sugar. Serve cold.

Recipe Tips

If you have a smaller oven you may want to make two smaller loaves rather than one large one.

9. VARIANT: You could decide to do one whole pie instead of individual rolls. For that choose a baking tin slightly smaller than the size of the phyllo sheets (it could be round). Layer the sheets one by one slightly folding them to fi t into the tin and to allow air between them. If you are using butter, drizzle some over each sheet you lay. When you have laid two sheets, spoon some pumpkin mixture on top.

10. Continue layering the pastry and the pumpkin mix and fi nish off with a single sheet of dough.

11. Place the baking tin in the oven.

12. Bake at medium heat for about 20 to 30 minutes. A� er 10 minutes baking you could take the pie out and spread some butter on it, but I do not do that.

13. Let the pie cool down and serve sprinkled with some caster sugar.

Bulgaria

Tikvenik - Bulgarian Sweet Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

* 1 1⁄2 lbs pumpkin (peeled and seeded) or 1 1⁄2 lbs any suitable squash (peeled and seeded)

* 1 cup of sugar

* 2 ounces of walnuts (chopped)

* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

* 1⁄2 lb butter, melted (optional)

* 1 (1 lb) package phyllo pastry

* 2 -3 tablespoons caster sugar (for sprinkling)

Directions

1. Cut the pumpkin or squash into large pieces and boil. You could do that in a sauce pan with water to cover, or even better steam boil it.

2. When so� enough drain, place in a bowl, and puree with a fork.

3. VARIANT: Some people, instead of boiling the pumpkin, prefer to grate it and saute it with some butter or vegetable oil. Others prefer to grate it and put it in raw. Downsides are that in the fi rst case it ends up quite greasy, and in the second quite crunchy.

4. Add the sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon; mix in with the pumpkin.

5. If you decide to use the butter, melt it.

6. Take two sheets of phyllo pastry and drizzle some melted butter on the top one. You could also use a single sheet, butter both sheets, or do as I do and skip the butter altogether.

7. Spoon some of the pumpkin mixture over the pastry and roll loosely. Repeat with the rest of the pastry.

8. Take a non-stick baking sheet or tin (or else oil it). If it is rectangular place the rolls parallel to each other. If it is round, start lining the rim with the rolls, slowly spiralling them towards the centre (you can see what I mean in one of the photos I've submitted).

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 F). Grease a 30cm X 20cm (11 x 8-inch) baking tray with cooking oil.

Sour Dough:

Mix fl our, sugar and crumbled fresh yeast. Add warm milk to make sour dough. Leave it in warm place to double in volume.

Dough:

Place fl our into warmed large bowl. Make a hole in center. Lightly beat egg yolks and the one whole egg with milk and sugar. Add eggs, melted butter, lemon zest, sour cream, rum and sour dough. Using electric mixer beat dough until so� bubbles appear. Dust dough with fl our and cover with towel. Leave it to double in volume.

Filling:

Mix ground walnuts with steaming milk. Add raisins, lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla-sugar and honey and mix well.

Assembling:

Divide dough in two equal parts. Roll each part in rectangles 25cm x 18cm. Put fi lling mixture alongside each rectangle and roll it into strudel. Put the strudels in baking tray and leave to rise about 15 minutes. Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.

Leave it to cool and dust with sugar. Cut in 15-20 pieces.

Makes 15-20 servings.

Croatia

Orahnjača (Croatian Walnut Strudel)

Ingredients:

Sour Dough:

* 20g fresh yeast

* 10g granulated sugar

* 50ml warm milk

* 40g all-purpose fl our

Dough:

* 350g self-rising fl our

* 50g butter

* 2 egg yolks

* 1 egg

* 250ml milk

* 1 tbsp. sour cream

* 1 tsp. lemon zest

* 1/2 tbsp. dark rum

Filling:

* 400g ground walnuts

* 120g granulated sugar

* 100g raisins

* 200ml milk (steamed)

* 2 tbsp. Honey

* lemon zest

* 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

* 1/2 tsp. vanilla-sugar

Glaze:

* 1 egg

* 100g fi ne granulated sugar (or confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar) for dusting

Czech Republic

Czech Vanilla Crescents (Vanilkove Rohlicky) Recipe

Ingredients

* 250 g butter (room-temperature)

* 5 tablespoons sugar

* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* 1 tablespoon water

* 2 cups fl our (all-purpose)

* pinch of salt

* 2 cups almonds (fi nely chopped, or hazelnuts)

* Garnish: confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 160 °C. In a large bowl, cream 250 g room-temperature butter and add 5 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1 tablespoon water and cream again.

2. In a separate small bowl, whisk together 2 cups all-purpose fl our and pinch of salt, and add to creamed mixture, combining thoroughly. Add 2 cups fi nely chopped nuts of choice until completely incorporated.

3. Form walnut-size pieces of dough into crescent shapes on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.

4. Allow cookies to cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet. And then, while still warm, roll in confectioners' sugar or vanilla sugar.

5. When cookies are completely cool, again roll in confectioners' sugar or vanilla sugar. Transfer to an airtight container. These will keep several weeks.

Roast Turkey with Mlinci

Ingredients for Mlinci:

* 350 g (12 oz) fl our

* Salt

* Water

Ingredients for Turkey:

* 1 turkey

* Salt to taste

* 1 cup water

* Oil

* (spices)

Preparation for Mlinci:

1. Prepare a dough from fl our and lukewarm salted water. The dough should not be too fi rm in consistency. Knead well.

2. Divide the dough into 4 – 5 lumps. Roll each one out into a round shape, not too thin. Bake each piece separately over a hot grid in the oven.

Preparation for Turkey:

1. Rub salt and spices to taste into the turkey and leave it to rest overnight.

2. Before roasting, brush with oil and place it in a roasting pan to which you have added a little water. Place the roasting pan into a heated oven and bake slowly. Roast the turkey slowly, basting it in its own juice for about 3 hours, until the meat is tender (temperature should be between 350 F and 400 F/ 180-200 C)

Serving:

1. Leave the roasting juice in the roasting pan, remove the fat, place mlinci into the pan, mix and bake briefl y

2. Arrange the turkey and mlinci on a large plate, garnish and serve.

Æbleskiver

The classic apple slices can be made coarser by replacing some of the fl our with whole wheat fl our.

30 pcs. per portionDough

* 4 dl buttermilk

* 3 eggs

* 250 g wheat fl our (about 4¼ dl)

* ½ teaspoon of soda

* 1 tablespoon of sugar

* ¼ teaspoon coarse salt

* 100 gr melted butter

Directions

1. Separate the egg whites and yolks and put them in separate bowls.

2. Wish the sugar and egg whites until they are fl uff y and stiff . The bowl must be compeltely clean and dry.

3. Mix the egg yolks, all purpose-fl our, baking soda, salt and vanilla sugar together in a separate bowl.

4. Use a handmixer to mix the ingredients while gradually adding the buttermilk. Keeo mixing until the batter is uniform.

5. Melt the butter and let it cool off a bit. Slowly add the cooled butter to the buttermilk mixture while whisking.

6. Use a wooden spoon or similar to slowly mix the stiff eff whites in the batter.

Denmark

Vaniljekranse

Ingredients

* 1 vanilla pod

* 375 g wheat fl our (about 6¼ dl)

* 125 g of potato fl our (about 1¾ dl)

* 375 g of cold butter

* 100 g fi nely chopped slices of almonds

* 250 g sugar (about 3 dl)

* 1 egg

Directions

Vanilla Wreaths

Chop the vanilla pod fi nely. Mix wheat fl our and potato fl our together. Cut the butter into smaller pieces and crumble it in the fl our. Add vanilla, almonds and sugar. Quickly mix in the egg. Lay the dough covered and cold until the next day. Press the dough through a cookie press, and shape them into wreaths. Put the vanilla pods on the tray with baking paper and behind them at the top of the oven.

Baking time

Ca. 8 min. at 200 °.

Freezing Tips

Both the raw dough and the fi nished vanilla wreaths can be frozen. Put the dough into the refrigerator. Cut dough into smaller portions to freeze, dry it faster.

Germany

Rheinischer Doebbekooche

Döppekooche/Döbbekooche is a form of potato cake that was once only eaten by the poor particularly around St Martin’s Day to take the place of the traditional goose, which would be a more costly menu item. It consists of grated potatoes, fi nely minced onions, eggs and spices and covered in sausage pieces or strips of bacon. The resulting potato-onion-egg mix is then baked in the oven for about 2 hours until it forms a crust, considered to be the best part of the dish. Purists insist that the dish should not be stirred during the baking period in order to keep the crust intact, however, it is also acceptable to stir it so as to distribute the crust throughout the dish. Döppekooche has a variety of regional names such as Kulles in Holzfeld (Holzfelder Kulleslauf), Puttes, Dippekoochen, Kesselskooche, oder Knüles (Bad Godesberg).

Servings

Ingredients

* 8 ounces bacon

* 3 tablespoons oil

* 1 bread roll

* 1 cup milk

* 2 lbs potatoes

* 2 large onions

* 1 apple

* 2 eggs

* 1 tablespoon fl our

* salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry gently in the oil to draw out the fat.

2. Soak the bread in the milk. Peel and grate the onions, apple and potatoes and add to the bread and combine with the eggs and fl our. Season with salt and pepper. Add more milk if needed and mix into a paste.

3. Place half the bacon into the bottom of a casserole dish, the add the potato mixture. Pour the remaining bacon over the top. Back in a preheated oven 400 degree F for about 1-1/2 hours.

Cooking the Aebleskiver

You need a special Aebleskiver pan for frying. You can get one online or maybe at your local kitchen store.

7. Heat up the Aebleskiver pan at medium heat and add a small piece of butter in each hole. Fill the holes ¾ with the Aebleskiver batter.

8. When the edges start to get fi rm, turn them over. Turn the Aebleskiver 90 degrees (using a wooden stick or similar) and le the batter fl ow into the pan.

9. At this point there is a hole in the side of the Aebleskiver. Pour a little extra batter into the hole and turn the Aebleskiver another 90 degrees so that the hole gets closed.

10. When the Aebleskiver has a solid surface turn them regulalry so they get an even and light-brown crust.

11. Try adding diff erent fi llings inside the Aebleskiver. We can recomend fi lling it with chocolate chips, strawberry jam or small apple pieces. Serve these Danish Aebleskiver together with some jam and icing sugar.

Ingredients for the fi lling for 4 rolls:

* 300-350 g ground walnuts

* 300-350 g of ground poppy seeds (both can be purchased ground fresh at your local market – do NOT buy imitation stuff from the supermarket)

* 150 g sugar (adjust to your taste)

* 2 lemons

* vanilla extract

* honey

* Rum extract (or hey, real rum!)

* ground cinnamon

* 1 l milk

Directions

1. Mix the ground walnuts (or the poppy seed – whichever you are making) with the other spices in a saucepan, and add enough milk to make a thick paste. Add the zest (scraped off rind) and juice of one lemon. Don’t make the fi lling runny, or it will leak out of the dough later. Heat the mixture slowly, stirring continuously and carefully to avoid burning! Set aside to cool. (Alternatively, you can mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and boil the milk separately, then douse the dry stuff with the milk. Just be careful to achieve a thick consistency.) Remember: each of the two types of fi lling (walnut and poppy seed) will fi ll TWO rolls, to make a total of four at the end. So divide your walnut fi lling into two portions and your poppy seed fi lling into two portions.

2. So here is the trick to making pretty beigli. Once the dough has been well rested in the fridge, use a rolling pin to create an even rectangle of dough. The width should be the width of the cookie sheet in your oven (so that it fi ts). Make sure the thickness is even. (And honestly, if anyone has fi gured out how to roll a ball of dough into a geometrically perfect rectangle, please let me know how you do it…)

3. Now spread the fi lling uniformly on the rectangle of dough, making sure to leave a quarter of an inch free around the edges. If your fi lling is fi rm enough, and you are precise

enough, you can make balls of fi lling, cover them with cling wrap and use the rolling pin to create rectangles slightly smaller than your dough. Just remember to remove the cling wrap before you put the fi lling on the dough…

4. Now fold the edges over the fi lling and press down, on all four sides.

5. Here comes the fun part: roll up the dough along the longer side.

6. Make holes in the top with a fork to let steam escape. This will help to keep the rolls from splitting along the top.

7. Spread egg yolk on the top of the beigli with a brush. Let it dry. Then spread egg white on top of the beigli. Let it dry. (The yolk adds a nice golden color, the egg white adds shine. And the time you wait for the two coats to dry allows the dough to rise some more.)

8. Put the rolls on a cookie sheet covered with baking paper. Put them in a pre-heated oven at 200C for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 190C, and bake until golden and the beigli are fi rm to the touch, which is approximately an additional 15 minutes. So total baking time should be around 30 minutes, but this of course depends on your oven, on the thickness of your beigli, etc.

9. Once they are done, wait for them to cool before slicing and serving.

HungaryBeigli

Beigli (or sometimes-spelled bejgli) is a real Hungarian Christmas treat. This pastry is ubiquitous around Christmas time; you can buy it in practically any shop or bakery. It is a rolled up crust with lots of fi lling. Walnut and poppy seed are traditional.

Ingredients for the dough for 4 rolls:

* 1 kg white fl our

* 200 g butter

* 150 g lard (no, you shouldn’t substitute)

* 80 g sugar

* 3 tablespoons 20% fat sour cream

* 1 egg

* 10 g fresh yeast (can be bought in cubes) started in 1 dl warm milk

* pinch of salt

Directions

1. In one bowl, combine fl our, butter, lard, sugar, salt, and crumble them together.

2. In another bowl, mix together milk, yeast and egg. Mix until smooth.

3. Pour the liquids into the solids, and knead until you get a smooth dough. Do not over knead! Stop as soon as the dough becomes uniform.

4. Once the dough is smooth, divide it into 4 equal parts, roll them up into balls, cover with cling wrap and let them rest in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Iceland

Liquorice Tops

Ingredients

* 3 egg whites

* 200g brown sugar

* 150g milk chocolate

* 150g small liquorice pieces

Direction:

1. Start with preheating the oven to 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. Whip the egg whites and brown sugar on an electric hand mixer. Do this for at least 10 minutes, so the mass is completely stiff .

3. Chop the chocolate fi nely.

4. Add the chocolate and small liquorice pieces in the egg white mixture. Remember to turn the chocolate pieces in the egg mixture, since stirring the chocolate in, can damage the fi nal layout.

5. Prepare a baking sheet on a baking tray.

6. Use a teaspoon to place the liquorice top mixture on the baking tray.

7. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.

Gerbaud cake

Popular Hungarian cake for Christmas, Easter, and other holidays, among the top 5 holiday dishes. Unfortunately, very high in calories. Ingredients

Dough:

* 500grams fl our

* 200grams butter (or margarine or shortening)

* 1 cup milk

* 25 grams fresh yeast

* 1-5tablespoons sugar

* pinch of salt

* 2 eggs (original recipe says another egg yolk)

Filling:

* fruit jam (I tend to use apricot, about two cups)

* ground walnut (to taste, approx. one cup)

* +1 egg white to brush layers

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients for the dough and let it rise at a warm place. Knead again, divide into 3 balls (or more), and let them rise again. Roll out one, place on a big baking tray. Brush with egg white to prevent the dough getting soaked. Spread jam on the dough, then ground walnut. Repeat with the next two layers. Brush the top layer with beaten egg. Bake at medium heat for approx. 30-40minutes.

2. Melt dark chocolate with a couple spoonfuls of milk or cream and cover the cake.

3. You can use any other jam you like, my faves are apricot or plum (best if a little sour). Alternatively you can experiment with diff erent amounts of walnut or substitute other nuts.

4. Serving Size: 2x5 cm pieces (around 35 g each, approx. 20 pieces)

Day 1

1. Prepare the Fruit

2. The night before you intend to bake the cake, put all the ingredients down to and including the whiskey into a bowl and mix well.

3. Cover and leave the fruit to soak in the whiskey and fruit juice overnight. Li� the cover now and again just to relish the amazing smell!!

4. Do NOT be tempted to skip this pre-soaking as it adds immensely to the moistness of the fi nished cake.

5. Prepare the cake tin

6. You could prepare the cake tin at the same time, or do it the following day. It is quite hard to describe this procedure – but here goes.

7. First line the tin carefully with the silicone or greaseproof paper smeared with butter. Let the paper extend a little over the top of the cake tin.

8. Then fold a length of brown paper so that you have a rectangle of paper several layers thick. Wrap this paper around the outside of the tin and tie it securely in place with string.

9. Your tin should now be almost invisible – sandwiched between a layer of brown paper on the outside and the silicone paper layer inside.

10. Cut an extra piece of silicone paper, fold in two, and cut a square or circle about the size of your cake tin. In the centre of this double sheet make 2 cuts about 2″ long in the shape of a cross. Set this and the tin aside for the next day.

Day 2

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). A bit lower – 280°F (140°C) – for fan ovens. You want a long slow cook, so that the fruit does not burn.

2. Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and whisk with the mixer until it turns a pale colour. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each one in very well before adding the next, as the mixture can easily curdle at this stage. If it does curdle – don’t panic, just add a dessert spoonful or two of fl our, mix that in and then add a spoonful of fl our with each subsequent egg.

3. Mix the fl our, ground almonds and salt together and then fold into the butter/sugar/egg mix – don’t use a mixer for this. Add the fruit and mix everything up well – again by hand or with a wooden spoon, no mixer.

4. The resulting mixture will be thick and quite sticky.

5. That’s it – spoon the mix into the lined cake tin, smoothing it out as you go. When it is all in, smooth the surface using a large metal spoon dipped in cold water, so that the mix is slightly higher around the edges of the tin than it is in the centre.

6. Tuck the square of silicone paper with the cross shaped cut in it loosely over the top of the cake – this will stop the top from browning too much.

7. Put the cake into the oven and ignore it for 31/2 hours. Don’t be tempted to even peek – just leave it there and savour the fabulous aroma that will fi ll the house!

8. A� er the 3 1/2 hours, take the cake from the oven to check if it is cooked. Do this by inserting a metal skewer or probe into the centre of the cake – if it emerges dry the cake is done, if not, put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

9. It can take up to 4 1/2 hours – it is very variable, even with the same oven.

10. When the cake is done, set it aside to cool completely in the tin. Leave it till the next day to remove.

Ireland

Traditional Irish Christmas Cake

Ingredients

Ingredients are listed in the order in which you will use them to make the cake.

Metric

* 450g sultanas

* 225g raisins

* 225g currants

* 100g glacé (candied) cherries, halved or whole, not chopped

* 50g mixed candied peel, fi nely chopped

* 1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice or pudding spice

* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essense

* grated zest & juice of 1 lemon

* grated zest & juice of 1 orange

* 1 large or 2 small apples, fi nely grated

* 100g slivered almonds

* 1 tablespoon Golden syrup

* 4 tablespoons Irish Whiskey

* 280g Irish butter

* 225g so� brown sugar

* 5 eggs

* 280g plain (all-purpose) fl our

* 50g ground almonds

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Utensils/Equipment

2 large mixing bowls, an eclectic mixer (eg a kenwood or similar), an 9″ round or 8″ square cake tin [cake pan], with straight sides – this sort of one is ideal. You also need silicone or greaseproof paper, brown paper and string.

Marzipan Icing

This should be added about a week in advance of Christmas, though it can be done earlier. Shop bought marzipan is fi ne, but really it’s very simple to make and the home made version is much nicer. You can fl avour it a little for one thing – I like a slight orangey tang – and pre-made icings tend to be made with far more (cheap) sugar than (expensive) almond.

If you are worried about using raw eggs, make a cooked marzipan, but the amount of sugar in the icing really makes the eggs quite safe.

Ingredients

* 300g caster sugar (golden if possible)

* 100g Icing sugar

* 500g ground almonds

* 2 medium or large eggs

* One Orange

* A few drops of almond essence (optional)

* A little apricot jam

Method

8. Making the icing is simple. Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Beat the eggs. Add the juice of the orange to the eggs. If you like your almond extra ‘almondy’, add the almond essence too.

9. Mix everything together. It should be very stiff and quite hard to bring together, but come into a fi rm ball with some eff ort. If it seems wet, add a little more icing sugar. If it seems dry add tiny bits of water or orange juice till it comes together.

10. Warm a little apricot jam and brush over the top of the cake so that the icing will stick to it.

11. Most Directions tell you to roll it out with a rolling pin. I never bother. I just pull of lumps of icing about the size of an egg, place them around the cake and then push them fl at with my fi ngers to cover the top and sides. It’s a very pliable material to work with, not unlike play dough and it’s easy to merge the seams and make it fairly smooth. It does not have to be perfect.

12. Leave to dry for at least 2 days before adding the fi nal layer of icing.

Day 3

1. Carefully remove the cake from the tin by easing a palette knife between the cake tin and the lining paper. Then peel the lining paper off the cake.

Feeding the Cake

2. Now it is time to give the cake it’s fi rst ‘feed’ – of whiskey! Turn it upside down and pierce it in 5-6 places with a thick skewer. Pour about half a teaspoon of whiskey into each hole – it won’t be very accurate, but don’t worry about it, it’ll soak in anyway.

3. You will repeat this feeding process every week to 10 days in the run up to Christmas – maybe 4-6 feeds in all.

Storing the Cake

Christmas cake keeps for ages, certainly months, if wrapped and stored properly.

4. Wrap the cake completely and fairly tightly with silicone or greaseproof paper held in place with string or an elastic band. Then wrap this in tinfoil or put into an air tight tin.

5. You will have to unwrap and then re-wrap each time you feed the cake which is a bit laborious but worth the eff ort.

Icing the Cake

Icing = frosting

6. You can leave the cake un-iced, some people prefer it that way, but traditionally it is iced with two layers: a marzipan layer fi rst, followed by a layer of white royal icing. This can be done in the last week or so before Christmas.

7. It is then decorated in one of many possible ways – families tend to each have their favourite. Some pipe icing decorations onto the cake, or write “Happy Christmas” on it, some make coloured marzipan holly leaves and berries, others use cake ornaments like Christmas trees, snowmen or Santa.

I go for a fairly simple approach, just icing, a ribbon and a few simple decorations on top.

For the brandy butter:

Serves 12

* 250g so� ened unsalted butter

* 250g icing sugar, si� ed

* 4 tbsp boiling water

* 6 tbsp brandy

* Equipment

* Large mixing bowl

* litre greased basins x2

* greaseproof paper

* String

* cloth (muslin)

* Large pot x 2

Directions

1. Put the prepared fruit and all dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Make a well in the bowl and add the grated rind and juice of the orange and lemon and grated carrot. Mix again. Beat the eggs and add them gradually, stirring well. Finally, add the stout and spirits, mixing together thoroughly. Add any charms. Put into 2 x 1.2 litre greased basins, cover with greaseproof paper and then tie a cloth over.

2. (If necessary they can be le� overnight.) Steam or boil, with the water coming up to the rim, for 7 hours, topping up with water as it runs dry. When cooked, uncover and let steam out. Don’t be alarmed if they are not dark brown, this comes with age. Re-cover lightly with greaseproof paper and the following day tie up with clean cloths. Before serving, steam or re-boil for 2 hours.

3. Puddings can also be cooked in the oven in the following way: put the puddings in a large tin, three-quarters full of hot water. Cover the pudding completely with tin foil and bake at 150°C/300°F/ Gas Mark 2 for 6 hours.

4. To make the brandy butter, cream together the butter and icing sugar in a bowl. Beat in the boiling water and brandy until smooth. Transfer to a serving dish and chill until needed.

Top tip

When serving, pour a little brandy over your puddings and set it a light for that added theatrical wow factor!

Theodora Ftizgibbon’s Traditional Christmas Pudding

Ingredients

Makes 2 puddings (each 1.2 litre in size):

* 100g plain or self-raising fl our

* 2 tsp ground cinnamon,

* 2 tsp mixed spice or ground nutmeg

* 350g fresh white breadcrumbs (from bread not more than two days old)

* 50g ground almonds

* 225g brown sugar

* 1 carrot, grated

* fi nely grated rind and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon

* 225g each sultanas, seedless raisins and currants

* 100g chopped glacé cherries

* 175g chopped mixed peel (the whole peel is the best)

* 225g grated suet or butter or oil

* 300ml Guinness

* 4 tbsp rum, whiskey or brandy

* 5 eggs

Directions

1. Add yeast into a bowl, then add sugar and add half of warm milk (not hot or cold, but warm), mix and leave aside for 10 – 15 min to activate.

2. Melt your butter and set aside. In a bowl, add your egg, melted butter, and rest of the milk, fl our, pinch of salt, yeast mixture, and sour cream. Mix it all together until it’s blended.

3. Knead the dough by hand for 7 – 10 min or in a kitchen aid mixer until it’s nice and so� .

4. Place a little bit of oil into a large bowl, coat your dough around so it can raise freely.

5. Cover the dough with damp towel and leave to prove for 1 – 1.30 hours.

6. Cut the onion fi nely and fry it with the bacon. Season well, but check before how salty your bacon is.

7. When your dough has doubled in size, roll out the dough and cut same sized circles, add 1 tsp of the meat fi lling into the pastry. Pinch from the top and fold it in and shape into a half moon shape. Place a damp towel on top of them and let them raise again.

8. Brush them with some egg mixed with a little bit of water and bake them at 180 C/ 350 F for 10 – 12 min until golden. Enjoy!

Latvia

Latvian Bacon rolls (Speķa pīrāgi)

Bacon rolls is traditional pastry prepared for Christmas in Latvia. The bread is baked round, but the bacon rolls are baked like a crescent, thus paying tribute to these celestial objects.

Ingredients

For the dough:

* 1 cup of warm milk

* 1 tbsp of dry active yeast

* 1 tbsp of sour cream

* 50g or 4 tbsp of butter

* 3 tbsp or 25g sugar

* 1 egg

* pinch of salt

* 2.5 cup or 350 gr of plain fl our

For the fi lling:

* 300 – 400 gr of bacon

* 1 onion

* salt and pepper

White Salad (Potato Salad)

Ingredients

* 4/5 boiled potatoes not peeled

* 2/3 boiled carrots not peeled

* 3 4 hard-boiled eggs

* 1 can green peas about 400 grs

* 5 6 small gherkins

* Mayonnaise

* Salt to taste

Directions

1. Peel boiled potatoes and carrots. Chop potatoes into cubes, chop carrots, gherkins and eggs into smaller cubes.

2. Place potatoes, carrots, eggs and gherkins in a big bowl. Add canned peas, mayonnaise and mix well. Season with salt if needed.

Lithuania

Christmas Eve Biscuits

Ingredients

* 450 fl our

* 180-200 ml warm water, not hot

* 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

* 6 tablespoons sugar

* 10 gr fresh yeast

* 2 tablespoons oil

* Pinch of salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl cream fresh yeast with sugar. Add warm water and half of the si� ed fl our. Dust the batter surface with some fl our and leave to rise until doubled in size in a warm place.

2. Add salt, the rest of the fl our, oil and poppy seeds. Mix everything. Knead the dough until it stops to stick to your hands. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Leave in a warm place until it has doubled in size.

3. Roll the dough into 1 cm thick rolls and cut into small pieces. Preheat the oven to 180 C.

4. Place the biscuits on the baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 10 12 minutes until golden brown.

5. Serve them soaked in milk made from water, sugar and poppy seeds on Christmas Eve.

Preparation:

1. Mix sugar with 2 tablespoons warm water (110°F-115°F). Sprinkle one package of dry yeast over the top. Let the yeast absorb the water for about 1-2 minutes, then gently stir. Set aside for 5 minutes until foam or small bubbles appear on the surface. If bubbles do not appear, start over: either your yeast is not fresh or your water is too hot.

2. Stir 1/2 cup warm water and 1cup fl our into the yeast mixture. Mix well and let rise until double in volume.

3. When dough is risen, heat oil in a pot for frying. While the oil is heating, cut the apple into small pieces (about ½” x ¾ “). Drop a piece of apple into the dough. Use two good-sized soup spoons to cover the apple piece with dough and shape into a large “doughnut hole.” Then drop the priganica into hot oil. Use one piece of apple in each priganica.

4. Deep fry in hot oil, turning to brown all sides (a few minutes at most). Let the priganice rest on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Roll in sugar and eat when warm or the same day the priganice are cooked.

5. Note: One of my favorite cooking tips of the day came from Veronica when she said, “I learned most of the nutrients in an apple are in its skin. So, I don‘t peel the apple for priganice anymore.“

6. The priganice pot used by Veronica and Georgia at “The Serbian Cooking Show” and featured in the article “One Family’s Story” is cast iron and measures 8″ across and 4″ deep. It has a capacity of about 2 quarts. It is very thick, very heavy, and very well seasoned.

Montenegro

Pringanice

They are usually served with honey during the Christmas Eve. Ingredients:

Dough:

* 2 Tbsp. sugar

* I cup fl our

* 2 Tbsp. warm water

* 1/2 cup warm water

* 1 package of yeast (2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast)

* Oil for frying

* Finishing Touches:

* I apple (Granny Smith or similar)

* Granulated sugar to coat warm priganice

Norway

Almond tuiles (Bestemors mandelfl arn)

Ingredients

* 100 g chopped almonds

* 100 g sugar

* 100 g butter

* 1 tbsp wheat fl our

* 2 tbsp milk or cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC (350ºF, gas 5, fan 160ºC) and line a large baking tray with baking parchment or silicone paper.

2. Mix all the ingredients in a casserole, stir and heat until boiling.

3. Using about 1½ teaspoons per tuile, spoon the mixture on to the prepared baking tray, allowing maximum 9 tuiles per sheet with plenty of space between each one. Bake for 6–8 minutes, until the tuiles are golden brown.

The Netherlands

Kale with kielbasa

Ingredients

* 3 bunches of kale (or 1 lb)

* 6 large potatoes

* 3 tablespoons of butter

* ½ cup of milk,warmed

* 1 smoked kielbasa sausage

* Salt

* Black pepper

Directions

1. Cut the leaves off the stems and slice the leaves into narrow strips, then chop them into small pieces. Peel the potatoes, quarter them and place them in a Dutch oven. Add water to barely cover the potatoes, then put the kale on top, and add the kielbasa whole, but without the packaging. The amount of kale will look enormous compared to the potates, but the heat will wilt the leaves and reduce the volume signifi cantly.

2. Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil. Boild on a low fl ame for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are done.

3. Remove the kielbasa, pour off any cooking liquid that may remain and mash the vegetables with a fork or potato masher. Add the butter and the milk (or for a less caloric version, add the cooking liquid back in) and stir the whole into a creamy consistency. Taste, and adjust with salt and black pepper.

4. Slice the kilebasa into even sized slices, and place it on top of the stamppot. Serve with mustard if desired.

Method

1. For the soup: soak the dried mushrooms in a cup of hot water to so� en for about half an hour. Take out and chop fi ne (keep the liquid). Put the beetroot into a saucepan with the carrot, celery, onion, cabbage, fi nely chopped mushroom pieces, and sprig of dill, and water to cover. Bring it to the boil and turn the heat off , leaving the lid on (do not li� the lid up to peek inside!) and leave for an hour. While this is happening you can start making the dumplings.

2. Dumplings: si� the fl our into a bowl season with salt and pepper to taste. Make a well in the center and add the egg and water. Mix thoroughly, and then knead the dough until smooth. (Do this by hand so you can keep an eye on the texture; when you start to knead it can be sticky but this goes away. If your dough gets sticky again you have over kneaded!) Wrap it in cling fi lm and set aside while you make the fi lling:

3. Soak the mushrooms in a little water for half an hour. Take out and chop as fi nely as you can (again keep the liquid). Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the fresh mushrooms and onion and fry for about 3 minutes, stirring, until the onion begins to color. Add the rehydrated mushrooms and liquid; heat and cook, stirring until most of the liquid evaporates. Then stir in the dill and the breadcrumbs. Take off the heat and leave to cool. (At this point you can have a cup of tea!)

4. Divide the dough into eight pieces; roll out each one thinly on a lightly fl oured board/surface. Cut the sheet of

dough into 5cm squares. Do one square at a time: place a teaspoonful of the fi lling in the center, fold the square up and over it, to make a triangle and then crimp the edges together. You should be looking at a large triangle now. The next step is to take the two corners of the longest inwards so that they overlap, and crimp them together too. Set each one aside on a fl oured board while you make the rest.

5. Take a large pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Gently add the dumplings, Turn the heat down to simmer, stirring gently (this is to stop them sticking). Bring the water back to the boil and simmer for about 3 minutes – the dumplings are ready when they fl oat to the top.

6. Strain the soup (discard the vegetables). Reheat the soup until hot, adding a tiny bit of vinegar to taste (taste the soup fi rst: you may decide not to add any). If you do add vinegar, the soup will have a sharp edge to it, without losing the sweetness of the beetroot and will keep that rich red color (lemon juice works as well). Serve into your bowls. Use a slotted spoon to remove the dumplings from the hot water, add them and enjoy!

Poland

Polish beetroot soup with dumplings

(Barszcz z uszkami)

Ingredients

* 4 beetroots

* 1 carrot

* 2 sticks celery

* 1 large onion

* 3 leaves cabbage

* 4 large dried mushrooms

* Dill to taste

* Splash of cider vinegar

For the dumplings

* 2 dried mushrooms, soaked in a little hot water

* 100g plain fl our, plus extra for dusting

* 1 egg, beaten

* 1 tbsp water

* 1 tbsp butter

* 4 fresh brown button mushrooms, chopped

* 1 large onion, chopped

* 1 tbsp chopped dill

* 1 tbsp dried breadcrumbs

Poppy seed fi lling

1. Place poppy seeds in a medium bowl and pour boiling water over it (you just want it to be covered). Leave it to cool.

2. Remove the access of water and ground it in a meat grinder twice.

3. Add sugar, raisins, walnuts, honey, almond extract, cinnamon, butter, candied orange zest and stir until well combined.

4. In a separate bowl whip egg whites until stiff , add it into poppy seed mixture and gently fold it in.

Dough

5. If you are using fresh yeast - mix yeast with 1 tablespoon of sugar (it will turn into liquid). Add 2 tablespoons of fl our and all milk, stir and leave aside for 20-30 minutes until you see bubbles on the surface. Follow the steps below, adding the yeast mixture in place of the milk.

6. If you are using dry yeast - in a big bowl mix together yeast, fl our and sugar.

7. Add alcohol, vanilla paste, egg yolks and milk and knead until well combined (around 5-10 minutes).

8. Pour slowly butter and knead until incorporated.

9. Cover the dough with a tea towel and leave it to rise in a warm place for an hour or longer until it doubles in size.

Assembling

10. Divide the dough in two.

11. Roll each part of the dough on a fl oured surface. You want to have rectangular dough around 3mm thick.

12. Spread the fi lling on each of the rectangles, leaving around 2-cm edge.

13. Starting at the long edge, roll the dough like a jelly roll.

14. Turn ends under so fi lling will not leak out.

15. Place the rolls on a parchment-lined pan.

16. Bake in a preheated oven to 190ºC/170ºC fan for 30-40 minutes. (The dough get golden very quickly, so cover it with a parchment paper so it doesn’t burn).

17. Leave it to cool.

18. You may decorate it with icing and candied orange zest.

Poppy seed roll (Makowiec)

Ingredients

* Poppy seed fi lling

* 330g poppy seeds

* 112g light brown sugar

* 65g raisins or sultanas

* 33g walnuts, chopped

* 2 Tbsp honey

* 1 tsp almond extract

* 1/2 tsp cinnamon

* 1/2 Tbsp butter, so� ened

* 1/3 cup candied orange zest

* 4 egg whites

Dough

* 30g fresh yeast or 14g instant yeast

* 320g plain fl our + extra for sprinkling

* 4 Tbsp sugar

* 1/4 tsp salt

* 1 Tbsp strong alcohol like vodka or rum

* 3/4 tsp vanilla paste

* 4 egg yolks

* 120ml milk, lukewarm

* 100g butter, melted and cooled down

The Rabanadas:

4. Start by cutting the baguette into slices (not too thin);

5. Drop 125g of sugar into a medium size pan, add the milk, 2/3 of the lemon skin and a cinnamon stick. Finally, add ½ litre of water, stir well and turn up the heat to bring to a boil;

6. When it starts boiling turn down the heat to the lowest and give it a stir. We are now ready to start frying the Rabanadas:

7. Dunk each bread slice in the milk and straight a� er in the whipped eggs;

8. Then deep fry in vegetable oil making sure you fry on both sides. Just fry them enough to give them a crispy golden look. Repeat the same process for all the bread slices (I usually fry 3 or 4 slices at the same time but this depends on the size of the pan you’ll be using);

9. A� er frying all the bread slices drop the remaining sugar (75g) and cinnamon (10g) into a wide bowl or small plate and mix them both well. Then coat each slice of fried bread in the sugar and cinnamon mix;

E pronto! It’s done! Serve the Rabanadas with crushed walnuts and topped with the Port wine syrup.

Portugal

RABANADAS

Ingredients (25 slices approx.)

* An old baguette (at least 2 day old)

* 350g caster sugar

* 6 fresh free range eggs, whipped

* ½ litre milk

* 1 lemon, zest only

* 2 small cinnamon sticks

* 1tbsp ground cinnamon

* 750ml water

* 1 shot Porto wine

* 650ml vegetable oil

* 100g of walnuts

Preparation

Syrup:

1. Drop 150g of sugar into a medium size pan, add 250ml of water, the shot of port wine, 1/3 lemon skin and a small cinnamon stick. Stir well and turn on the heating to bring to a boil;

2. Let it boil on medium low heat for about 15 minutes. The syrup should be ready when it starts producing a lot of bubbles;

3. At this point, turn off the heating and put it aside to cool down.

Instructions

For Dough

1. Add the raisins to a small bowl and pour the rum over them. Let the raisins soak up the rum and plump up while preparing everything else.

2. In another bowl add the yeast and warm water, stir it a bit and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes to activate. The yeast should bubble up. If you don't see it bubble up, then the yeast is old. Do not proceed because your bread will not rise.

3. In a sauce pan add the milk, butter, lemon zest and sugar. Heat it over medium-low heat just until the butter melts and the sugar is dissolved. Do not boil it, it just needs to be hot. If it gets too hot it can kill the yeast.

4. Drain the raisins. To the bowl of your mixer add the fl our, the 5 egg yolks, vanilla extract, the milk mixture, yeast mixture and raisins. Using the dough hook mix everything for about 5 minutes until everything is well blended together and the dough should come off the sides of the bowl. The dough will be a so� er dough and somewhat sticky to your hands. The more you mix the dough the fl uffi er it will be.

5. Take a large bowl and oil it with about 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Place the dough in the bowl and use the other tbsp of vegetable oil to rub over the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, dra� free environment. Let the dough rise until it doubles in size, could take 1 to 2 hours.

6. Great 3 loaf pans with oil or butter. My loaf pans are 12 x 4.5 x 3 inches, but the regular smaller loaf pans work just as well.

7. Once the dough has doubled in size, divide it in 3 equal pieces. On a big surface where you can work the dough, oil the surface, we will not use fl our here, I fi nd that oil works better. Take one piece and roll it out using a rolling pin, into a rectangle that's about 1/2 inch in thickness and the width of your loaf pans. Spread about 1/3 of the nut mixture over the dough. then roll it up jelly style. Place the roll in the prepared loaf pan. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.

8. Cover the loaf pans with a clean damp kitchen towel, place in a warm, dra� free environment and let the loaves rest until doubled in size.

9. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.

10. Place the loaves in the oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown. To test if they are done inside, insert a toothpick into the center and if it comes out clean the loaves are done.

11. Let the loaves cool for about 10 minutes in the loaf pans. Run a knife around the edges of the loaves, to make sure they didn't stick, then remove the loaves from the loaf pans, transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool completely before slicing into them and serving.

For Filling

12. While the dough is rising add the walnuts or pecans to a food processor and pulse a few times until the nuts are fi nely ground. Add the sugar and cocoa powder to the processor and pulse a few more times until everything is well incorporated.

13. In the bowl of your mixer add the egg whites and mix until stiff peaks form. Fold in the nut mixture. Place this in the fridge until ready to use.

Recipe Notes

14. To make the dough rise faster and create that warm, dra� free environment for the dough to rise in, I usually turn the oven on to 200 F degrees, turn it off , then place the dough in the oven with the door closed.

15. Once the loaves have cooled completely, I usually wrap them in plastic wrap and store them just on the counter for up to 4 days. You can also place them in the refrigerator. You can also freeze them, just make sure they are tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and you can freeze them for up to a month.

16. This recipe will yield 3 loaves.

17. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Romania

Cozonaceala

Ingredients

Makes 36 slices

* Produce

* 3 tbsp Lemon, zest

* 1/2 cup Raisins

* Refrigerated

* 6 Egg

* Baking & Spices

* 2 tbsp Active dry yeast

* 8 cups All-purpose fl our

* 2 tbsp Cocoa powder

* 1 11/16 cups Granulated sugar

* 5 tbsp Sugar

* 2 tsp Vanilla extract

* Oils & Vinegars

* 2 tbsp Vegetable

* Oils & Vinegars

* 2 tbsp Vegetable oil

* Nuts & Seeds

* 8 oz Walnuts or pecans

* Dairy

* 1 cup Butter, unsalted

* 2 cups Milk

* Beer, Wine & Liquor

* 1/4 cup Rum

* Liquids

* 1/4 cup Water

Directions

1. Scald milk;

2. Add butter. Cool to lukewarm.

3. In small electric mixer bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla until lemon-colored.

4. In large bowl, si� 3 cups fl our.

5. Pour mixture of yeast, milk, butter, eggs and sugar into mixing bowl with 3 cups of fl our;

6. Beat with electric mixer until smooth and elastic.

7. Then keep adding fl our and mixing with a wooden spoon until of consistency that dough can be handled without sticking.

8. Place on fl oured board and knead for about 15 minutes, adding fl our as needed, to make a non-sticking dough.

9. Place dough in well-greased bowl; turn to grease top.

10. Cover and let rise in warm place for about 2 hours until double in bulk.

Walnut Filling:

* 2 pounds walnuts (ground fi ne)

* 1 stick butter (1/4 pound)

* 1-1/2 cups milk or half and half cream

* 2 cups sugar

* 1/2 cup honey

* 1 tablespoon vanilla

* Grated peel from 1 orange or 1 lemon

* 5 egg whites

* Cinnamon

Grind walnuts in food chopper with fi nest blade. Melt butter in large saucepan. Add milk, sugar and honey; cook to rolling boil, taking care not to let it boil over. Pour hot mixture over walnuts. Add vanilla and grated peel. Mix thoroughly and allow to cool. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the cooled nut mixture.

Rolling and Baking:

11. Grease well the four 12" x 4" or fi ve 9" x 5" loaf pans.

12. Roll out dough on table covered with cloth, sprinkled well with fl our (this amount of dough can be rolled to about 50" x 32").

13. Spread cooled fi lling evenly over entire dough, sprinkling generously with cinnamon. (If desired, raisins may be added at this point.)

14. Start rolling up dough by hand (jelly-roll fashion) from the wide side, stretching the dough slightly with each roll. Keep the side edges as even as possible.

15. Prick roll about every several turns with a thin knitting needle or cake tester to help eliminate air pockets. Continue rolling by hand to opposite edge.

16. With edge of fl at plate, cut desired lengths.

17. Seal ends more securely by gently pulling dough down to cover ends and tucking underneath when placing in pan.

18. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about one hour.

19. Bake in preheated 325-degree oven for 1 hour until medium brown. If a glossy top is desired, brush each loaf with 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon milk 15 minutes before potica is done.

Yield: Four 12" x 4" loaves, or fi ve 9" x 5" loaves.

Slovenia

Walnut Potica

Recipe for walnut potica (orehova potica)

* Yeast:

* 1 large cake compressed yeast (2 oz.)

* 1/2 cup lukewarm milk

* 1 tablespoon sugar

* Dissolve yeast in milk; add sugar and combine. Cover and let rise in warm place, about 10 minutes.

* Dough:

* 1-1/2 cups milk

* 3/4 cup butter (1-1/2 sticks)

* 5 egg yolks

* 3/4 cup sugar

* 2 teaspoons salt

* 1 tablespoon vanilla

* 7 to 7-1/2 cups all-purpose fl our (si� ed)

Sweden

Swedish Saff ron Buns

Ingredients

* 2 1/ 8 cups of milk

* 1/ 2 cup of butter

* 3 0.6 ounce cakes compressed fresh yeast

* 8 ounces quark or sour cream

* 2 0.5 gram packets powedered saff ron

* 2/3 cup of sugar

* ½ taspoon salt

* 7 ½ cups of all purpose fl our

* 1 cup raising (optional)

* 1 egg (beaten)

Directions

1. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan until the butter has melted and the temperature has reached 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). Crumble the yeast into a bowl, then pour in the warm milk. Stir well until the yeast dissolves.

2. Stir in the quark, saff ron, sugar, salt and 7 cups of fl our. Nix the dough in the bowl until it becomes shiny and silky, adding more fl our as needed until it begings to come away from the sides of the bowl. Cover and let rise for 40 minutes.

3. Prepare 2 or 3 baking sheets by covering each with a sheet of parchment paper. Lightly fl our a work surface, punch down then divide into 35 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope, 5 to 6 inches long. With the rope lying fl at on the work surface, roll each end towards the centre, in opposite directions, creating a curled S shaped. Place the buns on the prepared baking sheets and garnish with raisins. Cover with a towel and allow to rise for an aditional 30 minutes while you preheat the over to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

4. Gently brush each bun with beaten egg, then bake in the oven until puff ed and golden, 5 to 10 minutes.

POPRTNIK

Ingredients

Sour dough starter

* 5 dag yeast

* 1 tablespoons milk

* 4 tablespooons white fl our

Dough

* 1 kg white wheat fl our

* 12 dag sugar

* 15 dag raw butter

* 5 dl milk

* 1 tablespoon salt

* 3 eggs

* Lemon zest

Directions

1. So� en and mix all ingredients to make sourdough.

2. Si� fl our, add salt, lemon zest, butter, suggar, eggs, sourdough and milk. Kneed dough an let rise.

3. Put aside a small pisece of dough for ornaments. Roll it out.

4. Form a loaf from the rest and lay ornaments from rolled dough on top. Hints for ornaments: plaits, birds, rhombes, date od Christmas and New Year celebration, Nativity scene, Star of Bethlehem etc. To prevent ornaments from falling off , brush top with lukewarm water anf they will stick.

5. Let decorated loaf rise. Brush with beaten egg, then put into oven. Bake approximately one hour at 180 °C.

6. When done, take bread from oven anf cover with tablecloth until cool.

7. Bread may be baked in round or rectangular earthen or metal mould.

Turkey

Pogaca (milk buns)

Ingredients:

Dough:

* 20 gr fresh yeast or 1 ½ dried

* 125 ml lukewarm water

* 500gr strong fl our

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon caster sugar

* 120 ml lukewarm milk

* 60 ml olive oil

* 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

* Sesame seeds (optional)

Cheese fi lling

* 200 gr feta cheese crumbled

* 1 egg yolk beaten

Swedish Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients

* 1 cup butter, so� ened

* 1 cup sugar

* ½ cup molasses

* 1 large egg

* 3 ¼ cups of all- purpose fl our

* 1 tablespoon ground ginger

* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

* 2 teaspoons ground cloves

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* Frosting

* 3 cups confectioner’s sugar

* ¾ cup shortening

* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

* 3-5 tablespoons water Red hots, optional

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until ight and fl uff y. Beat in molasses and egg. In another bowl, whisk fl our, ginger, cinamon, cloves and baking soda;grdually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour or until fi rm enough to roll.

2. Preheat oven to 350°. On a lighlty fl oured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in thickness. Cut with a fl oured 3 -1/2 in gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 1 in apart on greased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are fi rm. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

3. For the frosting, in a bowl beat confectioners’ sugar, shortening, vanilla and enough water to reach spreading consistency. Decorate cookies with frosting and, if desired, Red Hots.

4. Freeze option:Transfer wrapped disks to a resealable plastic freezer bag; freeze. To use, thaw dough in refrigerator overnight or until so� enough to roll. Prepare, bake and decorate cookies as directed. Yield: about 3 dozen.

United Kingdom

Gingerbread Christmas tree recipe

Recipe by Tesco Ingredients for the gingerbread dough

* 845g (28oz) plain fl our

* 4 tsp ground ginger

* 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

* 340g (12oz) unsalted butter, so� ened

* 300g (10oz) granulated sugar

* 3 medium eggs

* 250g (8oz) black treacle

Plus for the tree

Royal icing and decorative pearls, some icing sugar

Preparation of the dough (best done the day before making the tree)

1. Si� the fl our, ginger, and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl and set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar using an electric mixer, until light and fl uff y.

3. Add the eggs, one at time, beating well a� er each addition. Pour in the treacle and continue beating until combined and smooth.

4. Gradually fold in the fl our mixture to form a dough (don’t worry if it’s a little sticky to start with). Once the dough starts to come together, knead with your hands for 1-2 mins, until smooth and combined, ensuring there is no fl our le� in the bowl.

5. Divide your dough into 5 or 6 pieces. On a lightly fl oured surface, roll out the dough into squares about 1in (2.5cm) thick – this will make it easier to work with. Wrap the squares securely in clingfi lm and chill for at least 2 hrs, or overnight.

6. The dough can now be used to make individual biscuits, houses or any other design. Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180˚C, fan 160˚C. Roll out each piece between two pieces of nonstick baking paper to the thickness of a £1 coin. Stamp or cut out your shapes and transfer to a lined baking tray. Cooking times will vary depending on the size of each shape, from 3-4 mins for small biscuits to 12-14 mins for large structural pieces. The biscuits are ready when golden brown and fi rm to touch. Leave to cool completely before adding any icing or decoration.

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in the water - leave to stand for a few minutes.

2. Mix fl our, salt and sugar in a large bowl and add in the yeast, milk and olive oil.

3. Turn out and kneed on a fl oured surface for a few minutes until smooth and elastic.

4. Shape in to a ball and transfer to clean bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave for 2 hours in the warm place until doubled in size.

5. Preheat oven to 180 C

6. Make the fi lling by mixing the cheese with the egg yolk

7. Quickly kneed to dough again.

8. Take a portion of dough (about 100 gr), fl atten to a circle and place a tablespoon of the fi lling in the middle and then folder over pressing the edges together.

9. Brush the tops with egg and decorate with sesame seeds (optional)

10. Bake on a baking tray for 20 minutes until golden.

Making the tree

1. When you're ready to make your gingerbread Christmas tree, remove the dough from the fridge. Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180˚C, fan 160˚C. Print and cut out the Gingerbread Christmas tree template (see next page).

2. Roll out the gingerbread dough between two pieces of nonstick baking paper to a thickness of 5mm. Remove the top piece of paper and cut out 19 star shapes as follows: 3 x 19 cm (7.5 in) across tip to tip; 3 x 14.5 cm (5.75 in); 3 x 11 cm (4.25 in); 3 x 7.5 cm (3 in); 3 x 5.5 cm (2.25 in); and 4 x 4.5 cm (1.75 in).

3. Sort the larger stars into one batch and the smaller stars into a separate batch as they have slightly diff erent cooking times. Bake the stars until golden brown and fi rm to touch, removing the smaller batch from the oven as soon as they are done and leaving the larger stars for a few minutes longer. Leave the pieces to cool.

4. Make up the royal icing to pack Directions. To assemble the tree, take one of the 4.5 cm (1.75 in) stars and outline and fi ll it with royal icing so you have a white star. This is the star for the top of the tree. Set aside to harden.

5. Take the board you are going to display the tree on and place a little icing on the surface to fi x the base cookie in place. Place one of the 19 cm (7.5 in) stars in the centre of the board. Repeat this process until all three of the 19 cm stars are stacked, positioning the stars at alternating angles so the points are not all directly above each other. Leave to set.

6. Next you will need three of the 14.5 cm (5.75 in) stars. Place a small amount of icing on the underside of one of the stars and position in the middle of the top star already stacked on the board. Repeat this process until all of the 14.5 cm stars are stacked, again positioning the points at alternating angles so they are not directly above each other. Leave to set.

7. Carry on with the same process and layer the 11 cm (4.25 in), 7.5 cm (3 in), 5.5 cm (2.25 in) and 4.5 cm (1.75 in) stars on top of each other until all the pieces are done.

8. Pipe a small amount of icing onto two of the points of the white star you made earlier and position it on top of the tree with the icing. Hold it in place until it sets.

9. Pipe small dots of icing onto the tips of each stacked star and place a chocolate gold pearl into the centre of the icing dot. Finally, dust the stacked stars very lightly with icing sugar.