Printen Tiramisu

We have a German Santa on our tree, so why not a German Tiramisu in our bellies? I found German spiced cookies called Kräuter Printen in a Bavarian delicatessan at Pike Place Market, made by Lambertz -- who have been baking gingerbread for more than 300 years in Aachen, Deutschland! After I did some research and talked to a Bavarian co-worker -- who grew up eating these every Christmas season -- I found a good story.

Printen are traditional gingerbread cookies with a flavor similar to the more famous Lebkuchen, but they are firmer and molded into a ladyfinger-looking shape. Printen were originally sweetened with honey, but now they are made with brown sugar or sugar-beet syrup. Honey had first become unavailable when Napoleon banned all trade with the major honey manufacturer in those days -- the USA. Thus the tradition of sweetening with sugar-beets began, and it continues to this day.

These Printen have the common Christmas spices you find in German sweets, but I tasted especially strong anise. Printen in general have all or some of: cinnamon, aniseed, clove, cardamom, coriander, allspice, and of course ginger! The Printen I found have bits of brown sugar crystals in them & they taste wonderful. When you try to decipher the ingredient list on the package, to find what exact spices they contain -- you don't find any! It is common for Printen bakers to keep their spice mixtures a secret. This is the same story I've found in India -- otherwise, everyone's Garam Masala or Madras Curry would taste the same!

My co-worker added that they typically dunk Printen in coffee. They were usually found in Germany's small bakeries, every Christmas season. She also said they are available in different types -- some chocolate covered, with nuts, or with marzipan. If you leave Printen in open air, they turn into rocks hard enough to knock someone out!

My Kräuter Printen's ladyfinger-like shape reminded me that I hadn't made Tiramisu in a while. With all those Christmas flavors, too it was a perfect chance for Tiramisu with a German twist. I bought the last few remaining packages the lady at the Bavarian shop had, and I am glad I did as she might never have them again -- well, maybe next Christmas!


Now for the Tiramisu, which I always make eggless! as I get queasy about eating raw eggs and I also want the non-egg-eating members of my family to enjoy it. I added mint to mascarpone and topped it off with toasted, green aniseed and red and silver, sugar coated anise candy. My Bavarian-German-American in-laws loved this holiday dessert, so I cannot wait to re-create this as a new holiday tradition, next year. The only catch: I'll have to figure out where to find the Kräuter Printen!

Here is my approximation for this Tiramisu -- because I did not quite measure, I just eye-balled it.
I used:

• 1 cup mascarpone
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup cold, great quality, fresh espresso (Brian pulled the shots)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 drops pure peppermint extract
• 1 bag Kräuter Printen (ten long cookies)
• some good quality, unsweetened cocoa powder
• some toasted aniseed
• some anise candy

My method:

1. Make fresh espresso and let it cool completely.
2. Whip the heavy cream with sugar and mint extract till stiff.
3. Whip the mascarpone with a few spoons of espresso.
4. Slowly fold the cream into the mascarpone, a few spoons at a time. You don't want to kill the fluffiness!
5. Based on the serving dish you are using, either keep the cookies whole -- or for example, cut them into thirds like I did, to serve in narrow glasses.
6. Quickly dip each side of each cookie in espresso, and place them in your dish.
7. Pipe or spoon in the mascarpone mix, forming one of what will be several layers.
8. Dust cocoa over the top of the layer.
9. Repeat 6-8, forming layers till you reach the top of your dish.
10. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
11. Sprinkle with anise candy, toasted aniseed, or you may try crushed candy cane or any other festive topping before serving.

Enjoy and have a Very Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays, Frohe Weihnachten, Natal ni Shub Kaamnao, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, et Natale hilare et Annum Faustum - wherever you live!

Seattle Slug Butter Thumbprints

Thumbprint cookies have been a Christmas tradition in my husband's family for generations. We made walnut-covered, jam-filled thumbprints one recent night with Brian's brother, Tom. They were local jams and preserves, all naturally made and a good assortment of flavors. The week before, we had made two earlier batches with several tweaks: no eggs in the recipe, and some with different jams, with almonds, without any nuts, or filled with chocolate. This recipe is easy to tweak!

I started with a plain butter cookie recipe. It worked perfectly with Ener-G Egg Replacer, if you want them eggless! These are the jams in our most recent batches:

• Pear Brandy Northwest Slug Butter from Lopez Island Farm
  
• Peach Orange Northwest Slug Butter from Lopez Island Farm
• Apple Raisin Walnut Northwest Slug Butter from Lopez Island Farm
• Maury Island Farm Marionberry Jam
• Maury Island Farm Red Raspberry Jam
• "The Alps" Apple Butter (not pictured, a spiced apple butter from Leavenworth -- Washington's Bavarian village :)
• Woodring's Strawberry Fruit Spread (not pictured, but the most aromatic of them all and one which I eat on my toast every morning :)

Here is the recipe I used, from a basic butter cookie recipe I had seen on FoodTV:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  
• 1/2 cup sugar or brown sugar (I tried both and both worked well - I prefer the brown)
• 1 tspn salt
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
  
• 1 egg, or equivalent of 1 egg replaced with Ener-G Egg Replacer
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

You might need to use a finger or a small measuring spoon, if your thumbs are too big :D My husband at work:

My method:

1. Beat butter, vanilla, salt & sugar till fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg or Egg Replacer till it is all incorporated.
3. Slowly add some sifted flour to the wet ingredients until the dough forms.
4. Form a ball or log & wrap in plastic wrap. Make sure it's airtight, & refrigerate for about 3 hours, until nice & cold.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C)
6. Spoon the dough out into tablespoon-sized balls.
7. Roll dough balls in chopped walnuts. At this point, I like to take a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to make dents in the cookies -- this keeps them evenly sized. The boys like to use their fingers and thumbs. Whatever you like, make them deep enough for plenty of filling!
8. Bake them for about 12 minutes or till their dough is a pale golden brown.
9. Let them cool, then fill with your favorite jam or even chocolate chips (as you can see in this photo from the earlier batches) Alternatively, I also loved filling in the jam before baking, as the jam became nice and firm.
10. Store in an air-tight container in a cool place and enjoy many!

Here are more photos from both recent and earlier batches. Note that Northwest Slug Butter does not, in fact contain slugs -- LOL :)

A Snowy Yuletide Toast

When you start your work day soaked, and it's not so nice and bright outside, staying upbeat isn't easy. Last weekend we beat the Seattle Winter blahs by spending a whole day at Pike Place Market, meeting vendors and finding the most amazing foods!

The next morning, I cooked up some snowy, Yuletide cheer for brunch :) There is so much satisfaction in being home in your pajamas when the world outside is gray. Along with something fresh, fun, and colorful on the table to eat, we had steaming coffee and a warm fire.


I don't like our winter weather, but I love that we enjoy fresh produce all year round. Recent finds include amazing Strawberries, Fennel, Satsumas, and so much more!

This festive french toast is just day-old bread filled with perfectly red strawberries, bananas, green pistachio nuts (yes! I am going pistachio crazy! but I couldn't resist the crunch and the green :), amazing Saigon cinnamon, and nutmeg -- all topped with powdered sugar snow. I am looking forward to cooking up some more Yuletide treats in the coming week -- a Snowy Yuletide Toast was just to get me into the holiday spirit!!

Nigella's No-churn Pomegranate Ice cream with a twist!

My fellow Seattle blogger Peabody is hosting a virtual house warming party to celebrate her new home in the real world -- what a kool idea! Peabody asked her readers to "bring a dish" which she will republish on her blog.

Peabody had been really bummed a few weeks ago that she missed the Nigella Express book signing event in Seattle, so I decided to bring a Nigella Express recipe to Peabody's party, with a Mango Power Girl twist ;) This is Nigella's No-Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream with my twist - Marionberry Swirl and a Pistachio Topping, which I am sure the Domestic Goddess wouldn't mind.

I changed a few things around in the recipe, too. I used lemon juice instead of lime, just to use what was handy. I swirled in Northwest Marionberry Syrup from Lopez Island Farm to localize the recipe. I added pistachios for a crunch, and because they are an ingredient Nigella and I both love and use often.

Congratulations on your new home, Peabody! I offer something seasonal - pomegranate, something local - Northwest marionberries, and something MPG - pistachios. Your new home looks great, I bet you guys are enjoying decorating it this season...have a Happy Holiday! I am glad to know another local blogger :)

Here is video of Nigella making her pomegranate ice cream on NBC's Today Show, and check out Culinary Concoctions by Peabody to join the party.

Dates back to my childhood ...

When I was a kid, around this time of year my mom made a traditional treat of dates dipped in amazing, home-made ghee with sweet spices and nuts! It was what you ate in Winter, as it was supposed to make you strong & smart ;) yeah right! In season, I ate them with milk every morning before going to school.

It is true that dates have some nutrients which may aid in strength of body and/or mind, such as iron, potassium, calcium, vitamin B-complex, and most of all: high natural sugar for high energy. No wonder they call dates "marathon runners' food." When you add the nuts, they're even better for you!

Here in Seattle, I have been searching for good dates for a while now. Finally when I saw them at my market, I bought in bulk -- organic, Medjool dates!

These Medjools were big, juicy, & great for stuffing. Following the core ingredients of my mother's recipe, I worked sugar, cardamom, pistachios, and almonds into a ghee-cream. It's very much like the butter cream you see in frostings, except ghee is clarified and therefore better than butter.

To keep up with my new feature -- sharing one of my mother's traditional recipes every month -- here are Winter Dates, done slightly differently I will admit! as I dressed them up. I am looking forward to being a kid all over again, though, as I grab a date before work every morning, & appreciate how lucky I am to have been born into a family of great cooks!

Winter Dates

I used:

2 dozen Medjool dates, slitted, pits removed
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup ground raw pistachios and almonds
2-3 tablespoons cold ghee (clarified butter)
a couple pinches of ground cardamom

My Method:

1. Whip up a cold ghee-cream, by beating the ghee and sugar to this consistency:

2. Mix the cardamom, pistachios, and almonds with the ghee-cream. Cream the ghee further while working the mixture in, one quarter cup or so at a time, until it is stiff and ready for piping:

3. Pipe the filling into slit and pitted dates. I filled a Ziploc® bag with the filling, then snipped off a bottom corner for inexpensive and easily controlled piping. Refrigerate your Winter Dates.

I now have two dozen stuffed Medjool dates, updated from my childhood, easing me into Winter workdays or a holiday party :) Thank you, Mom - Enjoy the Indian Winter!!!