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this
page:
Recipes
of Advent
see also:
Fasts and Feasts
of Advent
Advent
Introduction
•
A
Season
of Preparation
•
Advent Wreath:
Prayers - Customs
•
Meditations for
Each Week
•
About St. Nicholas
•
Gingerbread
•
Fasts and Feasts
•
Fasts and Feasts:
Recipes
Christmas
Introduction
•
Christmas
Prayers and Customs
•
Prayers for
the Home
•
Prayers for
the New Year
•
Prayers for
the Family
•
Feast of
the Epiphany
Site Introduction
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Compiled by Mary
Ann Castronovo Fusco
On this page:
Crispy St. Nicholas Cookies
Svenska Pepparkakor (Swedish Gingerbread Snaps)
Cuccia di Santa Lucia (St. Lucy's Sweetened Wheat Berries)
Panelle (Chickpea Flour Fritters)
Links to recipes for Glögg (Mulled Wine), Lussekatter
(Lucia Buns, Santa Lucia Crown, and Saint Martin's Goose
Crispy St. Nicholas
Cookies
From Nancy Berzinac, Mechanicsburg, PA, as published in "Cookies
Unlimited" by Nick Malgieri (HarperCollins, 2000)
Makes about 36 cookies, depending on the size of the cutter used
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
2 or 3 cookie sheets or jelly roll pans covered with parchment or foil
- In a bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder,
and salt; stir well to mix.
- In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the
paddle attachment, beat together on medium speed the butter and sugar
until light and whitened, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and lemon
zest and continue beating until smooth and light, another 2 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl and beater with a large rubber spatula
and, on low speed, add the flour mixture. Continue mixing until the
dough is smooth.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and complete the mixing
with a large rubber spatula.
- Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and press
it into a square or rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap and chill
the dough until it is firm, about an hour or two.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, set racks in the
upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
- On a floured surface, roll out a third of the dough at
a time until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Use a fluted cutter between
2 and 3 inches in diameter, or any kind of decorative cutter you wish.
Just be sure to dip it frequently in flour. As they are cut, place
the cookies on the prepared pans about an inch apart in all directions.
Repeat with the remaining dough. Save, press together, chill, and
reroll the scraps to make more cookies.
- Bake the cookies about 15 to 20 minutes, or until they
first become dull and dry-looking and feel slightly firm when pressed
with a fingertip. If you overbake the cookies, they will be very dry.
Slide the papers from the pans onto racks.
- Store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or
wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover.
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Svenska Pepparkakor
(Swedish Gingerbread Snaps)
From Solweig von Minden, Byram Township, NJ
Makes 60 cookies
2/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
3 tablespoons boiled, cooled water
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
21/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
11/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- Cream together first 2 ingredients. Add molasses, water,
and lemon rind.
- Sift dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture,
a little at a time, blending well. Chill overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough really thin on
lightly floured surface and cut with cookie cutters.
- Bake on buttered cookie sheets for 9-10 minutes, or until
browned.
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Cuccia di Santa
Lucia (St. Lucy's Sweetened Wheat Berries)
From "Sicilian Feasts" by Giovanna Bellia La Marca (Hippocrene
Books, 2003)
Serves 4-6
1 cup wheat berries (available at Italian groceries)
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
Grated peel of 1 lemon
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped candied fruit
- Place the wheat berries in a pot and cover with cold water
plus 2 inches. Bring the water to the boil, cook for 10 minutes, turn
off the heat, and let stand overnight.
- Place the milk in a pot, add the sugar and grated lemon
peel. Bring to the boil, add the drained wheat berries, and simmer
very gently, stirring often, until all the milk is absorbed, about
30 minutes. Cool. Spoon onto a serving platter and add the honey,
stir, and top with the candied fruits.
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Panelle (Chickpea
Flour Fritters)
From "Celebrating Italy" by Carol Field (HarperPerennial,
1990)
Serves 6-8
3 3/4 cups ceci (chickpea/garbanzo bean) flour, sifter after measuring
6 cups cold water
2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, optional
Sunflower or safflower oil for frying
- Gradually whisk the sifted ceci flour into the cold water
in a 6-quart pot, being sure to avoid lumps. Add the salt and cook
over a medium fire, stirring almost nonstop, until mixture comes away
from the sides of the pot, about 15 minutes. Stir in the parsley and
cheese.
- Working quickly, spread the mixture 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
on a moistened marble surface or wet baking sheet. Leave to cool.
Cut the panelle into rectangles 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches.
- Heat the oil in a deep pan to 365 degrees F. Slide in several
panelle, being sure they are not crowded and can move freely, and
fry until golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes. Drain on absorbent
paper and serve immediately.
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Links to recipes for:
Glögg
(Mulled Wine)
From Judith Pierce Rosenberg, at Swedish
Kitchen
Lussekatter
(Lucia Buns)
From Judith Pierce Rosenberg, at Swedish
Kitchen
Santa
Lucia Crown
From Fleischmann's Breadworld
site
Saint
Martin's Goose
Martinsgans mit Apfelfüllung - from the German
Embassy in Washington, D.C.
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