German Christmas Treats

Every culture has its own traditions for the holidays, and food plays a big part in Germany's.

For the month before Christmas, you can enjoy most of these in the Christmas markets that spring up in most public squares in the towns. We've sampled a taste of everything for you here.

First, of course, is Glühwein....It's basically mulled wine and is the most traditional hot beverage enjoyed in the cold in the German-speaking countries. You'll find all sorts of varieties and flavors these days, and even more modern hot cocktails (Hot Caipirinhas, etc).  At a minimum, most stalls offer Kinderpunsch (non-alcoholic), Glühwein, and Glühwein mit Schuss (Glühwein with a shot of rum). It's a good way to stay warm while walking around the markets in winter...warms your hands and your insides!

Gluhwein and Lebkuchen at the Nürnberg Christmas Market

 Gluhwein Varieties

 Vanillekipferl

These small, crescent-shaped cooies are vanilla flavored and coated in powdered sugar. They're usually made with ground almonds. You'll find these throughout most of Germany, as well as in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. They vary from kind of tasteless to sublime...luckily these were perfectly vanilla tasting and melt-in-your-mouth. Excellent with coffee!  Vanillekipferl

Lebkuchen                 

Lebkuchen

One of the most ubiquitous Christmas treats around this part of Germany is Lebkuchen. It comes in many varieties and shapes, can be iced or dipped in chocolate... It's spiced a bit like gingerbread, but not exactly the same. They're usually made with ground nuts, honey, and spices such as anise, cloves, ginger, and cardamom.

The quality also can range quite widely, but good Lebkuchen is really tasty and not at all dry. It orinally cam from Franconia, with Nürnberg now the famous source. Actually, Nürnberg has been quite successful in getting their products under "Protected Designation of Origin." (meaning that Nürnberger bratwurst can only come from Nürnberg, and Nürnberger Lebkuchen can only come from Nürnberg). The original variety usually sits atop what's basically the same as a giant communion wafer. Supposedly the monks used it to keep the cookies from sticking to the pan.

Lebkuchen Männer Chocolate Covered Lebkuchen

Dominostein

DominosteinNot my favorite Christmas treat, but they're not bad. These Dominos are a 3 layer treat, dipped in either dark or milk chocolate. Usually it's a lebkuchen bottom, with cherry or apricot jelly in the middle, and marzipan or cream on the top layer. These originated in Dresden, but are sold throughout Germany.

Spekulatius   

Then we have Spekulatius, Herr J's favorite. These are so tasty! Their taste like a combination of shortbread and gingerbread. They're thin and crunchy and come with designs stamped into them.

These are more traditionally for St. Nikolas Day (November 6th) and made of flour, brown sugar, honey, butter, and spices such as nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, and cloves.

Though they have stamped rolling pins and silicone molds now, the traditional method involves a hand-carved wooden mold. I prefer the spiced variety, but they also have butter Spekulatius, chocolate Spekulatius, and ones with almond slices on the bottom.

They seem to have originated in the Rhineland-Pfalz area, but are found widely across the country, and in Belgium and the Netherlands. Probably because they're so good!

I'm hoping these also might make a good substitute for graham-cracker crust in pies and bars. Graham crackers just don't exist here and key lime pie is soooo good!

Zimtsterne

Literally translated as "cinnamon stars," these little cookies from Schwabia are so tasty! They're chewy, cinnamony, with a crispy sweet icing on top. As with many of the Christmas cookies, these are made with ground almonds instead of flour.

Baumkuchen

 

While they just look like a chocolate covered stack of donuts, this cake is quite impressive. It's also common in Austria. A good, properly made baumkuchen can be rather pricey, too.  The name "tree cake" comes from how it's cooked over a spit (rotisserie style) and the cake batter is applied layer by layer creating tree rings in the cake. Quite an intensive process, sometimes with 20 layers. Then the cake is take off the rotisserie, cut into pieces, and dipped in chocolate or fondant.

BaumkuchenschnittenThere's also a version called Baumkuchenschnitten ("tree cake sections") that are little pieces of the cake, dipped in chocolate. They also have the tree rings on them. The ones I tried have champagne in the cake and are really a little slice of heaven. So moist and tasty, with high quality milk chocolate.

Marzipan Potatoes

    I've not been able to find anyone who knows why marzipan potatoes are traditional gifts in Advent, but they are everywhere. We tried the little ones, but in the markets they sell huge life-sized potatoes, made entirely of marzipan and dusted with cocoa powder. Some friends here say that it just was easier to make potatoes than anything else.  They're marzipan, so are tasty, but in small doses.

 

Coconut Macaroons and Pfeffernüsse

Not to be confused with macarons, these are the chewy coconut ones we all know, with the bottoms dipped in dark chocolate. So tasty!

And on the right are Pfeffernüsse ("Pepper Nuts"), little hard, round cookies made of spiced dough dipped in icing. They're originally Dutch, but have made it down through Denmark, Germany, Austria. The taste is good - a bit spicier than gingerbread, usually with pepper included - but they are super hard and dry. These are traditional for St. Nikolaus Day (5th or 6th of December, depending on the region), but are sold throughout the Christmas season. You need to dip them in coffee, really, or wait a few weeks till they soften up. Given the choice, I'd take the macaroons and skip the pfeffernüsse.

Schneeball

These "Snowballs" are a fun contribution from the beautiful, old little town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. They're basically strips of dough, balled up, fried, and dusted in sugar. They were originally served at weddings in the Franconia region, but now are served year round. OK, I know it's not exactly a Christmas treat only, but the name makes it fit this post!

The plain ones dusted in powdered or cinnamon sugar are the originals, but now they sell 20+ varieties - with different fillings (caramel, Cointreau, marzipan, etc) and toppings (chocolates, nuts, coconut, etc).  We tried an original with cinnamon sugar from Diller in the Nürnberg train station. Pretty tasty! I think the filled ones would be too much, but maybe I'll try one when I finally make it to Rothenburg. It's a well-preserved walled city with a cool night watchman tour.

Candied Nuts

Candied Nuts at the Nürnberg Christmas Market

This is one of those times where I WISH that a photo could capture a scent. The smell of these candied nuts cooking is intoxicating. It makes me forget my words and just follow the scent, like a rat led by the Piper.

These are not exclusively Christmas treats - they're common at Oktoberfest and are sold in front of the Marienplatz Kaufhof year round. However, they are always a presence in every Christmas market.

For Christmas only, Lindt makes milk chocolate-covered almonds and hazelnuts, dusted in powdered sugar. They use their special Christmas chocolate, which has some light spices in it and is so good. These are one of Herr J's favorites, and now one of mine. Between the Spekulatius and the Lindt chocolate hazelnuts, I have to admit he has pretty good taste in Christmas treats!

Spitzbuben

These jam-filled sugar cookies are often called German Jam Cookies or Swiss Sandwiches, but the name translates to "rogues" or "scoundrels." They're a nice plain cookie base, with jam (apricot and currant are most common) in between two cookies, and a star or heart window cut in the top cookie. Then they're dusted with powdered sugar.

Stollen

 And it wouldn't be Christmas without fruitcake!  In Germany, we have Stollen, which is a loaf of sweet bread filled with dried fruit and nuts and topped with powdered sugar. They vary quite widely, with "exotic fruit" varieties, marzipan chunks, or other fillings. The German version has been made for Christmas since the 1400's, in Saxony. Dresden still is know as the Stollen capital, I guess like Claxton, Georgia is the fruitcake capital of the US. There's an annual Stollen Festival in Dresden, where a 3-4 ton stollen is paraded through the city and then cut by a ceremonial knife and sold to partiers.

Though Dresdner Stollen is the classic, other regions have created their own. The lady selling Frankish Dresden explained that their variety has fewer nuts and fruit than the super packed Dresdner Stollen. The bakery in my apartment building makes with poppyseed filling or with the same nut filling as used in cinnamon rolls. Not exactly traditional, but really good!

German Traditions + Redneck Craft Projects = Awesome Advent Calendar

I've lived in enough totally different places now to be a little culturally screwed up. Or we could look at it more positively, as having the opportunity to combine the best of various cultures.

This one is lacking in Asian influence, but blends the best of the redneck spirit of homemade things and the German traditions of Advent calendars. And from both, of course, beer!

Introducing the Official 2010 Schnitzelbahn Advent Calendar: 

Inside is waiting 24 days of malty, hoppy, beer goodness!

I started with a 24-beer crate and then filled it with an assortment of 24 different 0.33 L beers. As most beers here are half liter bottles, it was a little harder than expected to find enough good beers. But luckily I could branch out beyond German beers and add some American, Australian, Czech, flavored, English and other beers not allowed in the Beer Tournament.

Tasty!

After finding the beers, the major design difficulty was in creating "doors," as the beers were aligned in hexagonal holders, not in a straight grid.

So, a cardboard top with doors was out of the question and I had to build in dividers. I solved the problem with Curling ribbon and packing tape. I used the curling ribbon to create grid with an opening over each bottle. Then I ran packing tape, sticky side up, under each line in the grid. This stuck to the ribbon and held the shape, while also providing something adhesive on which to mount the top.

Building the Grid

I needed something that could easily be torn open, and also adhere tightly to the tape. Aluminum foil made the most sense and looked festive. The tape running along the ribbon also should serve as a border to stop the tearing when each compartment is opened daily.

And finally.... I got satin star stickers from a stationery store and wrote the numbers 1-24 for each day in silver pen.  

Finishing with stickers for each day

Update on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 16:18 by Frau A

This guy has taken a fun and different approach to the advent calendar idea....Each December, he tastes and reviews a different beer per day to celebrate Advent.

http://beeradventcalendar.blogspot.com/

Advent Calendars for Everyone

Yesterday was the beginning of one of my favorite holiday traditions. Advent Calendars are great for everyone....for kids, it helps pass the time and count down the days till Christmas and for adults, it helps limit us to a piece of chocolate per day. Or is an excuse to eat some chocolate every day. Not sure which, but both are good ideas.   

The Germans have take Advent Calendars to new heights. They are everywhere, beginning in October. But be warned, if you wait until December, you may not find any! 

It's not just chocolate anymore - there really is something for everyone these days. Chocolate advent calendars still are by far the most popular ones, but there are plenty of non-candy calendars or manly calendars on offer. 

My Advent Calendar Guide: 

For Mom:
(probably you should give her a chocolate one, too)

The Tea Party Advent Calendar, which includes tea bags and holders in the shape of famous politicians, artists, and Biblical characters (Queen Elizabeth, Baby Jesus, Rudolph, Sarkozy, Mozart, and Merkel).  

   

For the Hello Kitty fan in your life:
(it's ok to admit it, you know you have one...or are one!)

For Father/Husband/Boyfriend:
The Handyman Advent Calendar. I got Herr J one so we could see what goodies are inside!  

  

For those who don't like chocolate:
(yes, i have met one or two in life...I both envy and pity them) 

Gummi Bear Advent Calendar, from the neighborhood Bears and Friends.    

For the younger brother:
Unfortunately, I really couldn't find a justification to buy one. But there are a few varieties out there of Lego Advent Calendars.  

For the teenage daughter/sister:
The Body Shop here has an advent calendar full of small-sized products.  

They seem to be out of them, so I'll just show an even more fun one...the famous Selfridge's advent calendar. Similar idea and cost, just the Body Shop uses their own products.  

Selfridge's Advent Calendar

For the Music Lover:
Or also good for parents who don't want to give more candy to the kids... The Musical Advent Calendar, with a new song each day (38 minutes in total).  

 

For children of all ages, or also for yourself:
The Kinder Surprise Egg Advent Calendar. Full of Kinder Eggs, with Christmas toys and ornaments inside. Also it opens up to have a nice 3D scene and a sleigh to hold a Kinder Egg.  

In the interest of full disclosure....I got one for myself. I love Kinder Eggs and am looking forward to hanging some of the ornaments on my Christmas tree.  Will post later pictures of what suprises are inside.

Kinder has a variety of advent calendars on offer...     Kinder Friends - with Bueno, Bons, Country and Chocolate 

Kinder Mix - with Happy Hippos, Bons, Suprise Eggs, and Chocolate

Or if Kinder is not your favorite, all of the major German and Swiss chocolatiers have at least one calendar on the market....

Ritter Sport

       Milka   Mozart

Niederegger (Marzipan and Chocolate) Lindt, as usual, has a wide variety of advent calendars...dark, light, spiced chocolates, kid's chocolates, pralines, and mini-truffels.

  

And, finally, we have my awesome, homemade Advent Calendar. What's in it? We'll see tomorrow....