Recipes and styling: Angelina Claassen. Photographs by Graeme Wyllie. Article from the December 2013 issue of Food and Home Entertaining Magazine.
Tired of the same old cold jelly trifles year after year? Why not try your hand at some of these Traditional European Christmas Desserts…
Klejner (fried cookies)
A Danish friend gave me this recipe but they’re popular in Sweden and Norway, and across Europe. They’re traditionally cut into diamond shapes, slashed in the centre and twisted into a knot
Makes about 60 EASY 45 mins
The flavour combinations
240g (2 cups) cake flour
105g (1/2 cup) castor sugar
2,5ml (1/2 tsp) baking powder
110g (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature
90ml full-fat cream
1 egg
2 cardamom pods, seeded and crushed
1,25L sunflower oil, for frying
How to do it
1. Sieve the cake flour, castor sugar and baking powder into a medium mixing bowl.
2. With your fingertips or with a food processor, work in the butter to a crumbly stage.
3. Mix the cream, egg and cardamom seeds, and pour into the butter mixture, cutting in until well combined.
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate, about 30 minutes.
5. Fill a medium pot with oil and heat to about 190°C.
6. Roll the dough out onto a floured work surface to a thickness of about 5mm. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. The traditional shape is a slightly warped diamond shape but we used stars in the spirit of Christmas.
7. Drop the stars carefully into the hot oil and cook until golden brown on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
8. Transfer to a serving platter and dust with icing sugar. Serve immediately.
Some call them ‘lovers knots’ and other say it’s not Christmas without klejner
Sernik (cheesecake)
This is a much-loved dessert that you will find no matter which part of Poland you are visiting and it’s especially adored over Christmas time. Because the filling is so rich, it is usually enjoyed as is, but if you must, fresh fruit or whipped cream is in order
Serves 8-12 EASY 2 hrs
The flavour combinations
Base
350g shortbread biscuits, crushed and mixed with 25g melted butter
Filling
220g butter, softened
260g (2 cups) icing sugar
900g ricotta
8 large eggs, separated
40ml (2 heaped tbsp) cake flour
20ml (1 heaped tbsp) cornflour
15ml (1 tbsp) baking powder
5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
How to do it
1. Pat the biscuit crumbs firmly into the bottom of a greased 26cm x 6cm springform tin. Place in the fridge.
2. Heat the oven to 180°C. Cream together the butter and 130g (1 cup) of the icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add half of the ricotta and mix thoroughly.
3. Combine the egg yolks with the remaining 130g (1 cup) icing sugar in a separate bowl. Add the remaining ricotta and mix until well blended. Add the butter-cheese mixture to the egg mixture and beat until smooth. Sprinkle in the flour, cornflour, baking powder and vanilla, and mix until well incorporated.
4. Beat the egg whites in a clean, grease- free bowl to medium-stiff peaks. Fold the egg white mixture into the cheese mixture, preserving as much volume as possible.
5. Remove the prepared tin from the fridge, place on a baking sheet and fill with the cheese batter. Bake until golden brown and puffy, 50 – 60 minutes. The centre should be slightly wobbly.
6. Remove from oven, cool completely on a wire rack and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Kaiserschmarrn (fluffy, thick pancake)
A popular dessert or meal-time treat in Austria, South Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic, the name derives from the Austrian emperor Kaiser Franz Joseph I of Austria, who was very fond of this fluffy, thick pancake, ‘schmarrn’, meaning ‘scratched’
Serves 4-6 EASY 30 mins
The flavour combinations
80g raisins
30ml – 45ml (2-3 tbsp) rum
6 eggs, separated
300g cake flour, sieved
2,5ml (1/2 tsp) salt
50g unsalted butter, melted + 25g extra, for frying
500ml (2 cups) full-cream milk
icing sugar, for dusting
fresh blueberries or apple compote, to serve (optional)
How to do it
1. Soak the raisins in the rum.
2. Separate the eggs carefully and whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff.
3. Place the sieved flour, salt, 50g melted butter, milk and egg yolks in a separate bowl and mix well with a hand mixer.
4. Drain the raisins and add to the batter.
5. Melt the extra butter in a large non-stick pan and add the batter.
6. Cook the batter over moderate heat, about 8 minutes. Cut into quarters and flip over. Allow to brown until golden.
7. Using a pizza cutter or two forks, chop or break the quarters into pieces.
8. Dust liberally with icing sugar and serve with fresh blueberries or apple compote.
Risalamande (creamy rice pudding)
Serves 12 EASY 1 hr 30 mins + cooling
The flavour combinations
Pudding
1L (4 cups) full-cream milk
10ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
10ml (2 tsp) cinnamon
150g (2/3 cup) arborio rice
2,5ml (1/2 tsp) salt
80g (2/s cup) blanched almonds, chopped
1 whole almond
30ml (2 tbsp) sugar
250ml (1 cup) whipping cream
Fruit sauce
850g (2 tins) pitted black cherries, drained, saving the juice
105g (1/2 cup) castor sugar water
30ml (2 tbsp) cornflour
fresh or tinned cherries, to serve flaked almonds, to serve
How to do it
1. For the pudding, place the milk, vanilla, cinnamon and rice in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer over low heat and cook until the rice has cooked and the milk has thickened, stirring often to ensure it does not stick to the bottom, about 1 hour.
2. Add the salt. Do not worry if the mixture seems too milky, it will be completely slurped up by the rice. Allow it to cool.
3. Add the chopped almonds, whole almond and sugar. Whip the cream and fold it into the cold rice mixture. Refrigerate.
4. For the sauce, bring the cherry juice to a boil, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Reduce the heat to a simmer.
5. Using a separate cup, add a little water to the cornflour, stirring to make a paste. Take 30ml (2 tbsp) of the hot cherry juice and add to the cornflour paste. Stir and pour into the juice in the pot.
6. Add the cherries to the hot mixture and stir until the sauce thickens slightly.
7. Serve in glasses topped with fresh or tinned cherries and flaked almonds.
Served during the traditional Christmas meal in Denmark, somewhere in the dessert there is one whole almond and whoever finds the almond wins a prize of a marzipan pig
Toscakaka (caramel almond cake)
This Scandinavian cake is best eaten at room temperature, but it’s hard to resist a piece just out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
Serves 16 A LITTLE EFFORT 1 hr + cooling time
The flavour combinations
Topping
300g almonds, flaked + extra, to serve
250g butter 250g Demerara sugar
100ml milk
5ml (1 tsp) fine sea salt
Cake
6 eggs
300g castor sugar
10ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
300g cake flour
10ml (2 tsp) baking powder
2,5ml (V2 tsp) fine sea salt
150ml buttermilk
150g unsalted butter, melted
How to do it
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease a 28cm x 6cm springform tin and line the bottom with wax paper.
2. Toast the almonds for the topping in an oven tray until light golden brown, 5-7 minutes, and set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool. Keep the pan to use later.
4. For the cake, whip the eggs, sugar and vanilla together in a pot over medium-high heat until thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
5. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together. Sieve one-third of the flour mixture over the egg bowl then gently fold in with a large metal spoon.
6 Drizzle half of the buttermilk over the top and fold in. Repeat with the next one-third of the flour, the remaining buttermilk and the remaining flour.
7. Drizzle half of the melted butter over the top, fold in, then repeat with the remaining half of the butter. Be gentle but thorough, scraping the bottom to make sure there are no flour pockets. Carefully transfer the mixture to the prepared tin. Tap on the counter once to remove any big air bubbles. Bake until golden and set, 25 – 30 minutes.
8. When the cake has been baking for 15 minutes, start the topping. Place the toasted almonds, butter, sugar, milk and salt into the buttered saucepan, stirring as the butter melts. It should bubble and thicken slightly.
9. Turn the oven up to 200°C. Remove the cake to a rack and pour the topping over. Spread the almonds out in a layer. Place in the top of the oven and bake until the glaze is dark brown and bubbling, 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Slide a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen it.
Cook’s tip
This recipe can easily be halved if you are entertaining a smaller crowd.
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