The next recipe recipe I want to look at is for Pfeffernüsse… This is a case where our recipe has drifted very far from the German interpretation, but they still remain a popular staple at Christmas time… Oddly the recipe card I was given reads “Neusenfefferson”… which I can only assume was a mistake. Google yields no results for Neusenfefferson.
| American Recipe | German Recipe (courtesy of Dr. Oetker) |
| 1/2 lb (225g) Butter, creamed with 3 cup (360 g) Flour 1/2 tsp Vanilla 2 cups (30g) Ground Pecans | 25g Candied Citron 250g Wheat Flour 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder 160g Sugar Lemon Zest 1 pinch of Salt 1 Egg 1 pinch of Ginger 1 pinch of Cardamom 1 pinch of Cloves 1 pinch of Allspice 1 pinch of fresh ground white pepper 3 1/2 tbsp Milk 25g ground Almonds |
| Mix ingredients well and shape into small balls the size of English walnuts. Bake 300 F for 45-50 min. Dust with powdered sugar | Dice the candied citron very finely. Mix the flour with baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add sugar, lemon zest, salt, egg, spices, milk, almonds and lemon. Work through the ingredients with a mixer (dough hook) first briefly at the lowest, then at the highest level. Form 2 rolls, each about 25 cm long, from the dough. Place the dough rolls wrapped in foil in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 for conventional ovens or 320 for convection. If necessary, re-shape the dough rolls, cut them into slices about 1 cm thick and place them on the baking sheet (keep the dough rolls in the fridge from time to time so that they can be easily cut). Put the baking sheet in the oven. Insert into the middle rack for around 15 minutes. Pull the Pfeffernüsse off the baking sheet and let them cool on a wire rack. |