Friday Finds – Norwegian Christmas cookies
This week’s Friday finds are links to the cookies that were made in my family for Christmas
We are not in genealogy mood right now are we? Our family is using the time to gear up for Christmas so I decided to use this weeks Friday finds to share some recipes for Norwegian Christmas cookies. It was said that there should be seven different types of Christmas cookies baked. Every family had their own list of seven. We didn’t necessarily make 7 different.
You might want to add a little extra “Norwegian flavour” to your Christmas celebration
This looks like the recipe we used to make Kakemenn – “Cakemen,” However our cookie cutters made men, women, stars, hearts, and a Christmas tree. We used to paint them with food color instead of icing. Find Mom’s Norwegian Christmas cookies at The House of treats. Some makes these with a gingerbread dough.
Serinakaker is one of the cookies my mother always made for Christmas. It sometimes can get a little dry and messy to eat, but are still very good. Find the recipe in the North Wild Kitchen by Nevada Berg
Sirupsnipper was always on the list of seven. These needs to be monitored closely while in the owen. They can easily get very hard. Here is Sirupsnipper by Russell at the blog LondonEats
No Christmas without Krumkaker. Either rolled with a pin or formed over a small bowl or cup. These are really good with icecream or Cloudberry whipped cream. Whithey is an American living in Norway. She hosts the food blog Thanks for the food, where you among other things find the recipe for Krumkaker. I remember that my friend had a cat that loved Krumkaker. It didn’t matter if we made a mess when we ate it. The cat was always under the table and cleaned up ater us.
Fattigmann was also a standard on the repertoire. The name means “Poor man”, however, the ingredients are in no way cheap. This recipe contains a little Cognac or brandy. My grandmother never used this and the cakes still tasted good. You find the Fattigman recipe in the blog Outside Oslo by Daytona Strong. (Picture Christina Rejkjær [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
My Grandmother always made Hjortetakk for Christmas. These are sometimes mistaken for Doughnuts but even though they are also deep fried in oil, the recipe is different. Hjortetakk and milk was a great mix.
Hjortetakk – “Deer Antlers” from the Sons of Norway website.
The centerpiece on the Christmas coffee table is the Kransekake. This cake made from fine ground almonds have always been one of my favourite. I must admit that we buy these now, but I can vividly remember my mother making these and sometimes struggle to get them out of the molds. Some sort of “non stick” spray is highly recommendable. You can also make this by rolling the dough into tubes and form the rings this way. Actually you can form them into whatever shape you want. They tastes the same. Find NORWEGIAN KRANSEKAKE in the blog Passion for baking by Manuela Kjeilen.
And yes, there are many I haven’t metioned: Sandkaker, Vannbakels, Goro and Lefse. We all have our favourits.
Here is a bonus recipe that my wife has started to bake the last years. Brune pinner – “Brown sticks”. Again we visits the North Wild Kitchen by Nevada Berg.
