New Years Pretzels - Happy New Year 2013!

                           

A family tradition in some parts of Germany is the baking of New Year's pretzels. The pretzels are big, soft on the inside, and chewy on the outside. Some make them a bit sweet and frost them, but the tradition in our family, passed down to me by my mother, Louise, is to make them plain with a bit of egg wash and only enough sugar to make sure the yeast is proofing (alive). The pretzel is more like the big pretzels sold by vendors than the small crunchy pretzels sold in bags. My mother liked the pretzel to have some crunchiness on the bottom.

Below is my modified recipe for those who may not eat dairy and fat as it includes milk and butter, followed by a more traditional recipe. My "no fat, no dairy" pretzels would look prettier if I would brush them with an egg wash, but we do not mind that they do not have the traditional shiny coating as I brush them with a bit of Rice Milk.

I use White Whole Wheat flour today, but in years past I used regular unbleached flour. I have never made them with regular Whole Wheat flour. If I were using only regular Whole Wheat Flour, I would mix the whole wheat with the unbleached at about 50-50.

                                      No Fat, No Dairy Pretzels 

                                                                       
Modified recipe for the above two large pretzels:

1 cup lukewarm Rice Milk (I am sure Almond, Soy milk or water would work too) (250 ml)
2 teaspoons yeast (one packet of yeast is fine at 2 1/4 tsp)
2 teaspoons sugar

I always use the same amount of sugar as yeast, but some prefer "sweet" pretzels and use as much as 1/3 cup sugar (50-60 grams). We prefer our pretzels not to be sweet. I mix the above and allow it to sit about 10 minutes to make sure the mixture smells yeasty and that I see some bubbles after a few minutes, to prove to me that the yeast is alive. I do not use metal utensils and never use a metal bowl when baking with yeast.

Beat one egg and add it to the above yeast mixture
3-4 cups of flour (500 grams) (add a bit at a time until the dough is workable)

Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes and place in a covered bowl to proof until it doubles in height.

After the first proofing, form the dough into a long roll and into a pretzel shape on a greased baking sheet (I use a spray like PAM on my baking sheets, as hate to have the baked dough stick to the sheet and ruin the shape of the pretzels. Parchment paper is good too, but spray the baking sheet before putting down the parchment or the parchment paper might get into the pretzel dough. The spray holds the parchment paper on to the sheet and keeps it from getting into the pretzel).

Let the formed pretzel proof about another hour, brush with Rice Milk and bake for about 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F. (Brushing with an egg yolk makes the most beautiful shiny crust, but my pretzels pictured were brushed only with a bit of Rice Milk).

I proof all of my yeast products in my cold oven as the area has no drafts and is out of the way.

Below is a sweeter and a bit softer recipe in which the dough is more like a Challah (egg) bread,
which is traditional:

1 cup milk (250 ml)
2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast (1 package)
4 Tablespoons melted butter (60 grams)
1/3 cup sugar (50-60 grams)  (this is a lot of sugar for my family and all but 2 tsp can be omitted)


1 egg beaten 
Zest of one lemon
3-4 cups of flour (500 grams) (add a bit at a time until the dough is workable)

1 egg yolk for brushing the pretzels before baking.

In this recipe, dissolve the yeast in the cup of milk and add 2 teaspoons of the total sugar and set
aside for about 15 minutes to make sure the yeast is alive. Add the melted butter being careful not
too add a hot liquid and kill the yeast, sugar, and flour and knead for about 10 minutes as in the
no fat recipe.

Proof the dough twice as in the no fat, no dairy recipe, and brush the pretzel with the egg yolk before placing it in the oven. The egg wash gives this pretzel the most beautiful shiny coat.

I have seen the pretzel braided, reminiscent of a Challah (egg) bread, and shaped in the pretzel shape.

What fascinates me is that Challah bread is baked in a round shape for the Jewish New Year and the New Year's Pretzel is a similar type dough, but eaten for the calendar New Year.

From what I have read, the New Year's pretzel is traditional in the county of Baden, in Bavaria, and in the city of my birth, Karlsruhe, Germany, it is not known in all of Germany!

Thus, although my parents were raised in different faiths as children, the same type of dough was traditional for their respective New Year's celebration! I don't know if anyone has ever made this connection!

The pretzels are traditionally eaten for breakfast on New Year's day which in our house is about one minute into the New Year.

Enjoy the pretzels and as the tile says "Let it Snow." My sweet niece who lives in Texas sent the tile mentioning her baby girl, my great-niece!

                         

                                                                     

Vegetable - Purple Cabbage

Pictures of the raw and cooked purple cabbage by my dear friend, Gerhard Schlinke, of Merzhausen near Freiburg, Germany

One of my precious cooking memories involves the color purple when I was about three and a half years old. My maternal grandmother and my aunt, baby sat for me while my Mom took care of my father who was not feeling well. I looked out the window at my parents walking down the steep steps and through a courtyard of green plants and stonework.

As they left, I began to smell the most wonderful aroma and noticed the most brilliant purple colored vegetable, I had ever seen, in my grandmother's kitchen. My grandmother started with an object that looked like the ball (cabbage) above, cut it into the
tiniest of slices by hand and turned the purple cabbage into a product whose color and flavor I will never forget. The chopping seemed so effortless for her yet each slice looked perfect to me. My Aunt Lorle (Hannelore) stood beside my dear grandmother tasting each item and adjusting the spices for the most flavorful dish for her beloved nieces, my sister and me.

It was a wonderful afternoon in a cozy warm kitchen with lots of light coming in from the window above the kitchen table. The purple color was as intense as possible in the most comfortable of kitchens. I remember feeling so happy, warm, cuddled and safe in the presence of my grandmother and aunt whose eyes never left us while they prepared a wonderful Sunday dinner.

The final product of my grandmother's efforts was a side dish of sweet and sour purple cabbage whose intense color and flavor I have never again experienced. That Sunday afternoon in Karlsruhe, Germany, was the last meal I remember having with my grandmother and Aunt Lorle before my mother, father, sister, and I departed for D.P. Camp Vegesack, near the port city of Bremen, in anticipation of a trip to the U.S.A. Our parents told us the purpose of the trip was to meet our paternal uncle's kittens. We ate little on the voyage over the ocean in the Navy troop carrier, the General William C. Langfitt. I was seasick and perhaps a bit spoiled by my grandmother and aunt who made the art of cooking colorful and appealing.

The purple cabbage, kohlrabi, and meat was a heavenly meal made with the love of a devoted maternal grandmother and my dear Aunt Lorle. I remember the loving care of my grandmother and the meal she prepared with her youngest daughter, my aunt, as one of my most precious
memories. Whenever I see a purple cabbage, I think of that happy sunny day that I spent "cooking" with my grandmother and aunt. I longed for my grandmother, aunt, and their warm and cozy kitchen on the six week voyage to the U.S.A.

Fifty years later, when my grandmother's buffet and dish cabinet had no where to go, they too went on an incredible voyage by ship over the Atlantic Ocean. After serving as a small part of the cargo on a ship, my grandmother's furniture continued by truck to find a resting place in my home. At my house my mother enjoys her mother's furniture and it has taken me many years to truly understand how courageous and wonderful my mother was and continues to be at almost 91 years young on March 23, 2008.

Traditional Family Favorites - Linzer Torte

This is a traditional all time favorite treat in our family. First, thanks to my dear friend, Gerhard Schlinke, of Merzhausen near Freiburg, Germany, for sending me this wonderful picture of our family favorite. The Linzer Torte has a crust made of ground hazelnuts and includes a filling of rasberry jam. When my sister or I see anything like it in a store, we must purchase it . It rarely tastes like the original baked by my mother, aunt or maternal grandmother but brings back precious memories.

My mother once baked two for a school bake sale, shortly after we immigrated to the U.S.A. She cut the dough into leaf shapes to make the top. Her masterpiece was beautiful and added much profit to the bake sale. I remember that I wanted to purchase my mother's baked goods, but they were already gone.

I love the crust that can also be made into a Linzer cake. The entire cake is ground hazelnuts and holds up for a very long time when covered in chocolate that hardens on cooling. I never made the cake but when I would visit my aunt in Freiburg, Germany, she would make a huge loaf and cut it in half for a piece for my husband and a piece for my brother-in-law as they both loved the cake as much as my sisters and I.

The Linzer Torte and the Linzer cake bring back the most precious memories of our family celebrating precious moments together. The Linzer cake was a specialty of my late Tante (Aunt) Hanelore, my mother's dearest and youngest sister.

Homemade Foods - Russicher Zupfkuchen

Russicher Zupfkuchen is a popular European cheesecake within a chocolate shortbread dough. This cake was made by my friend, Gerhard Schlinke, of Merzhausen, near Freiburg, Germany who is also an accomplished photographer.