Katzenzungen (cat tongue cookies)

Katzenzungen have a particular shape, similar to cat tongues, hence their name. I've only had them from solid chocolate, never as cookies. However, because the recipe does not require any eggs I decided to try it out.

Ingredients:

Baking sheet

Parchment paper

Some grease

For the cake batter:

50 g Nutella or some other hazelnut-nougat creme

125 g butter or margarine (1 stick)

60 g powdered sugar

Some vanilla aroma

A pinch of salt

130 g flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 package caramel pudding powder (Dr. Oetker Gala Karamell or butterscotch JELL-O)

1 tablespoon milk

For the decoration:

100 g semisweet chocolate

1 tablespoon sunflower or coconut oil

Preparation:

1. Grease baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (375 F).

2. Using an electric hand mixer blend Nutella and butter or margarine. Sift powdered sugar and add to batter. Add vanilla aroma and salt to batter.

3. Mix flour, baking powder and pudding powder, and add in two portions to batter. Mix in milk last.

4. Add batter to a piping bag with a flat hole opening about 1/3 inch in diameter (Ø 8 mm). Squeeze batter an stripes of about 2-3 inches long "Katzenzungenform" (Länge etwa 6 cm) on baking sheet.

5. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius (375 F) for about 8 min. Remove cookies from oven, and let fully cool on baking sheet.

6. Melt semisweet chocolate and oil at low heat in microwave or in a bowl over hot water. Dip one half of the cookies into chocolate, and put on parchment paper until chocolate is dry.

Comments:

1. I didn't have the correct flat hole opening adaptor for the piping back, so I used a star-shaped one of the correct size. With this one, though, the cat tongues looked just wrong, so I decided to make S-shaped cookies instead.

2. In contrast to Dr. Oetker Gala Karamell pudding the butterscotch JELL-O contains sugar, so you might want to decrease the amount of powdered sugar by 1/3 or 1/2.

Gluten-free German Style Cheesecake

At the beginning of the year I made a crustless German style cheesecake. However, because that recipe calls for semolina flour the previously posted cheesecake wasn't gluten-free. To accommodate people with gluten sensitivity or Zeliacs disease I altered the recipe. Instead of the semolina flour I used ricotta cheese, and because I used full-fat ricotta cheese I left out the stick of butter. The ricotta cheese gives this cake the grainy texture the semolina flour usually adds. The raisins are optional, and can be exchanged for canned mandarin oranges - just make sure they are drained very well.

Ingredients:

Springform (12 inches or 28 cm in diameter)

Some grease

4 eggs

200 g sugar

Juice of a lemon

300 g or 2/3 lb ricotta cheese (I used regular, not fat-free)

700 g Greek Yoghurt (Fage or Chobani brand) or 500 g yoghurt and 200 g sour cream for a richer cake

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons gluten-free flour

Some raisins (to taste)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F). Grease springform.

2. Separate eggs. Beat egg whites until fully stiff.

3. In a separate bowl mix egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice. Add gluten-free flour and baking powder. Lastly, stir in ricotta cheese, Greek Yoghurt, and raisins.

4. Carefully fold in egg whites. Pour batter into springform and bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Comments:

This cake turned out very soft, and doesn't look as good as the previous one because the surface cracked while cooling down, so this recipe might need some more tweaking. It could be that the additional fat contributed by the stick of butter is essential to prevent the cake surface from cracking during the cooling process. Adding another tablespoon potato starch or gluten-free flour might also help.

Nutty Triangles (Nussecken)

This is another treat you can find in many German bakeries. Nutty triangles come in many variations, e.g. nut flour or with whole hazelnuts on top, with all corners dipped in chocolate or all edges covered with chocolate.

The recipe presented here today is a recipe by a family friend. It is easy and quick to prepare. Because of the richness from the nuts, nutty triangles are a great afternoon treat in the fall.

Ingredients:

Baking sheet

Some grease

Some extra flour

Parchment paper

Pastry dough

125 g soft butter or margarine or 1 stick

125 g sugar

250 g flour

1 egg

2 packages vanilla sugar or some vanilla aroma

1 leveled teaspoon baking powder

Topping:

400 g nut flour

4 eggs

200 g sugar

Decoration:

Baking chocolate that melts

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

2. Prepare pastry dough: Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl. Add butter or margarine, sugar, vanilla sugar or vanilla aroma and egg. Using the knead hooks of an electric hand mixer to form a dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for about 30 min in refrigerator.

3. Prepare topping: In another bowl mix eggs and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in nut flour.

4. Grease a baking sheet. Remove pastry dough from refrigerator, place on baking sheet and roll out flat using a rolling pin. If the dough is sticky sprinkle some extra flour on top while rolling it out flat.

5. Pour nut mixture on top of pastry dough, and spread evenly.

6. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) for about 25 min. The surface of the nut mixture should be light golden in color.

7. Remove from oven and let cool a bit. While the pastry is still warm, cut squares of equal size, the cut the squares in half, so you have two triangles from each square. Let pastry fully cool down.

8. Melt chocolate in a microwave or in a bowl over hot water. Dip the edges of the long side of the triangle into the chocolate, let extra chocolate drip of and place on parchment paper. When the chocolate has dried the nutty triangles are ready to be served.

Comments:

1. Nuts: Nutty triangles are traditionally made with hazelnuts because these are the cheapest nuts in Germany. However, because my parents have a walnut tree in the garden we've been making them from walnuts instead. It's a different nut flavor. I've never tried making them from peanuts or pecan nuts, but I don't see why it shouldn't work. The flavor will be different, though. Since I am a big fan of almonds I am wondering what they'd taste like made with almonds. Another thing I need to try out in the future.

2. Nutty triangles can be prepared ahead of time. They can be stored in a cookie box for weeks, well. If they last that long...

3. I cut the squares about 6 x 6 cm (a little more than 2 x 2 inches), then cut them in half for the triangles. I like this smaller size a lot. They look like little pralines, very decorative on a buffet table or when you're having a party, and it's a great size for kids. In German bakeries these are more than twice the size than mine, so that is more a full meal than a snack.

4. As I had pointed out there are many variations of this. Here are some:

For people who have an egg allergy: Exchange the egg in the pastry dough for a 1-2 tablespoons of milk or water. Instead of using eggs in the topping, use butter.

Some recipes put a thin layer (3 tablespoons) of jam (apricot) on top of the pastry dough before putting down the nut mixture. This will make the triangles a little more moist, but alters the flavor.

Instead of using nut flour you can use shredded coconut, and make coconut triangles.