Krumkake

Winter and the weather that accompanies it tend to force me inside and make me want to bake.  We, in Eastern Nebraska, have been quite lucky this winter, so far.  The weather, while cool, has yet to be frigid.  In fact, until today, I was still wearing shorts.  Granted, I would wear sweatshirts and a jacket, but shorts were still the order of the day.

Today's Icy View

With the Winter Solstice this morning came howling winds, a temperature drop, freezing rain, graupel, snow, and my long jeans.  The calendar also says that Christmas in in 4 days. Christmas in the country is different.  There is no crazy hustle and bustle, no sense of urgency to spend, spend, spend.  No insane desire to decorate, inside or out.  And unless you have an office party, or school classroom of kids that demand you provide sweets and goodies, great piles of holiday treats don't get made either.

It's not that I don't WANT to.  I just don't NEED to and we certainly don't need the extra calories just sitting around here.  Growing up, the house was filled with holiday goodies from Thanksgiving to after New Year's.  Looking back, it was an insane amount of sweets.  But I do get a hankering for them; cookies- all varieties of drop and pressed, date and coconut balls, brownies, cakes, pies, seven layer cookies, fudge, rum balls, whoopsie pies, ice cream, toffee, and candies.  I mentioned in a previous post about a family tin that we had that always held a variety of goodies at anyone time.  Even in the summertime, you could open that stored, empty tin and smell the ghost of seven layer cookies.

My sister bakes like a mad woman possessed at Christmas.  She runs a cookie exchange/give away for all the employees of a very large city middle school.  EVERY employee goes home with a plate of mixed cookies.  She bakes 14 dozen of cookies, fudge, and date balls, and other parents do the same. They get together and mix up the cookies, make up the plates and hand them out.  Of course, as long as she's baking for others, she puts some up for her house too.  She makes the BEST brownies!

I personally love buttery, almost raw, soft sugar cookies with a nice buttercream icing.  I've never ever had a decorated holiday cookie that was beautifully decorated and delicious.  It's either one or another.  I also cannot comprehend spending all that time on a cookie that will be gobbled down in under 30 seconds.  I do like to look at them.

So this year, it's just Doc and me.  The Boy is home for the term break, but the need to go all out and bake all those goodies just isn't there.  And I wasn't going to do it. Nope wasn't.  That was until this past week. My sister kept posting her cookie baking adventures, which made me drool.  Contractors coming (or not coming) and going kept me stuck at home, Christmas music kept playing on the radio, and it got cold.  Out came the butter.

Doc signed us up for 7 layer cookies for an office party, and when cut in pieces, the giant pan of brownies wouldn't all fit into the container going to town.  Those taunting little bits of holiday heaven, pulled me back into holiday baking like a Siren's song.  I've managed to behave, for the most part.  I don't make anything new, until the previous sweet is gone, either consumed or shared.

A Twitter acquaintence posted her trays of lovely holiday cookies.  Shamed into baking, I got out the faithful Sawa 2000 cookie press.  Yummy, but oh such a pain in the rear, rather the hand. 
The old Sawa is a fabulous vintage press and always releases great cookies, but oh that handle!  I made almond, coconut, and mint press cookies.  The smell of butter and hot almond extract........

Brain trigger!  (after all, smell is the strongest of the memory trigger senses)



KRUMKAKES!  While growing up, Pizzelles were always around at Christmas.  My mom had a pizzelle iron from the 50s that belonged to my great aunt Martha.  It was boat anchor heavy, the cord made the UL inspectors loose sleep, and got hotter than the sun.  It was finicky, spat hot batter out the side if over loaded, but made the best Pizzelles.  The iron was beautifully decorated and broken down into quarter designs.  When done the cookie could be kept whole, or snapped into smaller wedges.  The old girl finally gave up the ghost.  We went years without them.  I finally broke down 4 years ago and purchased a new fangled, modern press. 
This one is actually a Krumkake press, which is all one design, non-stick, and thermostatically controlled.  It also makes a thinner cookie than the pizzelle iron.

Today, my house smelled gloriously of hot almond extract!  Krumkakes are traditionally either rolled into a tube shape or cone shape while still piping hot and than later filled with creamy goodness.  We like them plain, and for storage, I just keep them flat.

Krumkakes

6 eggs
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of softened butter

cream these together until the mixture is light and fluffy

Add
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla
2 teaspoons of almond extract
1/8 teaspoon of ground cardamom (optional)
1.5 cups of all purpose flour

Pre-heat the krumkake iron and lightly grease if necessary.  I use a #40 disher to place a large scoop of the batter on the center of the iron.  Gently press the iron shut.

I don't trust the darkness control on my cooker, and choose to just check for color as I cook.  The darker the color, the more crisp the final cookie will be when it is cooled.

When your cookie has reached the desired color (I prefer light and golden), remove it from the iron using a small spatula and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled.

If you are going to roll or shape the cookies, do it immediately after pulling off the iron.  Keep on the mold until completely cooled.

Store cooled cookies in an sealed container.