51*52 Vanillekipferln / Vanilla Crescents

You guys.

For the first time since I started this blog I'm gonna have to cheat. On my own rules.

Because I only wanted to blog about recipes that I had never made before.

This week's Vanillekipferln are a classic. And a recipe that I've been making for years.

But I have a good excuse. Unfortunately.

You see, sometimes life changes suddenly. And even though my hubby was unbelievably lucky and must have had about a million guardian angels, it was still a huge shock when he was hit by a van last Thursday, on his way to work, while crossing the street. He's scratched, bruised, and in pain but thankfully that's all.

And still - priorities shift when something like this happens. I know y'all understand that my baking mojo is not its old self right now. No matter if Christmas is around the corner or not.

But a classic is still better than nothing, right? So here we go:

Vanillekipferln / Vanilla Crescents

From Bild der Frau Christmas Baking Special 1997

Cookies:

250 g butter, cold

125 g sugar

125 g almond meal

300 g flour

1 egg

2 sachets vanilla sugar (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)

pintch of salt

For dusting:

2 tablespoons ground vanilla

150 g powdered sugar

• Combine all cookie ingredients and knead until well combined. Wrap in plastic wrap and let cool in fridge for one hour.
• Take small bits of dough, roll between your hands then "curve" to form crescents. Put on prepared cookie sheet and bake at 180°C (360°F) for 10-12 minutes. Take out and let cool slightly. Dust with vanilla powdered sugar.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Like a true Chrismas classic. I used to find them boring when I was a kid but I got over that a couple of years ago...

What is a Christmas classic that you bake every year?

27*52 Bienenstich (Bee's Sting)

Bee's Sting.

Doesn't sound like something you would want in your mouth?

In general, I would agree. But not when it comes to this traditional German cake.

It is my mom's birthday tomorrow and - surprisingly - she has been telling me that she would like this cake for a while now. Surprisingly so because she does neither like whipped cream nor (vanilla) pudding but both are in the filling.

Oh well - it's her birthday so her wish is my command :)

Bienenstich (Bee's Sting)

Adapted from Chefkoch.de  

Dough:

500 g flour

100 g sugar

1 cube (42 g) fresh yeast

250 ml milk, warm

1 egg

50 g butter, soft

pintch of salt

Filling:

2 sachets powder for vanilla pudding

750 ml milk

100 g sugar

1 egg yolk

200 g heavy cream

Topping:

100 g heavy cream

50 g butter

2 tablespoons honey

100 g sugar

200 g almonds, sliced

• Crumble yeast into flour, add 1 teaspoon sugar and a bit of milk and stir. Cover and let rest in a warm spot for 5 minutes until bubbles appear.
• Cook pudding with milk and sugar according to the directions on the package. Let cool a bit, stir in egg yolk. Let cool completely, stir occassionally.
• Knead yeast-flour-mix with the remaining sugar and milk, egg, butter, and salt. Let rise for 30 minutes.
• For the topping, bring cream, butter, honey, and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat, let cool a bit and stir in almonds.
• Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F). For a lower cake, roll out dough onto a baking sheet. For a higher and round cake, put dough into a springform pan. Spread almond mix onto it, let rise for another 10 minutes. Bake for 20 minutes (or up to 30 minutes if you bake it in a springform pan). Let cool completely.
• Cut cake into half lenghtwise, take off the top part and set aside. Whip cream and add to the pudding. Spread cream onto the bottom cake. Cut the top into desired amount of slices before putting them back onto the cream filling to make cutting easier.

My modifications:

None. I baked it in a springform pan and got a very, very high cake. I cut out a bit in the middle to make it more manageable for eating.

The taste:

I'm not the biggest fan (never was) but it was good. The topping is the best part, if you ask me. The filling was yummy but started to liquify pretty quickly after taking it out of the fridge (as you can see below).

Maybe next time I would make a sheet of this cake with lots of the topping and no filling. Could be pretty good and more practical for summer.

What have you baked for somebody's birthday because they wished for it?