Holiday including food Traditions

ines871

Hi Everyone,

In the thread Favorite Winter Pastimes several people asked me for any of several well-beloved Stollen recipe(s). So we can share here all such Holiday including food Traditions, including zwieback, Torte, etc. too from elsewhere etc, the more the merrier LOL

The stollen that most Americans enjoy during winter is from Germany imported, but mostly as just a 1.5-pound loaf) in several varieties including: Black Forest Stollen, or Rum Stollen, or Christ Stollen, or Marzipan Stollen, or Butter Almond Stollen, & as 1 such example, actually the Best: https://www.southernseason.com/kuchenmeister-edel-marzipan-stollen I chose this picture for all the right reasons... Yum.

To begin with, here's how this STOLLEN tradition was carried-out in countless German villages as I was raised there. German villages were/are nestled, & tucked into the "mountainous landscapes". Now many European countries are also 'lovers of nature', this is important as you look at the loaf in the picture: Notice it has a shape... that when you just use your wonderful Imagination, you can easily recognize it as a mountain, Yes? - A mountain covered in Snow... (unending powdered snow) as powdered sugar). - And so since around 1880 these were made & shared with family, neighbors, friends (& legend has it even kings, tho I never heard that while there as a little girl). ---- Yet there's no external clue of its 'hidden-inside Treasures', including any variations of juicy raisins (we had currants), sweet candied fruits, (we had tiny pieces of lemon & orange peels), Almonds/Mandeln, & too the best part of all : the luscious Almond marzipan center 'filling' . Now this stands for "God's sweet LOVE" inside us all, there as our very foundation, such that (no matter how cold &/or hateful the world is Outside, & for how long), in our center... especially in our heart God's LOVE ever 'fills' us + Encourages us all to keep going.... Now how most precious is this, I ask you ?

And what of its size: (Instead of a mere up to 1.5-pound) , in Germany they are well over 10" wide, & over 2 ft long. And NO family there had any oven anywhere near that size; - only 1 such oven existed, in what we might call in America a "Bakery". - So each family had an allotted Time in which to have their stollen(s) "baked". And since it is a well-known fact that STOLLEN ripens, ie tastes ever better the longer it ages, everybody got their Stollen done in time for Christmas/Weihnachten aka Holy night. - And afterwards, during our around 5 months long winters, us kiddos were kinda 'rewarded' with a tiny piece of our Beloved Stollen, for braving... yet another morning (out from underneath our oh soo snugglie/warm & thick Featherbeds (better than any Down comforter), to get dressed, & Ski to school, even at age 7. (Actually there's yet another recounting of how us kiddos ski to Kindergarten there, but that is Off-topic in this discussion).

For now, since I need to run out into the garden yet Again, how about @chimboodle04 share your Fabulous gluten free Stollen recipe that is perfect - a must for the German blood in this household too. Thanks for making my mouth water thinking about it 😂 " - Surely many here would as well love to know this also Delightful variation.

and here for now 2 German Winter songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMVdEu_L6Eg 'Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen' - soo Sweet, she brings me to Happy/memory... tears, you too ?

& https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGA6djLsDgs Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!

(which btw I sang 4 German solos at Christmas in church 4 years ago, here) I have a picture of me wearing both the red dress & the white apron I sewed at age 22).

I will be back later with a Stollen recipe. - Stay warm everyone

Linda Bittle

We had feather beds when I was a kid. So warm!

ines871

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/848343#Comment_848343

Thank you @Mary Linda Bittle - for reminding me to Change the title, lol - Yeah, like what has a Featherbed, to do with "Stollen" recipes, LOL - oh but you know it is a Whole-package, so you can't just (separate out 1 tiny part) of the Winter Traditions, including foods... right? Hopefully everyone understands...

chimboodle04

I love this post! What a great idea :)

So... a few of the recipes we really enjoy for the Christmas season:

Croatian Kolache

Here's the link to the gluten free recipe we use: https://www.thespruceeats.com/serbian-croatian-gluten-free-nut-rolls-1451279

Another we enjoy are Linzer Cookies

This is a perfect treat to show off home made jam! We use this recipe and substitute a gluten free all purpose mix - turns out great! https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/linzer-cookies-recipe

Lastly, here is the gluten free stollen recipe:

2 1/4 cups King Arthur gf flour; 1/2 cup sugar; 1 1/2 t. baking powder; 1/2 t. salt; 3/4 t. xanthum gum; 1/2 cup cold butter; 3/4 cup ricotta cheese; 2 large eggs; 1 t. vanilla; 1 1/2 t. buttery sweet dough flavor; grated rind of 1 small lemon; 1/2 cup golden raisins; 1/4 cup dried cranberries; 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped; 1/3 cup slivered almonds; 6 T butter melted; 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1. preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease baking sheet or line with parchment paper
2. whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthum gum
3. Cut cold butter into small chunks then blend into flour mixture to form uneven crumbs
4. in a separate bowl, mix together cheese, eggs, vanilla, and flavors
5. toss the fruit and almonds with flour mixture until evenly distributed, then combine with wet ingredients until most of the flour is moistened
6. turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead two or three times until it holds together; divide in half
7. Pat each piece of dough into a 8x7 oval about 1/2" thick
8. Fold each piece of dough roughly in half leaving the edge of the top about 1/2 inch short of the edge of the bottom half - the direction is up to you depending if you want a short wide loaf, or a longer skinnier one
9. Use the edge of your hand to press the dough to seal about 1 inch in back of the open edge
10. carefully place the shaped stollen on the baking sheet
11. bake until they are very slightly browned around the edges and top - about 40 minutes.
12. remove and transfer t a rack - brush with 2 T melted butter. Sprinkle heavily with confectioners sugar
13. allow to cool, brush with butter again, and sprinkle with sugar again

ines871

The best traditional Recipes, in any culture anywhere, always are shared by a Native.

(Even as some historical interpretations exist as you can see here); - & this is quite l.o.n.g but you will be Rewarded with the true Stollen as shown in oodles of specific photos every steps of the way https://www.daringgourmet.com/stollen-german-christmas-bread/

Now if you want, you can omit the Rum (which I like, lol - but family does not). But do include the Almond marzipan center 'filling', as this is the most important part, as explained in my Op.

Ours were stored/kept in long wooden boxes, & were made to last all winter long, until the very 1st. tiny Crocus just barely broke thru the last short snows.

Guten Appetit. Der Stollen schmeckt so gut... 🤩

ines871

Ah @chimboodle04 - Thank you for sharing. (except you could post them 1 at a time, so we can vote each 1 UP, & as the Awesome ! recipes they also are . Thank you so much. How Wonderful...

ines871

@chimboodle04 - Please don't laugh, am not the brightest kid re Recipes with like 8 ingredients, unless have Memorized it, & then I kinda just ad lib. lol; & thus had not heard of https://shop.kingarthurflour.com/items/gluten-free-all-purpose-flour "kingArthur" flour before. But this "blend of white rice flour, whole grain brown rice flours, tapioca starch, & potato starch" sounds much better! -- so you can eat sugar ?, & would substituting Cream cheese work too? - & the xanthum gum must add to glue it all together. If you didn't add that would it not work? - just trying to keep it more to what we are used to, okay ? - And if it's 2" high, how much will it stay risen ? on eating it.

chimboodle04

@rainbow gluten free recipes are very precise - not at all like regular baking where you can substitute and add experimentally (one of the reasons I miss "normal" baking!!!) The mix in their gluten free flour is more of a science, mixing together exact amounts of various flours that will hold together when baked and make a pleasing "feel" to the finished product. In short, no, you cannot substitute or change ingredients since this would change the exact amount of liquid and dry ratios (a VERY important thing when baking gluten free). The xanthum gum must be added or it would be too crumbly, and cream cheese is drier than ricotta, so a substitution would not work. That being said, if you follow this recipe exactly, it will produce two lovely, moist-textured loaves that taste and hold together exactly like traditional bread would! This recipe makes two loaves for us - each approx. a foot long by 3.5 - 4 inches wide by 2 inches high once baked. We do use regular sugar in this - not a problem for me since it contains no gluten :) If you are interested in trying this gluten free recipe, we have also used Pamela's all purpose gluten free mix instead of the king arthur brand with great results - Pamela's mix already contains the xanthum gum, so you would not need to buy an extra ingredient that you usually do not use and you can just omit it from the recipe...

ines871

@chimboodle04 - Thank you for answering my questions & explaining why. - You'd think such cooking skills would come automatically for me, but they don't. Two reasons, mainly because we don't like fatty meals like most germans, & too we eat very Simple, & I usually make things up as I go, lol - (except during the Growing-seasons, many people love my "Rainbow-salads" which any 4 year old can easily assemble 🙂).

re "two loaves for us - each approx. a foot long by 3.5 - 4 inches wide by 2 inches high once baked." So it's a very heavy bread that will not Rise more under any conditions ? - And too, what do these two loaves cost to make, were you to guesstimate ?

chimboodle04

@rainbow hmmm - I am trying to think of something to compare the consistency of this bread to... I wouldn't call it a heavy dense bread by any means - it will have air pockets throughout, but yet it is moister - almost, but not quite, like a light quick-bread would be... it is not cake-like though... maybe a slightly denser and moister Easter bread if you have had that???

As for the rising, I have not experimented. With many gf recipes, additional rising time will compromise the consistency and structure of the bake... If you want a larger loaf, I suppose that you might try keeping the two combined into one - but then I am not sure what that will do with your bake time and how dry the outer part will get while you wait for the inner to bake thoroughly....?

As for the cost, I am not sure where to begin...! Before I was diagnosed, my husband and I baked almost everything we consumed baked-goods wise, from sandwich bread to cookies and treats... We got into the habit of buying in bulk because of this. Once I realized that I could not longer have the gluten, we went though the long process of finding home made gluten free recipes to replace the gluten ones we had used for so many years. We are still working on that part, but have found many delicious replacements that many of my non-celiac family cannot tell the difference from the regular recipes. We still buy in bulk however (even more economical now since smaller packages of gluten free staples are triple the cost of regular ones - yikes!), and we also purchase our nuts, dried fruits, etc in bulk as well, so it is really difficult to try and break all of that down from 50+ pound bags to the amounts the recipe calls for, and then looking at the price discounts for buying bulk as well....! I would hate to even give you a guesstimate since that would probably be so far off the mark.....

ines871

@chimboodle04 - Agreed, Stollen is kinda hard to describe anyway, as it is Not cake, but it's not quite like a regular bread either. Truth is it is "UNIQUE-ly wonderful". Case closed, lol

re "We still buy in bulk however (even more economical now since smaller packages of gluten free staples are triple the cost of regular ones - yikes!), and we also purchase our nuts, dried fruits, etc in bulk as well, so it is really difficult to try and break all of that down from 50+lbs. bags to the amounts the recipe calls for, and then looking at the price discounts for buying bulk as well."

Oh my, how much/often do you Bake, dare I ask?

We eat baked things, at most ! maybe once weekly. (Not counting stollen) for which I need to Omit the sugar as that causes a roaring symptom (left-over from medical malpractice), I'd rather not discuss. - Instead I eat some pretty-good potato-chips like 3x/wk, which does not cause any problems. Also we almost never eat cookies & cakes; & when we eat pie: nearly always I leave the crust, & just eat the filling lol

I buy almonds, incldg. slivered at mostly $4/lb; - iow nearly All of what I buy has to be 'on sale', the steeper the better.

(exceptions are like our Supplements; & the car-mechanic, etc)

chimboodle04

@rainbow ha :) - we bake quite a lot! Before I was diagnosed, my husband and I were well on our way to omitting as many processed foods as we could (too much research into our food system!). Now that our whole family has to eat gluten free (I cannot even have it in the house - ugh....) that has become even more a part of our daily life since there are still many gluten free products that just do not taste good...! A typical week will see us baking bread, making muffins and other baked goods for breakfasts, etc... We really do not bake treats frequently (unless it is the holidays!), but we manage to get through about 60-70 pounds of flour per year by my estimate :) Two hungry and growing kids and an active homesteading lifestyle I guess!

ines871

@chimboodle04 - if I got the math right, that doesn't seem like much. The real question, that I shoulda previously asked: when you buy in 50+ lb. bags, are there any concerns that it might in a few months go Rancid ?

And (while we 95% Avoid processed crap), - yet we also enjoy some crepes, & especially pizza in winter, etc. so at https://www.kingarthurflour.com/about/our-products trying to find out what else we enjoy, that we might make with it; - & there I saw that Gluten-free flours, are next to Organic flours, iow they're Separate; iow far too much Rice has become increasingly GMO. - How do you deal with that?

And further to the Right, notice the Coconut 🤩 flour, $9/lb oh boy. Can you tell I love Coconutty foods, lol - Can you just Imagine making Stollen outa 'coconut Flour' ? lol - Hey, while we're at it, we might as well ask. Ok, no making fun 🙂

Until last year I totally Avoided Walmart, (as how they drove little Mom+Pop Rural stores outa business is 110% unethical !) so we never went there. - But since am driving a friend there weekly only 2 miles away, I notice https://www.walmart.com/ip/King-Arthur-Flour-Measure-4-Measure-Gluten-Free-Flour-3lb/395689920 they're selling 3 lbs. for $8/$0.17 per oz. - How does that compare with what you pay, may I ask?

And thank you once again, for helping me grow in more awareness.

chimboodle04

@rainbow we have a few ways to store the bulk goods we use - we have 5 gallon gamma seal buckets that we keep in a cool pantry. We use these to fill the smaller containers we keep in the kitchen for everyday use. If something doesn't fit in one of the buckets, we keep it in the freezer. The flour usually is not in the buckets for more than a few months before it is used, so we have not had any problems with anything going bad as of yet (fingers crossed though!)

As for the GMO factor - when we first started buying bulk, one of our main reasons was to try and go as organic as possible. When we had to go gluten free, it was more difficult to find good organic ingredients. The basic flour mix we buy now is from Pamela's (we like the taste and consistency of this better than the King Arthur and it can be used in any of the king arthur recipes just fine), and their products are all at least GMO free, so that is a step in the right direction. This is the statement they provide about their products on their website:

"Pamela’s Products has been in the Natural Foods Industry for over 30 years and has always used quality ingredients. We have statements from all our suppliers that to the best of their knowledge, their ingredient is free of GMOs. In addition, we randomly perform 3rd party testing on our products to ensure they are GMO-free. Pamela’s has officially joined the non-GMO Project. As each item is verified, the non-GMO seal of approval will be applied to the packaging. For more information on the non-GMO Project, visit www.nongmoproject.org."

yes, coconut flour - yikes! :) We have taken to using coconut oil when baking - adds a touch of the flavor :)

Lastly, I totally agree with trying to avoid the super-stores... We support local whenever possible, but for our bulk buys, we do not have anything near us that has what we need. I do buy many of my bulk pantry items from either thrivemarket or azure standard online (both of which have a great variety of organic and non GMO gluten free products) - the Pamela's flour we buy in bulk is sold on Amazon - I subscribe to five items at a time to be delivered to receive a 15% discount. For a 25 pound bag of the Pamela's all purpose flour blend is $56.09, or .14 per oz.

wbt.affiliates

Everything looks so yummy! But those are foods I dare not eat. Sugar inflames my joints, and wheat flour causes other issues. I can enjoy the pictures, but the food only tastes good in my mouth. Everywhere else it hurts. Still, I love your sweet treats.

ines871

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/848408#Comment_848408

Hi @wbt.affiliates - Please notice that @chimboodle04 in this discussion has kindly shared three Gluten-FREE recipes: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/linzer-cookies-recipe and Stollen, and https://www.thespruceeats.com/serbian-croatian-gluten-free-nut-rolls-1451279

As for sugar-FREE you can experiment using another Dry sweetener, maybe stevia.

ines871

Since we're sharing Yummy recipes in here already, here's 1 for the Gingerbread, & cookies:

Ingredients

• 5 Tbsp Grass-fed Butter, at room temperature
• 1 Cup Coconut sugar
• 1 Egg white
• 4 1/2 Tbsp Molasses
• 2 Cups Almond flour (200g) *
• 6 Tbsp Coconut flour (42g)
• 1 Tbsp Ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 3/4 tsp Ground nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp Ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Ground cloves

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, using electric hand mixer, cream together the butter and coconut sugar until mixed & crumbly. Stop the beaters every so often and kind of press the butter and coconut sugar together with a spoon.
2. Add in 1 egg white & molasses and beat until the mixture is fluffy & lightens in color, about 1 minute on high speed.
3. In separate, medium bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients until well mixed. Add into the wet ingredients and stir until well mixed.
4. Scrape dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap & form into a disc. Wrap tightly & freeze 1 hour.
5. Once chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees & line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Roll dough between two layers of parchment paper (one on bottom, on top of counter, & one on top of the dough, under the rolling pin) until it's about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Use cookie cutter to cut out cookies & very gently transfer to the prepared cookie sheets. Using small offset spatula will help a lot !
8. Bake until edges a deep golden brown and top appears set, about 17 minutes (they firm up a lot once cooled.) Cool on the pan completely.

Recipe Notes

*As with all gluten free baking, please weigh your flour to ensure results

Store cookies in an air-tight container on the counter. They will soften up a little as they sit .

ines871

Hi again @chimboodle04

Re "basic flour Mix we buy now is from Pamela's (we like the taste & consistency of this better than the King Arthur" - Now you tell me, lol - ok,

Re " amazon 25 pound bag of the Pamela's all purpose flour blend is $56.09, or .14 per oz." -

Re " subscribe to five items at a time to be delivered to receive a 15% discount. " -> Any 5 items?

Re " I do buy many of my bulk pantry items from either thrivemarket or azure standard online (both of which have a great variety of organic and non GMO gluten free products) - so the Pamela's all purpose flour blend costs how much at either thrivemarket ? or azure standard ? - Not familiar with either 1.

Re the freezer - First would need to clear-out lots of space to make room for big container of flour, & DH would need to agree :)

Did I forget anything? - Thank you again.

chimboodle04

@rainbow for amazon - this works for any five items that are part of their subscribe and save program - we have the flour delivered automatically every so many months with the other items. Amazon had the best price for this particular amount and brand of bulk gf flour - with the 15% discount it was cheaper than either of the other two - thrive market does not sell the large 25 pound bags, just smaller amounts - they have free shipping but do have a yearly membership fee; not sure if azure standard sells this particular brand and size, but amazon was the cheapest per oz when we priced it all out... Azure standard does sell many other organic and some other gluten free flours in bulk though (along with many other things!) so is worth checking into if you are interested in other brands or makers - they have no membership fee, but you do pay for shipping and must be near a drop zone to pick up your order from the delivery truck at a set date and time. Yes, it does take up some freezer room :) We have two chest freezers though since we buy meat by the whole or half - we just try to time the flour when we know the meat will be depleted a bit :)