Maple is one of my favorite flavors. It also is a “winter” flavor for me, though I don’t really have a reason for that. Pancakes are year round food, so why should maple syrup only be reserved for winter on my pallet? Inexplicable. But it is of course still winter and it’s frigid out at that, so I’m just going to stay inside with these lovely cookies. They will not last the weekend.
Krapfen. Fasnachtsküchle. Berliner. Doughnuts (Donuts). These are all traditional Pre-Fasching (Carnival, Mardi Gras…) sweets common in Southern Germany. OK, maybe most of Germany, but I am from the South, so that is what I can speak to. There are crazy sorts in Germany, and each bakery seems to make a whole bunch of types in the weeks between New Year’s and Fat Tuesday. I just made one base recipe for these and then finished them in overly decadent ways. Eat them while you can: Lent starts tomorrow!* (I’m not religious and I don’t do the whole ‘giving up stuff for Lent thing, but you get the idea.)
I found this great small Valentine’s Day Cookie Stamp at Fancy Flours the other day. I really like cookie stamps, but a lot of them are really big (like 4 inches) and this one is nice and small. Perfect for these sugar cookies. They aren’t really anything special, but the raspberry glaze really does make them pretty. Easy but time consuming because you have to let things cool and harden a couple of time.
World Nutella Day is coming up tomorrow. Yeah, there is such a thing: World Nutella Day. I’m not making it up. And while I guess that someone at the Ferrero Roche company might object to me calling this homemade hazelnut chocolate spread Nutella, it is more or less the same thing, eh? So there you have it: make your own to celebrate the day!
Getting to be Valentine’s Day so I thought that I would start putting up some ideas, in case you wanted to make something for your sweetheart. First up this year are these lovely gems. Overload on the chocolate with dipping and pecans as well. These are small (used a 3 inch cookie cutter) but pack great flavor. Easy to make too!