There is one thing about Christmas for me, and it is the memories of family and friends, those who are with us, and those no longer here…
As I was deciding on the recipes for the biscuits (cookies) to be baked for this year's Christmas gifts, I recalled a Latvian friend, a lecturer and colleague who I worked with at Deakin University almost 30 years ago! (She was an academic, I was in admin). The department we worked for was a very sociable group, and we celebrated Christmas twice a year! Brigita always prepared the mulled wine, and she also introduced me to a very special sweet treat, a biscuit that she called pumpernikel. It was not the dark, dense, savoury pumpernikel that I was familiar with, rather a crisp, light sweet, fruity biscuit. I was so privileged to have received this recipe from her, and it is through this recipe that Brigita will be forever remembered.
- 200 g butter
- 400 g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 3 drops of almond extract
- 500 g plain flour
- 300 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 125 g candied citrus peel
- 100 g glace fruit diced
- 75 g currants
- 60 g glace ginger diced
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Preheat oven to 175˚C (fan).
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Line 3 baking trays with baking paper.
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Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
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Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
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Add fruit and dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
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Roll into 2 cm thick sticks and lay across the lined baking tray, leaving space for spreading.
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Bake for 20 minutes, until golden.
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Cut on the diagonal while still warm.
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Lay out on baking trays and dry in a tepid oven.
- I heat the oven to 150˚C (fan), turn it off and then put the biscuits in overnight.
- For gluten free sweet pumpernikel replace flour with Gluten Free Flour Blend, add an additional tsp of GF baking powder and 1 tsp xanthan gum.
