Ginger Cookies, Pepparkakor and The Wish Cookie

With the uniquely American holiday, Thanksgiving, now completed we enter into a new season of holidays. Holidays celebrated by families of all backgrounds and creeds each with a set of their own special traditions.

For the Nord Kitchen, it starts with the search for the perfect ginger cookie. Crisp versus chewy, topped with sugar or not. The Handbook of Swedish Traditions, first published by the American Swedish Institute in 1980, lists 10 different recipes for ginger cookies... also known as Pepparkakor. An authentic Pepparkakor recipe should result in a thin, crisp wafer-like ginger cookie laced with just a hint of orange peel.


Swedish custom says that you should place a Pepparkakor in the palm of your hand. Then, make a wish. Using the index finger or thumb of your free hand, tap the cookie in the middle. Swedish tradition states that if the Pepparkakor breaks into three pieces, your wish will come true. If the Pepparkakor does not break into three pieces, well, you'll just have to enjoy eating the cookie in smaller pieces.



For a very thin and very crisp Pepparkakor, I find that the ones imported from Sweden in the holiday tins are wonderful. Although Anna's from Tyreso, Sweden are a family favorite we recently discovered a great tin of cookies imported by Ikea from Gille.

What if you crave a moist, chewy ginger cookie? The American Swedish Institute cookbook does have a recipe for that type also, but I've come to rely on another side of the family for a traditional early American ginger cookie. This recipe has been in my family for many generations and I'm not sure where it originated.

Gramie's Ginger - Sugar Cookies
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cups dark molasses
1 egg

Sift flour with soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl add 1 cup sugar to butter, cream until light and fluffy. Blend in molasses and egg.
At low speed beat in flour mixture just until well mixed, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula.
Refrigerate dough for one hour.
After an hour, pinch off pieces of dough, shape into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll in remaining sugar.
Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 8 - 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool. Will be crinkled. Store in air tight container to keep moist and chewy.
Makes about 4 dozen.

The Imperfect Cook

I'm not what you would call a precise cook. I'm sort of a haphazard, imprecise cook who starts out with the best intentions to faithfully follow a recipe. But somehow, somewhere along the way I go astray. It could be something as simple as needing to substitute an ingredient because I don't have on hand the exact item the recipe requires. Or I get interrupted.

Interruptions happen a lot in the Nord Kitchen. Despite a house full of comfortable chairs and plenty of desks, there is always someone sitting at the kitchen table. They are either reading the newspaper, working on a project, doing homework, surfing the net with a wireless laptop or just talking.

Most of the time these interruptions tend to just slow down the cooking process with minimal impact on the final result. Only a delayed result. Generally, adjustments can be made fairly easily.


As I continue to work my way through Heidi Swanson's cookbook, Super Natural Cooking, I'm beginning to realize that her recipes need to be followed precisely with little room for substitutions. Its not that her cooking techniques require special attention but due to the uniqueness of her ingredients, special care is required on the combinations. My latest attempt was with her recipe for Raspberry Curd Swirl Cake. I didn't have raspberry curd, I had lemon curd. Since raspberries are out of season and she recommends using citrus curd in winter I thought I'd give it a try. I was out of pastry flour, so I used regular flour. Perhaps because it still is technically autumn and not yet winter or perhaps I wasn't precise enough in my measuring I'm not sure...but the first attempt was a disaster.

So far I have enjoyed her book and have learned new things about different types of flours, grains, natural sweeteners, spices and seasonings. The Chocolate Chip cookies using mesquite flour are unique and very good. She is a talented food photographer and graphic designer as evidenced by her wonderful pictures...both in the cookbook and on her website, 101Cookbooks.



Something about her recipes challenge me. Every recipe has required a couple of tries to get right. For my first try with the Swirl Cake, I wish I could blame the poor outcome on interruptions...but for once, no one was around. So, I blamed it on imprecision and tried again. The first attempt just fell apart and collapsed. The top edges burned and the center was uncooked. Those sections that were baked were too sweet. On my second attempt I adjusted the sugar, precisely measured the whole-wheat pastry flour and baking powder, used butter at precisely room temperature and used less curd. Result was much more favorable.

Although not as good looking as the one photographed in her book!!!!

Lemon Curd Swirl Cake

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups natural cane sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup lemon curd

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and beat again. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl once or twice during the process so you end up with a nice, even creamy blend. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla until evenly incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and gently fold in by hand just until barely blended; don't overmix.

Scoop half of the cake batter into the prepared pan. It will be pretty thick so you will need to spread around with the back of a spoon. Now spread about half of the curd over the batter, staying clear of the sides of the pan. Add the rest of the batter and smooth the top until level, then plop big spoonfuls of the remaining curd on top of the cake (again staying clear of the sides of the pan). Drag a butter knife through the curd to create a marbled effect.

Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until the cake bounces back a bit when lightly touched. Let cool in the pan. Slice and serve at room temperature.

Adapted from recipe found in Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson (2007)

Science in the kitchen

When I return from a business trip I always find interesting things left in my kitchen. Like unclaimed tupperware containers from other kids lunches. My oldest daughter sometimes takes a break from high school to come home for lunch with her friends. Their lunch boxes are left on the counter while my refrigerator is emptied. Sometimes, depending on the length of the trip these items have turned into living organisms. She plans to major in biology and environmental science...so I hear the "its all in the name of science" comment, a lot. Fortunately, most of my trips are short term, either a day trip or a single overnight. Even more fortuante, my daughter knows the way to her mother's heart, turns into Ms. Clean and scrambles to clean up before I get home.

Recently, I returned from a longer, week long trip. (real reason for no postings lately, not because I am so sad to have to remove the baseball references.)

Sitting on the counter was a jar of blue liquid. Hanging in the liquid was a string attached to a pencil, weighted down with a nut. What is this?


My teenage son's science class this week was about the three phases of matter: solids, liquids and gases. That, combinded with watching an old episode of Bill Nye prompted him to try to make rock candy. (these are the kind of experiments you want a teenage boy thinking about!!!) He remembered the procedure pretty well...just forgetting to cover with plastic wrap sooner and wait longer. We'll see what happens. But, by the looks of his jar we may need to redo. Never a dull moment in the Nord Kitchen.

MATERIALS:

One cup of water.
Two cups of sugar.
A wooden spoon for stirring.
A clean glass jar, like an old jelly or peanut butter jar.
Some string.
A pair of scissors.
A pencil.
Some plastic wrap.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Boil the cup of water.
2. Once it's boiling, add two cups of sugar.
3. Stir with the wooden spoon a bit and continue to boil.
4. While that's happening, cut a piece of string and tie it to
the middle of the pencil. Test the length by laying the pencil over
the mouth of the jar -- the end of the string should not touch
the bottom of the jar.
5. Once the sugar is dissolved in the water, pour
the liquid into the glass jar.
6. Lay the pencil over the mouth of the jar so the string is dangling in
the liquid.
7. Wait for the steam to stop rising out of the jar. When it stops, cover
the mouth of the jar with plastic wrap.
8. Put the jar in a safe place where it won't be disturbed.
9. In a few days (could take up to a week), pull the string out of the jar.

You started with a liquid, saw some steam, and, if you followed the experiment, you've ended up with a solid.