Sourdough rye bread

This bread relies on fermentation for both rising and sweetness. I have not tested this recipe.

2 kg. rye flour
1 litre of water or a 1:1 mixture of water and whey
1 tsp salt

Put the rye flour into a large bowl. Warm the water and add the salt and then add the water to the rye flour and mix well together. Turn out onto a floured table and knead until smooth and free of cracks. Rub a little bit of cooking oil on your hands and form the dough into a loaf. Put the loaf into a well-oiled container - Icelanders often use tins, but a cooking pot or a casserole dish may be used as well. It has to fit inside another, larger container. The dough must not fill the container as it will rise (the genius who wrote the recipe book unfortunately does not say by how much).

Put a damp cloth on top of the container and leave to rise in a warm spot overnight. When the dough has risen, put baking paper on top of it and then close the baking container (with a lid, or if that‘s not available, with aluminium foil). Now put the baking container into another container that is both deeper and wider, with a rack or metal trivet in the bottom so the water will flow under as well as around the bread container. Pour water into the second container until it reaches the middle of the first one. Close the second container tightly.

Cook over low temperature for 3 hours, or bake at around 120 °C for the same amount of time. After 3 hours, remove the bread from the container, turn it over and return to the container, close both containers tightly and return to the heat/oven for 3-4 hours. Remove and cool.

Date cake with caramel sauce - Döðluterta með karamellusósu

My friends call this cake "that heavenly date cake with the caramel sauce". It is apparently an old recipe, but someone must have rediscovered it recently, because it has been served a lot at birthday parties and ladies' handicrafts clubs lately.

I haven't got a clue where the recipe originally came from, but in Iceland it's known either as döðluterta með karamellusósu, which simply describes what it is, or as Dillonskaka or Dillon's Cake, which could suggests Irish or British origins. However, it might, and this is supported by information from some older ladies I know, be named after Lord Dillon, a British aristocrat who came to Iceland in 1834, fell in love with a local woman and built a house that he gave her before he left the country. It was a famous scandal at the time, as they had a child out of wedlock and were prevented from marrying by his family. She ran a guest house in the house he gave her and sold meals there for many years. Today the house stands in the Árbær museum and is a café.

Cake:
235 g (8.3 oz.) stoneless dates and a little bit of water
1 tsp baking soda
120 g (4.2 oz.) butter, soft
5 tbs sugar
2 eggs
300 ml (approx. 1 1/4 cup) flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 tsp baking powder

Put the dates in a saucepan and pour in enough water to barely cover the dates. Bring to the boil, turn off the heat and let stand for a few minutes.
Add the baking soda to the saucepan and stir well. Dates should come apart into a thick paste.
Whip together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one by one. Add the dry ingredients and vanilla and mix well. Finally add the stewed dates.

Bake in a well-greased springform pan, for 30-40 minutes at 180°C (356°F).
Remove from oven when done, let cool slightly, then remove from pan and serve warm with the sauce on the side.

Caramel sauce:
200 g (7 oz.) butter
200 g (7 oz.) brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
200 ml (1/2 cup + 1/3 cup) cream

Put all ingredients together in a saucepan and cook together over slow heat, stirring continuously for 5 minutes or until slightly browned. Pour into a jug or sauce boat and serve warm on the side with the cake or pour directly over the cake and serve. This sauce is also excellent on ice cream.

Danish pastries, part 3: Long Danish

Now its time for the "long Danish" I mentioned in the previous post. You will need the dough, prepared as in the previous post, but rolled out into strips, about 15 cm wide and slightly shorter than the cookie sheet you will bake them on. The thickness of the dough should be about 5 mm.

You will also need:
Almond paste (recipe in the first post) and thick jam, e.g. strawberry or raspberry OR egg custard
Pearl sugar
Flaked almonds
Icing

Spread the jam down the centre of the strip of dough and spread or pipe the almond paste on top. Fold the sides into the centre so they overlap slightly and press together. Gently transfer to a greased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg, milk or water, sprinkle the pearl sugar and flaked almonds on too, and bake. This is called an old-fashioned Danish in Iceland.

If you prefer custard to jam, you spread the custard down the centre of the dough strip instead of jam and leave out the almond paste. Brush with beaten egg, milk or water and sprinkle the pearl sugar and flaked almonds on top.

To bake:
Arrange on a cookie sheet, about 5 cm apart. Let rise at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, then bake at high temperature (225°C) until a light golden colour (should take about 12-15 minutes). Let it cool and then pipe icing in a zig-zag pattern over the pastry and allow to set before serving.

Danish pastries, part 2: Spandauers

The most popular types of Vínarbrauð in Iceland are the "lengja", which you could simply call a "long Danish", and the type known in Scandinavia as "Spandauer", which is a one-portion squarish Danish with custard or jam centre. In Iceland, depending on where you come from, you either call them "sérbökuð vínarbrauð" (individually baked Viennese pastries), Dönsk vínarbrauð (Danish) or "Umslög" (envelopes). Today's instructions are for Spandauers. The most popular filling for Spandauers is custard, but jam or fruit are also good.

To put it all together:
Prepare the pastry dough as given in the last post. Cut the dough into even-sized squares. For 10 cm squares put 1 tbs of custard (or thick jam, e.g. raspberry) in the middle of each square. Fold one corner into the middle, then the opposite corner, then repeat with the other two corners. Do not crimp or overlap, as the corners are meant to pull back from the middle while baking.

You can also make pinwheels:
Cut slits into each corner, about half-way to the middle, put in the filling, then fold in every other point of the pinwheel. Press together the points.

Arrange on a cookie sheet, about 5 cm apart. Let rise at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, brush with beaten egg, milk or water and bake at high temperature (225°C) until a light golden colour (should take about 12-15 minutes).

Remove from the oven and cool. Use a piping cone with a narrow point to make even zig-zag streaks of icing on top of each pastry. Serve.

Danish pastries, part 1: The basics

I got my first request for Vínarbrauð several years ago, but somehow I never got round to posting a recipe until now. I am posting this in three parts.

The pastries known to most of the rest of the world as Danish pastries are called by a name that means "Viennese Bread" in the Nordic countries. In Icelandic it's Vínarbrauð. The story says that Danish bakers learned to make a type of leavened flaky pastry from Viennese bakers, perhaps similar to croissant pastry, and made it their own, Here is a longer version of the story (the article also contains images of a few of the possible variations). These kinds of pastries are very popular in Iceland, and you can buy them in every bakery and many supermarkets. I am going to give recipes for the three most popular types of vínarbrauð: Spandauers and two varieties of what are called "lengjur" in Icelandic.

For the pastry you will need:
500 g flour
ground cardamom to taste
50 g margarine
50 g fresh yeast
50 ml water
50 g sugar
1 egg
250 ml cold milk
200 g margarine or butter

Sift the flour and add cardamom (sorry, no amount is given in the recipe. The one time I made this I used 1 tsp). Dissolve the yeast in 50 ml lukewarm water. Take the 50 g of margarine and crumble into the flour. Add the milk, dissolved yeast and egg. Knead until smooth. Rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Roll out into an approximately 35 cm square. Take the 200 g. butter or margarine, which should be firm but not hard (my Danish recipe book say "soft enough not to tear holes in the dough and hard enough not to melt the dough" - guess it's a matter of practice), and cut it into thin slices. Using a cheese-slicer will ensure an even thickness. Arrange the margarine slices to cover 1/2 the dough square. Now fold the unbuttered half over the other one. Roll out gently into the original size. Repeat this folding and rolling process 4-5 times (or use the method in this video)

This process is called laminating. The dough can now be cut into the various shapes these pastries can take.

Other recipes you might need, depending on which pastry you intend to make:

Custard:
1 egg
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs potato flour or cornflour
250 ml milk
vanilla essence or other desired flavouring, to taste

Heat the milk to boiling in a large saucepan. Whip together the egg and sugar until light and fluffy, sift in the potato flour, mixing well and gradually add the hot milk (a thin, slow stream is best). Put the custard into the saucepan and stir continuously over medium heat until the mixture starts boiling. Then remove from the heat, add the flavouring and cool. This custard should be very thick and should be completely cooled when put on the pastry.

Almond paste:
100 g almonds
100 g icing sugar
1-2 egg yolks

Blanch and peel the almonds and chop them very, very finely (or grind them in a coffee grinder, not quite to flour consistency). Coconut flakes may be used instead of part of the almonds. Mix in the sugar and gradually add a half-whipped egg or egg yolk while stirring the mixture. Stop adding the egg when the mixture is fairly thick but still spreadable.

Icing:
300 g icing sugar
50 ml hot water
Optional: A couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder for cocoa icing, or a few drops of red food colouring to turn the icing pink (there are often two colours of icing used, usually either white and cocoa, or white and pink.

Stir together until smooth.

Finally, until next time (when I give the instructions for Spandauers), here is an article about Danish pastry from Saveur magazine.

Brúnkaka/brúnterta II - the brown sugar version

This is a big recipe, enough for 6 cookie sheets. You can use it to make 1 1/2 cake or a six-layer cake. It is hard to make it smaller and still retain the correct thickness of the dough.

Ingredients:
11/2 kg flour
900 g brown sugar
6 tsp baking soda
9 tsp ground cloves
10 tsp ground cinnamon
8 tsp ginger
900 g butter or margarine
6-7 eggs

Buttercream:
600 g butter, softened
900 g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
2-3 tsp vanilla essence

Rhubarb jam

Instructions:

•  Mix together all the dry ingredients on a clean, dry table and crumble the cold butter/margarine into it until well mixed. (Use your hands to squish it in, or use a pastry cutter).
• Make a mound of the mixture and make a hole in the centre of it. Add the eggs and syrup and knead until well mixed. (This does not as much kneading as bread, only just enough to get everything well mixed).
• Divide the dough into six parts. Dust each with flour and roll out into even-sized portions onto well greased cookie sheets.
• Bake at 180°C/350°F (convection oven) for 13-15 minutes.
• Remove from oven and remove the cake layers immediately from the cookie sheets and lay onto baking paper that has been sprinkled with sugar. Cool completely before going to the next step.
• Layer the buttercream evenly onto all but one layer and assemble the cake. Some prefer to spread a thin layer of jam on top of each layer of buttercream, while others will make two buttercream layers and one jam layer, and others will skip the jam entirely.

To make the buttercream:
Whip the butter and icing sugar together until light and well mixed. Add the egg yolks and vanilla essence and mix well.


Once the cake is assembled, it is best to wrap it in a slightly damp cloth (very slightly damp - wring it as well as possible) and pack it tightly in a plastic bag and leave it overnight to soften so it will not crumble as much when cut. To serve, trim the edges of the large cake and cut into smaller, rectangular pieces, then slice them, or leave each piece whole and let people serve themselves.

Brúnkaka/brúnterta I - the syrup version

Brúnkaka" simply means "brown cake" in Icelandic, and the alternative name, "brúnterta" means the same, although "terta" comes from the same root as the English word for "tart". In Icelandic "terta" is a fancier alternative to calling a cake "kaka".

Unlike the "Lísu brúnterta" recipe that I once posted, this one gets its colour not from cocoa powder, but from syrup or brown sugar and spices. I am posting two recipes, one today with syrup and one tomorrow with brown sugar, as some people may not have access to golden syrup.

My grandmother makes these year round, but this Christmas season I discovered that for two of my friends, this cake is closely linked with Christmas from them.

Here is the syrup version:

Ingredients:
1 kg flour
500 g white sugar
5 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1tsp ground cloves
5 tsp ground cinnamon
900 g butter or margarine
500 g golden syrup (Lyle's is the brand most Icelanders use)
4 egg

Buttercream:
450 g butter, softened
600 g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla essence

Optional:
Rhubarb jam or stewed prunes

• Mix together all the dry ingredients on a clean, dry table and crumble the cold butter/margarine into it until well mixed. (Use your hands to squish it in, or use a pastry cutter).
• Make a mound of the mixture and make a hole in the centre. Add the eggs and syrup and knead until well mixed. (This does not need as much kneading as bread, only just enough to get everything well mixed).
• Divide the dough into four parts. Dust each with flour and roll out onto well greased cookie sheets. Each portion should just about fill one cookie sheet.
• Bake at 180°C/350°F (convection oven, so adjust temperature for regular oven) until golden brown.
• Remove from oven and remove the cake layers immediately from the cookie sheets and lay onto baking paper that has been sprinkled with sugar. Cool completely before going to the next step.
• Layer the buttercream evenly onto all but one cake layer and assemble the cake. Some prefer to spread a thin layer of jam on top of each layer of buttercream, while others will make two buttercream layers and one jam layer, and others will skip the jam entirely.

To make the buttercream:
Whip the butter and icing sugar together until light and well mixed. Add the egg yolks and vanilla essence and mix well.

Once the cake is assembled, it is best to wrap it in a slightly damp cloth (very slightly damp - wring it as well as possible) and pack it tightly in a plastic bag and leave it overnight to soften so it will not crumble as much when cut. To serve, trim the edges of the large cake and cut into smaller, rectangular pieces, then slice them, or leave each piece whole and let people serve themselves.

Rjómaterta III: Púðursykurmarengs - Cream cake III: Brown sugar meringue

This is a simple and impressive fancy cake – if you can avoid breaking the meringue!
If it does break, no matter: simply crush the meringue and layer it in dessert bowls or glasses with the cream, or toss it with whipped cream, fresh fruit and chocolate bits to make a smashed Pavlova.


4 egg whites
400 ml brown sugar

Optional:
1 cup cornflakes and ½ tsp baking powder

For the filling:
Whipping cream
Chocolate bits, chocolate-covered raisins, salted peanuts (all optional)

Whip together the sugar and egg whites (and baking powder if using cornflakes) until sugar is melted and mixture is stiff. If using, fold in cornflakes. Smooth into two greased round baking tins, or put into an icing bag and squeeze onto a cookie sheet covered with baking paper in a circular shape (good idea to make a guide on the paper beforehand with a pencil and a plate). Bake at 150°C for 1 hour. Cool.

To make a simple but tempting cream cake, put whipped cream between the layers a day before serving and refrigerate overnight. Chopped chocolate, chocolate-covered raisins and/or salted peanuts area a good addition to the whipped cream.

Rjómaterta II: Guðdómlegt Gums - Cream cake II

Once upon a time I promised to publish more recipes for fancy cream cakes, and here is one that’s a favourite with both young and old. The name, Guðdómlegt gums means Heavenly Mess.

4 egg whites
200 g sugar

Whip together until the sugar is mostly melted.

1/2 cup salted peanuts
1/2 cup chopped dates
100 g dark chocolate chips
1/2 tsp baking powder

Fold carefully into the egg-sugar mixture. Bake in 2 round baking tins with detachable bottoms, at 150°C for 1 hour. Cool.

Whip 1/2 litre of cream until stiff. Fold in some quartered strawberries, 1 mashed banana, a handful of salted peanuts and a handful of chocolate-covered raisins. Put between the 2 layers. Decorate with whipped cream, strawberries, salted peanuts and chocolate-covered raisins.

The other recipe

Potato Danish pastries

150 g butter or margarine, at room temperature
150 g flour
150 g cooked potatoes
Rhubarb jam
Some almonds, flaked
Pearl sugar

Peel and mash the potatoes until completely smooth. Knead together with the butter and flour. Roll out to a thickness of about 3 mm. Cut into strips of about 15 cm wide. Spread rhubarb jam down the center of each strip, fold in the edges so that about 2 cm strip of jam is showing between them. Brush with milk and sprinkle with flaked almonds and pearl sugar.

Twice-baked buns - Tvíbökur

Twice-baked bread keeps well and is good in all kinds of sweetened soups, like Sweet Soup, Crowberry Soup, and Cocoa Soup.

250 g flour OR

100 g bread or all-purpose flour and 100 g whole-wheat flour

t tsp baking powder
1 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
75 g butter or margarine
100-150 ml milk

Sift together the flour, baking powder and cardamom and add the sugar. Add the softened butter or margarine and rub into the dry mix until the mixture is crumbly. Add the milk, no more than needed to make the dough stick together. Knead until smooth and roll up into sausage shapes. Cut into even-sized pieces and roll into balls. Arrange on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 180°C until light brown.

Remove the buns from the oven and cool until they can be handled, then cut in half, put back on the cookie sheet and dry in the oven at a low temperature.

Serve with the above-mentioned sweet soups or with coffee.

Snúðar og snúðakaka - Rolled buns and Bun cake

This is a nice cake that appeals to kids. The buns can also be baked and served separately.

25 g cake yeast OR 2 1/2 tsp dry yeast
100 ml milk, skimmed milk or water
400 ml flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
30 g butter or margarine, soft
1 small egg (or 1/2 a big one)

Filling:
1 tbs butter
2 tbs sugar
50 ml raisins or 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Icing:
4 tbs confectioner's (icing) sugar
1/2 tsp cocoa powder (optional)
2 tsp boiling water

Heat the milk to 37°C and dissolve the yeast in it.

Mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Crumble in the butter. Add the egg and milk, mix well and knead well. Set dough aside to rise for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile you can prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Punch down the dough and knead again. Roll out into a rectangular shape, about 20x30 cm. Spread with soft butter and sprinkle over the sugar and raisins or cinnamon. Roll up into a sausage shape and cut into 10-12 slices.

To make a cake, arrange the slices into a buttered cake pan so that they touch and let them rise for 20-30 minutes. If you want to make individual buns, arrange on a buttered cookie sheet with about an inch between them and let rise for 20-30 minutes.

Bake on a lower rung of the oven at 200-225°C for 15-20 minutes for cake and 10-15 minutes for buns. Pour over the icing while still warm.

Hrærð terta - A white cake with jam

This cake is simply called "Batter cake", which is certainly descriptive, but not very poetic. It is an excellent base for a cream cake - in which case forget the jam and use canned fruit instead and pour a little of the juice into both layers, pipe on whipped cream to cover the cake and decorate with fresh fruit.

1/3 cup butter or margarine, soft
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence (this is my addition to the original recipe, as I think that without it the cake tastes eggy)

Separate the eggs. Whip together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg yolks and mix well (and add the vanilla if using). Mix together flour and baking powder and add to the batter little by little. Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter with a spatula.

Pour into 2 round 20 centimeter/8 inch baking pans with loose bottoms and bake at 175°C/350°F (regular oven) until the cakes area rich golden colour, if possible with more bottom-heat than top-heat (if your oven doesn't have that setting, don't worry). No baking time is given in the original recipe, but it took 15 minutes in my convection oven at 165°C/330°F.

Turn out of the pans onto baking paper sprinkled with sugar, and allow to cool (original recipe), or turn out onto a cake rack and sprinkle sugar directly on the top of one layer while it is still hot (my suggestion). Sandwich with jam when cooled, putting the sugared layer on top.

This makes a cute little cake. The original recipe calls for 3 layers, in which case I suggest using 12 or 15 centimeter/5 or 6 inch pans so the layers will not be thin as pancakes.

I used strawberry-rhubarb jam when I made it, but I think strawberry or raspberry jam would probably be the best for this cake. I can also imagine it would be quite delicious layered with chocolate fudge icing.

Christmas gingerbread sandwich cookies

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Mömmukökur (Mama's Cookies)

My mother only makes these gingerbread cookies before Christmas, but they are excellent at any time of the year. When I was little, I really thought it was my mother's own recipe.

Different people have different ways of making Mömmukökur. My mother makes them very thin and bakes them until they are dark brown and crisp. Others make light brown, thicker cookies that soften quickly once the icing is on. Mother allows them to stand until completely cooled, before putting in tins for storage. This is to ensure that they will stay crisp. Then, just before Christmas - usually on Þorláksmessa (December 23rd) - the four of us (my parents, brother and I) sit down together and make cookie sandwiches, sticking the cookies together two by two with vanilla butter icing.

125 g butter/margarine
250 g golden syrup
125 g sugar
1 egg
500 g flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 portion butter icing

Melt together the butter, sugar and golden syrup and mix well. Cool. Stir in the egg. Mix together flour, baking soda and ginger. Add the syrup mixture and knead until smooth. Store in a refrigerator over night. Flatten out until very thin and cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a glass. Bake at 200°C, until the cookies area a proper gingerbread brown colour. Cool completely before icing.

Note: Don't use this recipe to make gingerbread houses – this gingerbread is too fragile.

Sarah Bernhardt cookies - Sörur

Like several other great artists, most famously the ballerina Pavlova and opera singer Nellie Melba, actress Sarah Bernhardt had some sweet desserts named after her. There is a Sarah Bernhardt cake, and then there are these delicious confections called Sarah Bernhardt cookies, invented by a Danish pastry chef who wanted to honour the actress.
These cookies, which we usually just call "Sarahs", are a great favourite of mine, and I try to make some every year for Christmas.



Note:
I have updated the recipe. The original has one thing wrong with it, which is that the buttercream icing has a tendency to separate when made like the recipe tells you to. I found more precise instructions on how to make this kind of icing in my trusty cooking encyclopedia, and have added them into the original recipe (in closed brackets) for those interested. The downside to the new version is that it does not yield enough icing for all the macaroons (at least if you like to use as much as I do). A little extra butter (50 g or so) and syrup (maybe increase it to a cup of sugar and and a cup of water) and one more egg yolk should take care of it.

400 g blanched almonds, finely ground
2 1/5 cup icing sugar/confectioner's sugar
5 eggs, yolks and whites separated
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbs baking cocoa
2/3 cup water
300 g butter, soft
250 g chocolate for coating - use dark
2 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)

Mix together ground almonds and icing sugar. Whip the egg whites until they are stiff and form peaks and fold into the almond/sugar mixture. With a teaspoon, put small dollops of dough on a baking sheet covered with baking paper, and bake at 180°C for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies begin to take on a golden colour. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet with a spatula while still hot and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Buttercream icing: Put the water and sugar into a saucepan and cook until the sugar is melted and a thin syrup has formed (for an icing that does not separate, cook the sugar to the soft ball stage, that is 115°C or 239°F of you prefer to use a candy thermometer). Remove from the heat and cool. Beat the egg yolks and slowly pour the cooled syrup into them, stirring constantly. Add the softened butter and mix well. Add cocoa and instant coffee powder (if using). Put in the refrigerator to cool. Spread the cooled icing on the underside of each cookie, forming a small mound in the center. Put in the refrigerator. The icing needs to be cold and stiff before proceeding on to the next step.

Coating: Melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water. Cool to about 40°C (use a candy thermometer or finger test). Dip the icing-covered part of the cookies in melted chocolate to coat. Serve cool or frozen with hot cocoa or strong coffee.

Notes:
-These cookies should be stored frozen if they are not meant to be eaten immediately.
-Try different flavours of buttercream fillings.

Spicy gingersnaps - Piparkökur

The Icelandic term for gingersnaps and gingerbread cookies literally means “pepper cookies”.
These unusual gingerbread refrigerator cookies not only contain pepper, but also paprika. My mother modified the recipe from one she found in an old recipe booklet.

500 g flour
500 g brown sugar
250 g butter
2 eggs
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered cloves
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp paprika

Mix together the dry ingredients. Add soft butter and eggs and knead until smooth. Cool in the refrigerator overnight. Roll out into sausage shapes of even thickness, pinch or cut off small portions and make little balls out of the dough. Put on a cookie sheet covered with baking paper and press your palm on top of each ball to flatten slightly. Bake at 200°C until browned.

Update: I made a batch on Saturday. These are very good gingersnaps. Instead of making balls and flattening them with my hand on the cookie sheet, I cut the dough rolls into thin slices (about 5 mm - 1/5 of an inch thick):



They do not spread much when they get in the oven, so a space of about 2 cm (4/5 inch) between them is enough. I baked them at 180°C in my convection oven. The cookies took only 4 minutes to get to the stage where I like them best: golden but with a slightly chewy center. If you plan to store them for more than a week I recommend 2-4 minutes more in the oven to get them dry through. They will be a darkish medium brown by that time. Any longer than that and they will burn, unless you go for the ball method, which will yield thicker cookies that will need slightly longer baking.

Cinnamon 'snails' (Kanilsnúðar) & Jewish Cookies (Gyðingakökur)

An anonymous commenter requested a recipe for Cinnamon 'snails', so here it is. This first recipe is the way my grandmother makes them. The second recipe is included for those who can not get their hands on hartshorn (baker's ammonia).

This is originally a recipe for Jewish Cookies, which are a Christmas staple in many Icelandic homes. I have included instructions for both cookies and 'snails'.

According to Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir, author of the Icelandic food encyclopedia Matarást,  Jewish cookies got the name because they were originally made and sold by Jews, who presumably had a different name for them. It's a bit ironic that they should have become associated with Christmas in Iceland.

Cinnamon 'snails'/Jewish Cookies

175 g flour
100 g butter or margarine
1/2 tsp hartshorn powder (baker's ammonia) – see Note
60 g sugar
1 egg
1 tbs sugar

For cookies:
10 almonds

For 'snails':
Sugar and cinnamon, mixed together, approx 4 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon (or more, if you like an intense cinnamon flavour)

The dough:
Mix flour and hartshorn. Add sugar and margarine and mix everything together with your hands until you have a crumbly mixture. Add the egg and knead until solid. Cool in the refrigerator for a couple of hours at least.

To make snails:
Flatten the dough quite thin with a rolling pin and try to keep it an approximately square or rectangular shape. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. Roll the dough up into a roll, then slice into approx. 1 cm thick slices. Arrange slices on a cookie sheet and bake at about 200°C until golden brown.


To make Jewish cookies:
Finely chop the almonds and mix with sugar. Flatten the dough and use round cookie cutters to cut out the cookies. Brush beaten egg on the cookies and dip into sugar/almond mixture. Bake in a medium oven until golden brown.

Note: Hartshorn can be hard to find outside Northern-Europe. In the USA, you may be able to find it in German or Scandinavian markets, drug stores or baking supply stores, or through mail order catalogues. It may be labelled either as hartshorn or as baker's ammonia (do not confuse with regular ammonia!).
Hartshorn gives more lift to cookies than baking soda or baking powder, and cookies made with it turn out very light and crisp. It may be substituted thus: 1 tsp baking powder for 1 tsp hartshorn (the cookies will probably not be quite as light or crisp as when using hartshorn) OR 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda for 1 tsp hartshorn (this is supposed to yield similar results to hartshorn, but I have never tried it, so I don't really know if it's true).

---

Alternative recipe for Cinnamon snails (no hartshorn):
This recipe is from my home economics recipe book from school. I made these once – they looked beautiful but had very little taste. If I make them again, I will use more cinnamon than the recipe states and perhaps add a little vanilla to the dough.

400 ml flour
100 g margarine
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbl sugar
1 egg
50 ml milk

Cinnamon sugar:
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Follow the above direction to make kneaded dough. Melt the margarine and brush over the rolled dough. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the dough. Roll up and store in the refrigerator for about an hour. Cut into slices with a sharp knife. Arrange the slices on a cookie sheet and bake at 200°C until golden brown.

Half-moon cookies – Hálfmánar

My paternal grandmother always makes these for Christmas.

500 g flour
250 g sugar
200 g margarine
½ tsp hartshorn powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
100 ml (2/5 cup) milk
Cardamom essence to taste
Rhubarb or other jam

Mix together sugar, baking powder, hartshorn powder and flour. Add soft butter and mix until crumbly. Add egg, milk and cardamom essesnce and knead until smooth. Store in a refrigerator until cold through (overnight is usual). Flatten with a rolling pin and cut out cookies with a glass or circular cookie cutter. Put about a teaspoonful of jam in the center of each cookie, fold cookies in half and press edges together with a fork. Arrange on a lightly floured baking sheet and bake at 200°C for 7-10 minutes, or until golden.

Currant cookies - Kúrenukökur

I don't particularly care for these, as I don't like raisins in food and the currants remind me of them, but my grandmother loves them.

375 g butter, softened
375 g sugar
7 eggs, yolks and whites separated
a few drops of lemon essence
500 g flour

For decoration:
Currants, chopped blanched almonds, extra sugar (no amounts are given in the original recipe)

Cream sugar and butter, then add the egg yolks one by one, mixing well in between. Gradually add the flour, then the lemon essence. Whip the whites separately until stiff and fold into the dough.

Put the doughonto a baking sheet and spread evenly over the sheet, using a spatula. Sprinkle a mixture of currants, almonds and sugar on top. Bake at about 180°C until golden and cut into squares while still warm.

Coconut wreaths - Kókoshringir

My mother used to make these every Christmas when I was little. They have a buttery, coconutty taste and are great with tea or cold milk.

200 g flour
200 g dessicated coconut
150 g sugar
200 g butter, softened
1 egg

Mix flour, coconut and sugar. Fold in the egg and butter and knead. Run through a cookie press, taking lengths of about 8 cm. and forming them into circles. Put on a baking sheet and bake at about 180°C for about 8 minutes, or until they are a light golden colour.