Sweet Christmas – the best recipes
In Pfarrgasse 7, located in the center of Bad Ischl, all hell breaks loose all year round. The Zauner confectionery, which has been synonymous with the highest confectionery art for 190 years, is particularly busy before Christmas, when Europe’s largest cake showcase contains 250 different pastries as well as delicious Christmas cakes. It is, of course, made by hand, says Philipp Zauner, who has been running the business for two years in the sixth generation, not without pride. That’s why Zauner also employs 150 people in its operations – the centerpiece in downtown Ischl and the annex on the banks of the Traun River – 40 of them in the bakery alone.
In the “k.u.k. Mehlspeisenbuch” by father Josef Zauner contains the best recipes of the family business – Philipp Zauner has selected seven classics especially for you, dear readers, that taste wonderfully of Christmas. Have fun baking – and of course enjoying!
Vanilla crescent cookies
Ingredients (for 70-80 croissants)
250g flour
210g butter
110g grated hazelnuts
120g powdered sugar
1 pinch salt
powdered sugar and 1 pkg. Vanilla sugar for rolling
Preparation
- Quickly knead all ingredients into a firm dough. Let rest in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 185 degrees (top/bottom heat). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Roll the dough into a stick about 2 cm thick and divide evenly into small pieces. Roll out the pieces with floured palms about 5-6 cm long and form croissants. Place on the tray and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden.
- Remove and pull the paper from the tray. While still warm, sprinkle the crescents thickly with the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar mixture or roll them in it.
Glazed walnut boat
Ingredients (for approx. 12 boats of approx. 11 cm length)
For the short pastry (approx. 300g)
50g powdered sugar
100g butter
½ yolk
150g flour
1 pinch salt
pulp of ½ vanilla pod
A little grated zest of an untreated organic lemon
For the skippers
250g shortcrust pastry
Flour for dusting
For the fullness
75g grated walnuts
50g breadcrumbs
40g powdered sugar
60ml milk
1 tablespoon honey
1 shot rum
1 tablespoon raisins
1 tsp. Cinnamon
For the glaze
Apricot jam for spreading
200g fondant
Some lauter sugar (sugar-water mixture in the ratio 1:1)
Halved walnuts for garnish
Molds for the skippers
Preparation
- For the shortcrust pastry, quickly knead all ingredients into a dough. Form a ball, cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees (top/bottom heat)
- Roll out the shortcrust pastry about 3-4 mm thin. Dust small, oblong bowls with flour. Cut appropriately sized pieces from the shortcrust pastry and line the ramekins with them.
- For the filling, mix all the ingredients well in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Pour into ramekins and cover with shortcrust pastry.
- Poke with a fork and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden. Remove, turn out of the ramekins and let cool.
- Heat the apricot jam and spread a thin layer on the skittles. Heat the fondant in a saucepan to approx. 45 degrees, dilute with lactose to taste. Glaze the boat with a thin layer. Let dry a little and garnish with half walnuts.
Tea cookies – Yellow mass
Ingredients (for 1 baking tray 30×40 cm)
For the mass
80g soft butter
70g powdered sugar
5 egg yolks
5g grated zest of an untreated organic lemon
pulp of ½ vanilla pod
110g wheat flour
Apricot jam for spreading
100g dark chocolate coating
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees (top/bottom heat).
- Cream soft butter with powdered sugar, gradually add the yolks and continue to beat well. Add lemon zest and vanilla pulp and fold in the flour.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper. Fill the mixture into a piping bag with a No. 10 nozzle and pipe on the biscuits, sponge balls or croissants. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden.
- Pull off the tray with the paper and let cool. Then remove from paper and assemble two biscuits or croissants at a time with smoothly stirred apricot jam. To decorate, dip half in melted tempered chocolate glaze.
Almond spritz cookies
Ingredients (for 2 baking sheets)
For the pastry
400g raw marzipan
120g granulated sugar
5g grated zest of an untreated organic lemon
3 Egg white
For decoration
Candied fruit
Nuts
Pine nuts
200g dark chocolate coating
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 190 degrees (top/bottom heat).
- Crush the marzipan, then mix with granulated sugar, lemon zest and egg whites to a paste suitable for dressing.
- Pour into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe different ornaments onto two trays lined with baking paper. Top with candied fruit, nuts or pine nuts as desired.
- Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the sprinkles start to color. Allow to cool and remove from paper. TIP: If the piped pastry is difficult to release, simply moisten the back of the baking paper with water and peel off the paper after about 10 minutes.
- Temper the chocolate coating and dip the underside of the almond pastry. Place upside down on a draining rack and allow to dry.
Vanilla wreath
Ingredients
200g butter
50g clarified butter
250g sugar
2 pkg. Vanilla sugar
400g flour
2 egg yolks
1 egg
Also
Egg white for coating
Chopped hazelnuts
Apricot, currant or raspberry jam to assemble
Preparation
- All the ingredients quickly into a smooth dough. Knead together. Form a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for ½ hour.
- Roll out the dough very thinly on a floured work surface. Using a 4cm diameter scalloped round cookie cutter, cut out valleys. Brush half of all the doughnuts with beaten egg white, place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake at 180 degrees in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes.
- Cut a hole in the center of the remaining talers with a thimble to make wreaths. Also coat with beaten egg white and press into the chopped nuts. Bake in the same way as the first half.
- When cooled down, assemble one dessert and one wreath with the heated, strained jam. Store in a closed tin can for a few days until ready to eat.
Nut Christmas Stollen
Ingredients (for 3 molds of 1kg)
For the dough
200ml milk
126g yeast
1kg wheat flour
1 egg yolk
440g butter
150g granulated sugar
100g raw marzipan
1 vanilla pod
1 pinch salt
8g stollen spice
For the fullness
1/4l milk
60g granulated sugar
40g honey
100g finely chopped candied lemon peel
300g coarsely chopped hazelnuts
100g raisins
1 shot rum
1 pinch cinnamon
Grated zest of ½ untreated organic lemon
Butter for the molds
300g clarified butter (butterfat)
300g vanilla powdered sugar
Preparation
- For the stollen dough, heat the milk to lukewarm and dissolve the yeast in it. Mix with about one third of the flour to a dampfl (pre-dough). Cover the dampfl about 2cm thick with flour, keep warm and let it mature for about 20 minutes. When the Dampfl ferments properly, large cracks appear in the flour coating.
- In the meantime, beat the yolks, butter, sugar and marzipan with the spices until well fluffy.
- Add the matured Dampfl and the remaining flour to the butter mixture and mix to a silky dough. It is recommended to work the dough on a dough board with your hands until smooth. Always dust lightly with flour during kneading.
- Cover the stollen dough and let it rest for about 45 minutes or keep it warm.
- Preheat oven to 190 degrees top/bottom heat.
- For the filling, boil milk, sugar and honey. Then stir in the remaining ingredients.
- Roll out the dough 1cm thick rectangular 30x100cm. Spread the nut filling and roll up the dough. Cut into three equal pieces (about 35cm long) and press the ends together.
- Butter 3 molds and place the stollen in them. Let rise in a warm place until the stollen fills the mold by three quarters. This takes about an hour.
- Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 190 degrees. Then reduce the temperature to 170 degrees and bake for about 15 minutes more.
- While still warm, brush twice with rendered butter and then, while still lukewarm, sprinkle thickly with vanilla powdered sugar and massage.
- TIP: Butterfat or clarified butter does not go rancid, so the Stollen will keep longer. It is important that the stollen is baked in a mold, which would otherwise remain flat due to the filling.
Advent strudel
Ingredients (for 1 strudel)
For the dough
200g plain flour
1 organic free range egg
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 dash vinegar
1 pinch salt
Approx. 1/8l warm water
Oil for coating
For the fullness
150g butter
80g granulated sugar
8 Organic free range eggs
30g finely chopped couverture
150g finely chopped walnuts
40g each finely chopped dates, figs, candied orange peel, candied lemon peel and prunes
40g raisins
1 pinch each of salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom
Flour for dusting
Melted butter for spreading
Preparation
- For the dough, knead all ingredients either by hand or with a food processor until it is silky smooth. Brush with oil and let rest, covered, in a warm place for ½ hour.
- For the filling, cream the butter with half the sugar. Separate the eggs and gradually add the egg yolks. Beat the mixture until it reaches a loose volume.
- Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff and stir into the butter mixture. Then carefully fold in the chocolate coating, nuts and dried fruit with the spices.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees top/bottom heat.
- Dust the dough and rolling pin well with flour so that the dough does not stick. Then roll out the dough thinly. Dust your hands well with flour and gently pull out the dough until r becomes transparent. Be careful not to make any holes in the process.
- Place the dough on a cloth and spread the filling evenly on two-thirds of it. Roll up with the help of the cloth and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with melted butter.
- Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. Five minutes before the end of the baking time, brush the strudel again with melted butter, so that r remains nice and crispy. Ideally serve warm.
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