—————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
ANOTHER plant that makes its appearance together with the Poinsettia during the Holiday Season is the Amaryllis, also known as the Belladonna Lily. Flower shops carry them as a bulb with a stem just emerging, and by Christmas, the plant should be in full bloom, with a flower, or two, even three if you’re lucky. You can also get Amaryllis bouquets, bound with Christmas greens. Red is the most popular, as it is the colour of Christmas. I prefer the pink ones.
JUST one week into November, the supermarkets are reminding you urgently that it’s time to stock up on Christmas Cookies with offers of 6 packs of your choice for half the price. Who doesn’t love a bargain? Better get them now, because these goodies will be gone by Week 2 of December, with the Second Advent, and there will be no more new orders. I learned this the hard way when one year I thought I could still get Zimt Sterne with white glaze to decorate my Christmas tree at the eleventh hour. There was nary a star in sight. Trees are decorated on Christmas Eve in Germany. Shops close at noon. If Christmas Eve falls on a Wednesday, and you haven’t done your shopping yet, you’re in big trouble. Boxing Day, 26th December is a holiday. Shops open again on Monday.
Lebkuchen, also called Pfefferkuchen (pepper cake) or Honigkuchen (honeycake), is more like a soft cookie with a hint of Allspice. These cookies tend to be rather sweet, made with honey and corn syrup and candied fruits and nuts. Since the dough is rather sticky, each cookie is placed on something that is akin to a Communion Wafer, and then baked.
Spekulatius, on the other hand, is a very thin, crisp, molded cookie in three flavours: plain Butter; with Almond slivers; and spiced, with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and white pepper. In Germany you can get Spekulatius only during the Holiday Season. Speculaas, as the Dutch call this spiced cookie, is available all year round in the Netherlands.
My neighbour returned my plate (empty) and enthusiastically praised my Apple Cake with the Coconut topping. She mentioned that she would be baking, and would bring some over for me to sample this weekend. I can’t return her plate empty, as this is not the Asian custom, so I decided to whip up my own version of the Carrot Cake just in case she does bring something over.
GOJI BERRY WALNUT CARROT CAKE
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
1/2 cup dried Goji berries (also known as wolf-berries)
1/2 cup walnuts (measure first, then chop coarsely)
1/2 lb. (2 Sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup fine granulated brown sugar (the brown sugar gives the cake a deep yellow colour)
4 medium-size eggs
2 cups flour ( measure, tapping to settle the flour tightly)
2 tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. mace (that’s the lacy covering of the nutmeg seed, and more delicate in flavour)
1 tsp. vanillin sugar
Cream the brown sugar and vanillin sugar with the softened butter. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Sift flour with baking powder. Add mace to the flour. Add the flour mixture in small portions to the creamed butter, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the grated carrots. Mix well. Add the chopped walnuts and Goji berries. Mix thoroughly. Pour into a 13″ x 9″ pan or round pan, making a well in the centre so the cake will rise evenly. Bake at 375 F or 180 Celsius 40 minutes or till done. Cool. Frost with your favourite cream cheese frosting. Or leave it plain (think of the calories)!
Voilà! Bon appétit!
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
I’m impressed with the pictures! This blog entry manages to evoke Christmas today, a typically sunny Californian day…
good job, Mom, on uploading an commenting the pics!