Gingerbread
With the holiday season in full swing, it’s definitely time to start
baking Christmas Cookies! Christmas time in Finland isn’t complete
without Finnish Gingerbread Cookies or
Piparkakut.
These cookies are packed full of warm winter spices like cinnamon,
ginger, and cloves. They are also flavored and sweetened with dark
syrup or tumma siirappi. This dark syrup
will add authentic Scandinavian flavor to your gingerbread cookies. It
is a sweet baking syrup made from sugar beets and can be found in
specialty grocery stores and can also easily be purchased online.
The cookie dough is rolled out thin and cut into shapes. The most
traditional shape is the simple round cookie with scalloped edges.
Finnish Gingerbread Cookies can be enjoyed plain, or they can be
elegantly decorated with a simple white icing.
Christmas Star Cookies
Joulutorttu are star or windmill-shaped
cookies that boast the crisp crunch of a flaky pastry and the smooth
sweetness of a dollop of jam. Traditionally these Christmas tarts
are made with a ricotta pastry and filled with a prune jam.
The ricotta in the pastry gives them a nice lightness, without being
too rich or heavy. And, while prune jam might not sound all that
appetizing, it actually adds a deep sweetness to the cookie that is
the perfect contrast to the flaky pastry.
Coded by Else Suutarinen