Today, I'd like to present you with some recipes I found in an old cookbook from 1870 which once belonged to my great-grandmother.
From today’s point of view, some of the recipes do not sound very tasty, since eating huge amounts of animal fat, feet and brains is not that common any longer. 
But the Christmas cookies are very tasty. I translated the old German Gothic print and experimented a bit to find out the right temperature and baking time for modern ovens. I did not change the ingredients, so the taste of the “good old days” stays the same.
Spice nuts
- 250 g sugar
- 250 g flour
- 3 eggs
- One grated nutmeg
- A pinch of ground cloves
- 15 g cinnamon
- A pinch of black pepper
- Baking paper or fat for the baking tray
Beat the eggs mixed with the sugar for one hour…
Just kidding. Use a hand mixer and it will only take minutes.
Beat the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Add flour and the spices and fold them in.
Fill the dough into a pastry tube (or into a freezer bag with a cut-off corner) and put small portions on the baking tray (grease it slightly or use baking paper). Do not place them too close to each other because they will go a little bit runny.
Watch the cookies while baking them. They must not become too hard and brown. Because they contain a lot of sugar, this can happen rather quickly. The surface should only just start getting brown.
Note: The amount of cinnamon and nutmeg is very large. Too much of these spices is not healthy for children! Take only a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg when baking the cookies for children
Baking time: about 8 minutes
Temperature: 190 °C
Almond macaroons
- 500 g sugar
- 7-8 egg whites
- Juice and zest of one lemon (organic!)
- 500 g grated almonds
- 250 g wheat semolina
- Small, round wafers
Beat the egg-white mixed with the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Mix the result with the other ingredients and put small portions of the dough on the wafers. Bake until they start getting very slightly colored.
Backing time: about 20 minutes
Temperature: 160°C
