German pastry , Nussecken :
Nussecken or nut corners are a very popular German pastry. They are sold Nussecken in every bakery in Germany . Nussecken tend to be more popular around Christmas and winter time since they are very nutritious and its traditional German Christmas cookies are offering a large selection of recipes . Some cookies are easier to prepare than others .butter , eggs , flour ,sugar ,spices ,and a variety of nuts are basic ingredients.
German nut cornar are called Nussecken , consist of a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread top with a thin layer of apricot jam and hazelnuts and caramel-topping. They cut into triangles and then two of this corner is dipped in dark chocolate. They are simply divine.
Recipe for Nussecken:
Ingredients :
Nussecken dough :
300 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
130 g sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
9 tablespoons or 130 g room temperature butter
For covering :
6 tablespoons apricot jam
Nussecken nut filling:
200 g butter
5 tablespoons water or rum
200 g brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
400 g ground nuts (you can use 200 g ground hazelnuts , 100 g ground almonds and 100 g ground peanuts-feel free to use whichever nuts you prefer)
Dark chocolate glaze :
200 g dark chocolate
2 tablespoons neutral-tasting oil
Directions:
Preparation the dough :
Preheat oven to 175 ° C . Mix the flour with the baking powder and sift it into a bowl . Add sugar and vanilla sugar and mix well . Make a hole in the center and add the egg . Cut butter in small piece and spread on the top . Use the eletric hand mixer with the kneading hook and beat until the ingredients are well mixed. Continue kneading with your hands. Dough is ready when it’s no longer sticky and Wrap the dough in cellophanefoil and keeps in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
If the jam is too hard ,heat in microwave for 30 seconds,then brush onto the dough .
Make your topping while the dough is refrigerating . Place the butter ,sugar ,water and vanilla in saucepan over medium low heat . Stir until the sugar dissolves completely and then for about 4 minutes to allow the sugar to caramelize. Add the hazelnuts and turn off the heat . Allow cooling for about 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 175 °C as we mentioned. Line a 10×15 inch baking sheet with parchment paper or the inside of brown paper or butter and flour it lightly like you would have a cake. If you are used a paper-bag butter it lightly . Also make sure you cut a paper so it fits in to pan exactly.
The tricky steps – the rolling out of the dough . You can either place the measured and cut paper on your counter and patiently roll it out to the exact dimensions and then carefully move it into the pan . Or you can place the dough in the middle of the pan and start patting it down with your fingers so that it covers the whole bottom part of your pan . Transfer extended dough and paper on the baking sheet.
Evenly spread the apricot jam on the dough and evenly spread the hazelnuts topping on top of the jam . Put the pan in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. You might want to place some aluminium foil under the pan for topping might spill over bit .If time allows ,cool overnight and cut into triangles the next day .
Make the glaze , it’s simply melt together chocolate and oil in a bowl sitting in a pot with some simmering water . Either it dip the tips of each corner into chocolate glaze or cover all sides .(you need more chocolate if dipping the sides instead of the corners).
I hope you get to try this delicious traditional German Christmas pastry with your family .
