CHRISTMAS DESSERTS & SANTA CLAUS’S LEGEND

Thousands of years ago the legend of Santa Claus spread over Scandinavia Island. It has that in Norse mythology Odin, who masters wisdom, art, poetry and war, rode his eight feet horse galloping the horizon, praising virtue and punishing vice, distributing gifts to people all over the world in winter season. Meanwhile, his son Thor, who dressed with red clothes, fight with snow gods in pitch darkness holding lightning as weapon, and he finally won the battle towards cold. According to the legend of pagan, Santa Claus is Odin’s descent.

There are legends that Santa Claus comes from St. Nicholas, so he is also known as St. Nicholas. These stories are mostly carrying forward the spirit of Jesus Christ, its provenance and stories are mostly forgotten by many of us, but Santa Claus is always with people’s mental world. Annual Christmas Day, Santa Claus is riding on Aries, the holy child armed with a Christmas tree, together they come to earth, as things change, writers and artists began to describe Santa Claus as a red dress, white beard image as we know today.

At the same time different countries and cultures have different interpretations of Santa Claus. In Germany, the legend is that he acted as his holy child, and put nuts and apples in kids’ shoes. He took the four-wheeled carriage roaming and observing the behaviors of people, especially the kids. If their performances are good, they will get apples, nuts, sugar and many other prizes. Bad kids will get a whip.

Parents follow this idea to encourage their children to be obedient. Christmas greatly exceeds the New Year and becomes a national holiday. And Santa Claus has become a favorite symbol and tradition in Christmas season. He hurries the reindeer, pulls a sleigh full of toys and gifts from house to house to give each kid a gift, the old elf’s image has been deeply remained in people’s memories.

STOLLEN

Stolen is a sort of famous and traditional Christmas bread coming from Germany. Nowadays there are more and more recipes to make stollen and many of them claim their recipes are the most original. But one thing I can make sure, which is that all the stollen that made by all recipes have a good taste with dense butter flavor and abundant dry fruits. On Christmas day, you can offer stollen for your family members for they are not only tasty but also healthy. Less oil and sugar, but high content of nuts, stollen brings you an exotic flavor from Germany.

Ingredients:
A: 80g milk, 4g dry yeast, 100g high protein flour
B: 80g butter, 40g sugar, 2.5g salt, 50g eggs, 1g almond extract, 1g lime peels, 1g vanilla extract, 1g nutmeg
C: 100g high protein flour
D: 60g raisins, 70g mixed dry fruits, 30g almonds, pinch rum
E: pinch melted butter & powdered sugar

Preparation:
1. Soak raisins and mixed dry fruits with rum for overnight
2. Blend ingredients A together, knead dough, cover it with wet towel, put it in warm place and let it ferment for about 2 times bigger than previous one (about 30 minutes)
3. Soften the butter of ingredients B, stir in sugar and salt
4. Add eggs per 3 times and mix well
5. Stir in almond extract, vanilla extract, shredded lime peels, nutmeg
6. Split the dough into little cubes, and throw into butter paste, and mix
7. Add high protein flour in ingredients C, knead dough until smooth with your hands, it needs about 10 minutes
8. Add almonds and raisins, mixed dry fruits and knead for one more minute
9. Ferment 30 minutes under room temperature, roll a little dough into a round one
10. Fold the dough, leave a 1.5cm distance from upper to the lower
11. Put all the dough on the ovenware, let ferment the last time
12. when all the dough are 3/4 bigger than originals, brush a layer of melted butter on the surface, put in preheated oven to 374F, bake for approximately 25 minutes until brown
13. Remove the ovenware from the oven, brush a layer of melted butter on the surface instantly, and let it cool, sprinkle a layer of powdered sugar. Sealing, and preserve for a week

Stollen
HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE CAKE

Fresh baked hazelnuts grind into flavory hazelnut powder, and mix them with dark chocolate, it really needs too much description. Warm chocolate cakes with hazelnuts flavor makes your mouth water and does good to your body health. Hazelnut, a sort of nuts that is beautifully tasty, brings vitamin E and rich oil fat to your body, has good function to people after ill or people who are easy to feel hungry. And also hazelnut will effectively prevent people from old-aging.

Ingredients: 100g roasted hazelnuts, 100g butter, 100g dark chocolate, 5ml instant coffee, 80g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 50g corn starch, 15g low protein flour, 15ml rum

Preparation:
1. Bake hazelnuts in oven to 338F for 10 minutes, remove them from the oven and let them cool, rub off the peels
2. Blend hazelnuts, corn starch, instant coffee and low protein flour into powder
3. Chop dark chocolate and heat oven water, keep stirring until liquid
4. Separate egg whites and egg yolks. In a bowl pour in egg whites, add 40g caster sugar per several times and whip until soft peak
5. Soften butter, and add the remaining 40g caster sugar, whip with an electric mixer until fluffy
6. Pour the melted chocolate into butter
7. Pour in rum and keep whipping, then stir in a half powdered hazelnuts
8. Add an egg yolk, stir, pour in the remaining powdered hazelnuts
9. Add the second egg yolk and stir in egg whites
10. Scrape until even
11. Brush a layer of thin butter on the inner wall of the mould, pour the cake paste into the mould until 70 percent done, preheat oven to 338F and bake for 25 minutes, cover a silver paper on the surface and bake for another 20-30 minutes until fluffy

Hazelnut chocolate cake