Tasty Hungarian Christmas cookies (Mazsolás Puszedli)

I've had a couple of requests for these cookies and they have such a Christmas taste so I thought it's a perfect blogging opportunity!

Enikő gave me some of these cookies 2 years ago (yikes!) so I asked her nicely for the recipe, cause they're addictive. They're quickly becoming a tradition!

Since I've made them a couple of times I managed to make some mistakes so I'll list them here for your entertainment and to stop you making the same mistakes. :-)

I'll give the ingredients in english and norwegian, and the rest in english. Hope it makes sense!

Notes: when it says 1 sachet/pakke, that is around 12 g or 2 tsp if measuring out.
English (norwegian) measurements:
tsp             ts
tbsp           ss

Pastry

Filling

Ingredients:
Pastry:
250 g honey (honning)
220 g sugar (sukker)
500 g white flour (hvetemel)
1 sachet baking powder (1 pakke bakepulver)
2 eggs
80 g butter (smør)
Spices (krydder)
- 1 sachet vanilla sugar (around 12 g or 2 tsp) (vaniljesukker)
- 1 tsp ground cloves (nellik)
- 3 tbsp cinnamon (3 ss kanel)

Filling:
120 g ground hazelnuts (malte hasselnøtter)
150 g raisins soaked in rum aroma (rosiner trukket i rom aroma)
120 g icing sugar (melis)

Icing/brushing:
1-2 eggs
~170 g glazing (glasur) - I would suggest making a little at a time so you don't have lots left.

Stage 1 - Making the dough.
First, assemble the ingredients. Nothing more annoying than getting halfway through and realising you forgot to get baking powder - not that I've done that of course.

Petike is supervising the baking

Heat the honey till it moves almost like water. Add the sugar and spices and leave to cool stir a bit once in a while to keep it from becoming a solid sugar-lump.
While it is cooling you can add water and rum aroma to the raisins and leave them to soak. The longer the better.
If you can't find pre-ground hazelnuts, now is a good time to get the grinder out. Remember that the volume will grow - use a slightly bigger bowl.
*Suggestion* - get the lumps out of the icing sugar before the next step - much easier that way, trust me. I tried both ways. Painful.

Petike decided that I'd gotten the hang of it and supervising was too tiring.

Add the icing sugar and hazelnuts together. Stir till they are evenly mixed. Leave to the side till the raisins are ready to party with them.
By now the honey/sugar/spice mix might be cool enough. You can test with a finger if it's around body temperature. If it's too hot it'll activate the baking powder now and the cakes will be flat later. They'll still taste nice but won't be as pretty. Yep, managed to do that too!

Next, add the flour and baking powder mixed together, alternating with the eggs and butter.
Stir it all together, the mixture should release reasonably easily from the pot. Leave in the fridge for 10 hours (or more).

Stage 2 - Making the cookies.
This is the part that takes the most time. In my wild and free single days (last year), I made a double batch and ended up spending about 3 evenings after work making cookies till late. I'm such a rebel.
Drain the raisins and combine the raisins and hazelnut/sugar mix. If you leave them for 1/2 hour or so the mixture becomes a bit sticky from the residual water, this makes it easier to use.
I usually leave the dough in the fridge till I need it as I find it easier to use when it's still cold, but it's your choice.
Roll out the dough to about 2 mm thickness. 

I use 2 different size cookie cutters, a 3 cm and a 4 cm one. Make smaller cut-outs for the bottom part, put as much stuffing as you can on it and cover with the larger cut outs.

Pretend you have an unlimited amount of stuffing and put as much as you can and still be able to tamp down the edges. I usually have lots of stuffing left. Actually this time I had to grind a tiny bit extra nuts (maybe 20 grams) and add a few more raisins, but it was a close thing. And really, it's worth it to have the cookies really filled!

I usually make a few shapes, then fill them and cover them. It's quicker for me anyway this way. If anyone has any ideas on how to make it more quickly please let me know!
When you fill a baking tray, brush with the roughly whipped egg, then put in a preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes on 170 C. It gets quite hard if you leave it too long so keep an eye on it the first time and take it out as soon as you can smell it and it doesn't taste raw. Make a note of the time for next time as you'll have the smell in the kitchen!
While it's still warm, cover with glazing. Leave to cool and enjoy!
These cookies last quite well as long as you store them in a cookie jar. The only problem is that they'll be eaten quickly :-)

Please let me know if you have any questions or if you have any tips on how to make the second stage go more quickly!

Lots of love, and Merry Christmas!

Eva

Soon-to-be-mum's home made apple pie

I've had a few requests for this recipe, and thought I could make a little post about it. With shiny pictures!

 

Basic recipe is:

Pastry:

250 grams flour

125 grams sugar

125 grams butter

1 egg

 

Filling:

4-6 apples* depending on size

Vanilla sugar

 

Sieve the flour on a (clean) table in a heap. Pour the sugar gently over it so you've got a miniature mountain. Put the butter in the middle.

(Switch to a better camera.) Crumble the butter into the sugar and flour so you have no lumps of butter. Make a little volcano crater in the top of your mountain and pour the egg into it.

Knead together the dough. It should be the right proportions so you don't need to add anything else to get a smooth dough. If it still is dry, you can add some water. If it's too wet, you can add some flour of course, but even with a pretty huge egg I didn't need to here.

Use about 2/3 of the dough for the base. Put a little bit of butter if needed in the baking dish, and spread the dough evenly in the bottom of the dish and about 1-2 cm up the sides.

Add apples. Lots of apples. Remember that it'll look like too much but it'll collapse a lot while cooking. Test a piece of apple, if it's a really sour one you could add some sugar as well. If it's very sweet you can even squeeze some lemon juice over to give it a bit of tartness, but otherwise just sprinkle with the vanilla sugar.

 Use the last 1/3 of the dough to create the grid over the top.

Cook at 200C in the oven for 20-30 minutes. It should be nicely golden when it's done, and not too hard.

Very nice when fresh from the oven with a bit of vanilla ice cream, but it's also tasty when cold :-)

Enjoy!

*Of course you can use the basic pie recipe and add other fruits... I think the tarter fruits work better with this base, but you can play to your heart's content!

The good things in life

1. A cup of tea

2. A helpful (in his mind) cat

3. Going to Kiskunfélegyháza to meet Peti

4. As wonderful as it was to receive a "just because" flower, the fact that it matched my current project just added another level of awesome

5. Finishing

stuff

6. As happy as I was to see this,

I'm even happier to see this:

Because it means that the temperature in my flat went from this:

to a much more bearable:

7. An enthusiastic welcoming committee when I get home, to round it off

Thoughts of autumn

The other day I started feeling autumn-ish. Maybe it's partially because it's finally getting a tiny bit cooler - though 27 C isn't exactly what I'd call freezing - and maybe it's the tree I saw that morning, starting to turn. My colleagues blame this on the heat, not the coming cold but a girl can dream, can't she?

Later I was reading a knitting blog and there was a picture of a teenager wearing a shawl. It looked so cosy that I wanted to make one too. It started me thinking about the feel and smells of autumn. I can close my eyes and smell the big bonfires, feel that delicious cold snap that wakes you up so well, feel the gentle rain on my face. I can remember getting wet and cold, then coming indoors to dry, warm clothes and the first wood fire of the season. If was really cold I could snuggle under a blanket with a hot chocolate, and just watch the flames play.

So many people complain about the coming cold and dark, but I love it. The dark is like a giant blanket, safe and comforting. The cold just makes you want to snuggle up close to your beloved. What's not to like?

Maybe part of the reason I'm rhapsodising about this is because this summer was so freakin' hot. At Balaton the temperature was between 35 and 41 degrees every day. And just to top it off, the water in the lake was 31C. I even took a picture to prove it!

So much for cooling off. I can hardly remember when I last felt slightly cold, even at night. And I kinda LIKE feeling a bit cold. I know, I'm weird. 

But apart from the heat (did I mention the heat?) I enjoyed the trip to Balaton. We spent the mornings at the house Peti's family had rented. Everything and everyone were moving slowly, except for Peti's nephew Balázs who at 2 and a bit years old is blessed (or cursed) with a perpetual passion for motion. And food. 

We spent the afternoons at the lakeside, either in the water or in the shade under the trees. I even tanned slightly! Shocking. 

On the last evening we played Dixit. Much fun was had, even though Peti thought his mum shouldn't have been able to beat us all that easily without even seeming to try. 

The house project is coming along nicely. We now have tiles everywhere, and it's looking puuurty. We've even got a bathtub, and the kitchen will be installed this Friday. Yay! 

In other news, I'm currently addicted to Doctor Who. I'm watching a few episodes every evening and enjoying it hugely. I'm starting to wonder if I should force Peti to watch a few too, just to see if I can get him into it as well. (You have been warned handsome!) And yes, Mike, you're still a meanie for getting me addicted. So there!

A bonus to all this sci-fi watching is I'm finishing the Zelda pullover and pretty fast too, considering I'm also making the Frosted Ferns Niebling as a wedding present for a friend. A top and a tablecloth in around 3 weeks is pretty cool I think. By the way, why is it that when people see this 

Frosted Ferns, at the edging knitting

they always ask if it's a hat? I'm trying to imagine the size of the head but my mind is blanking. Ah well. Better picture to follow when the project is finished. I dare anyone to ask if it's a hat THEN! 

Last weekend we went to the wedding of a friend of Peti. It was good - tasty food, fun music, lots of dancing, good company and even though there was no lack of available alcohol, nobody (that I could see) got sloppy drunk. I really like that about Hungarians - they don't need to get stupidly, belligerently drunk legless to have a good time at a party. A couple of days later I found myself randomly singing "nyolc óra munka, nyolc óra pihenés, nyolc óra szórakozás"*(link) to myself. I think I'm slowly turning Hungarian... or maybe just crazy. But then, that's nothing new. :-)

Inside the town hall in Kiskunfélegyháza

*8 hours working, 8 hours resting, 8 hours having fun. From what I gather, it's about the proper division of a day :-)

Almost another year gone by...

Presents galore

And what a year it's been! I'm so glad the past winter is done. Thankfully everyone made it through, more or less in one piece.
I have been knitting up a storm this past year. 12 presents knitted for Christmas, a jumper almost done then frogged (that'll teach me to knit without any pattern. Or swatch) and my first adventures in lace knitting. It's quite therapeutic somehow.

In January I went to England to take care of my mum a bit, try to feed her up. I like to think it helped a bit at least, even though it was still a long haul to wellness for her. I also started the first Christmas present for this year there (I'm learning!), which is finished and safely tucked away. 

Ludvik testing a christening present for softness

Little monster jumper :-)

I've since finished two christening presents, a just-because (pre-ordered) baby jumper, a shawl/scarf for myself and 2 more Christmas presents, and started my first Niebling! So far I feel optimistic about this year :-). I'm not sure what everyone else wants for Christmas though, and it feels strange asking before the summer holidays are over... but then I guess I've never claimed to be normal :-) and I guess the family will forgive me if it means handmade presents.

Niebling's Roswitha - around halfway point. Ish.

"Rose of England" in shawl form

In May I went to England again, after my mum's (hopefully final for a loooong time!) surgery. She needed more food and pampering :-). We had a very nice visit, spending lots of time chatting while doing some sort of handiwork. Guess what kind I did!
I also had a chance to meet up with Tor and Louise (and their daughters) both times I was in England. They're such sweethearts! I've been so blessed in all my friendships :-)
While I was in England, both my mum's sisters came too. I've not seen them for... way too long.

We went for a little walk up the Whiteleaf cross, and I got some lovely presents (hand made no less!) from my aunt Astri. I wish I could paint like that!

Margaret bridge in the flood

Lately I'm in to cycling a lot. On Monday (when it was 39 C) I thought I'd combine it with a yarn hunt, I wanted to start knitting the Zelda (link) top from White lies, it's puuuurty :-) I cycled to the nearest yarn shop, which was on the south end of the Margit Sziget (Margaret Island). I got there and it was closed, so I thought I'd go for the next closest one. about 3.5 kilometres away. I plotted in the route so I wouldn't end up in the wrong city or something, and set off. I must admit I mostly ignored the route plotted for me, just checked I was heading in the right direction. I swear they were putting up roadworks as soon as they saw me getting near though... or they're rebuilding the city or something :-)

I got to the second yarn shop... 5 minutes after closing. So I decided to treat this as an outing, and cycled home in roughly the right direction :-) By the time I got home it was just over 20 KM, feeling like I was cycling through a hair-drier the whole way... I guess I'll get used to it eventually :-)

Hungarian Parliament in flood

Yarny goodness :-)

 I went back to the yarn shop the day after and told the woman there about Monday's trip. She seemed pleased that the other shop was closed too, for some strange reason she likes me coming in :-).
At least I got some nice yarn for my trouble, and now I've  got a pretty project on the needles. Yay!

The house project is proceeding apace. Peti is working hard to make sure it all is done to his standards. I never realized before how many details need to be decided on! But finally most of the decisions have been made. I THINK. I can't wait till it's all done! Budapest is great, and I've got wonderful friends and a good job here, but it'll be exciting to start the next phase too :-)

This weekend I'll be staying in Budapest. One of two things will happen. If it's not too warm I'm going to go for a bike ride, maybe to Szentendre like last weekend, and either way a lot of knitting will occur. Some Jane Austen might also be involved. Poor me.

Last night, I couldn't sleep. Might this be part of the reason do you think? :-D

I'm waaatching youuuu... :-D

Year in review

So I suddenly realised that it's been almost a year since I came here, and I happened to have a weekend where I was not meeting up with Peti (boys' night out... it seems he had fun :-)) and since I've been a lazy so-and-so all weekend I've actually got some energy now. Yay!

So... the first year has been fun. There was Christmas with Peti's family (and lots of tasty food) and going to Norway in February (and lots of tasty food) and Easter in Hungary (and, yep, lots of tasty food).

For Easter in Hungary there is a tradition that the boys go around the houses and sprinkle the girls with perfume or water. The girls then give the boys chocolate or money. To honour my first Easter in Hungary, Peti thought he would wake me up by filling one of those soda spritzers with water and spray it all over me to wake me up. Imagine his disappointment when, instead of going EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK like he expected, I just mumbled "Hey!" and pulled the covers back over me. He thought his evilness deserved a little scream at least. (Chortle) I told him that after being woken up in many inventive ways by the cat, nothing as little as water is going to make me scream. :-D Now I wonder what he's got planned for next year...

Also, my mum visited me a couple of times, and my dad and Anne-Grethe as well, it was so nice to have them here! One of the times my mum brought Willy who was very agreeably surprised at the prices of beer here... :-) So far it seems everyone approves of Hungary!

I've also gotten into knitting more than before, it used to be more embroidery, now it's almost allll knitting. The result is quite cool when I look back on it. OK the shawl is crocheted not knitted (which is also kinda cool cause it was a first try). I also finished some things I forgot to take pictures of, made 2 of that little norwegian pattern jumper, and I ripped up a jumper when I was almost done cause it was just not gonna work. Still figuring out what to do with that yarn... what a horrible dilemma :-)

Now I'm working on a jumper for Peti which looks more like a poncho at the moment cause I'm knitting it from top down. I also decided to try out lace knitting for the first time, and after swearing my way through the first few rows (think 3 knitting needles with 2 stitches on each needle) it's quite fun actually :-) Of course right now it looks weird and everyone is asking me if it's a hat or something, but I'm sure when I take it off the needles it'll turn into a nice tablecloth... fingers crossed :-)

I've also gotten into cycling lately, there are some really cool places to go in Budapest and Kiskunfélegyháza by bike. The other weekend Peti and a friend of his (Gabor) and me went up into the hills in Budapest by tram and cycled downhill (wheeeeeee!) and the views at the top were stunning! We cycled around 42 km that day, and even though a lot of it was downhill there were some up-hills to puff me a bit too :-)

The temperatures are finally starting to drop slightly, which is a life-saver for me. I think I will need a few more years to get used to 40 C, even with the humidity low! Peti says that now I can say I have survived my first summer in Hungary though... yay! Do I get a medal? Or at least a little commemorative plaque?:-D

Peti and his family invited me to their yearly holiday to lake Balaton. It was 5 days of sunbathing and swimming in the lake. Horrible. I don't know how I could stand it :-D

We also went to a place along the lake called Badacsony which is a famous wine region. We walked up a loooooong road amid the vineyards, and stopped at various wine cellars for refreshment on the way. Then we had a little bite to eat and walked down again, buying some home made wine on the way down. Peti bought a 1 1/2 l bottle for something like 1700 HUF... so, something like 40 NOK? And it was really tasty wine too, and this is ME speaking :-)

Our destination is the place far in the distance... behind the white house 

But you gotta love the views!

A well-earned refreshing drink :-)

Oh and Ludvik is really stressed. I don't know how he'll take this pace... can you tell?

Lots of love,

Eva