Wednesday: Joulupipari

This is what you need. And the beer was for me not for the dough ;D I wanted some Glühwein and unfortunately didn't have any at hand but the cuban beer was also a nice companion for my baking.

In Finland we call these cookies joulupipari or piparkakku and pretty much every family bakes/buys some for the Advent time and Christmas. When I was a kid in my family we used to bake the first joulupiparis for the beginning of the December because then my sister has her birthday. Nowadays I pretty much do the same and bake them during the first week of December.

Piparkakku is a bit similar to a gingerbread and lebkuchen. The Finnish piparkakku probably originates form the German Lebkuchen. The Swedish pepparkaka is pretty much the same thing as piparkakku...so, if you are too lazy to try this recipe yourself you can drive to the closest Ikea and by them there ;D I, of course, claim that mine are about thousand times better than the ones in Ikea :D One warning I should give thoug: The Piparkakku dough is extremely addictive and you might end up eating a great deal of it.

I always have an observer in the kitchen

I have been using the same recipe already for many years. I think it originates from a recipe booklet of Finnish dairy company Valio but I'm not 100 procent sure. And by the way, for those looking for Piment/maustepippuri in Switzerland, I bought mine at Globus delicatessen store.

Joulupipari

2 dl molasses (Switzerland from Coop: Véron tres bon)

2 tsp cinnamon, grinded

1 tsp allspice/piment, grinded

1 tsp clove, grinded

1 tsp ginger, grinded

400 g butter

5 dl sugar

1 egg

2 dl cream

3 tsp baking soda (Switzerland from Coop: Natron)

14 dl wheat flour (In Switzerland + 1 dl)

* Heat up the molasses, add all the spices and mix well. Cool down

* Cream the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment

* Add the egg while continuing to mix with the paddle attachment

* Add the molasses and cream and mix well

* Add the flour to which the soda is mixed. Avoid unnecessary kneading.

* Place the dough in the fridge over night.

* Roll out the dough thin.

*Cut the desired sizes and shapes.

* Bake in 200 C for about 8 min.

You will need a rolling pinn and various different cutters. Piparkakku can be of any shape or size.

Cutting out piparkakku of a cat shape

Ready for the oven

Ready to eat

In Finland we also prepare Christmas tree decorations from the Piparkakku dough. Normally they are the shape of a big heart with a name on them. Before baking you should do a small hole on the top so that later you can tie a ribbon to it.