Christmas Cookie Making number 4 and a little crafting too!

10th December

The fourth cookie I have made for Christmas this year is the Krumkaker.  There is no order to the cookie making, nor is there a definite seven.  The Norwegians have many of these 'småkaker' (small cakes) as they call them and it is down to each families own choice and taste as to which they make.  In the modern, busy world that we live in many do not now actually make seven biscuits during the Advent season, but most do make the pepperkake, the first of the biscuits I made this year (see earlier posting.)




Krumkaker hot iron plate and wooden conical mould





I believe Krumkaker to be uniquely Norwegian and they grace many a Christmas table.  They are made on a special hot iron plate with indented intricate patterns and then whilst hot and soft, moulded round a conical wooden handle to form a cornet shape. Sometimes they can be moulded on an upturned glass, so as to form a bowl shape.  Once cooled, these delicate small cakes are traditionally filled with whipped cream and mølte, the closet thing we have here in the UK are cloud berries from Scotland. 

 

 

 

Mølte, otherwise thought of as 'gold'

These delicate orange berries, which look a little like raspberries are known as 'gold' in the food world of Norway, along with of course the 'forest gold' known otherwise as Chanterelle!  The annual mølte season is always a focal point in the late summer calender . Even close relatives will guard their knowledge from one hytte (summer cottage) plot to the next.   Mølte usually grow in small patches, and as such, are treated with far greater respect than other type of wild berry.




Krumkaker makes 32
250g butter melted and slightly cooled
4 eggs
250g sugar
1 tsp ground cardamon
200g plain flour

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• Melt the butter in a pan, then take off the heat and cool whilst beginning on the next step.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar until thick and frothy.
• Add sifted flour, cardamon and cooled butter and mix well.
   
   

For krumkaker, you only need a table spoon of the mixture on the hot iron, anymore and it will spill over the edges. 
Cook until a light golden brown colour. 
Remove from heat and place on a tea towel. 
Add new mixture to iron. 
Meanwhile carefully roll cooked krumkaker around the wooden mould and hold until cooled and hardened, a few seconds only. 
Now you should be ready to remove the next one from the iron. 
Continue until all mixture has been used. 
Alternatively instead of moulding the krumkaker on the wooden mould, you can use an upside down glass and drape the cooked krumkaker over it to form a bowl. 
See the photo with the cream and blueberries.

 

Most of you will not have a krumkaker iron plate, so the only thing you can do is to make them into a scotch pancake on a hot griddle.  The taste of these are so lovely; a lot to do with the fact the mixture is whisked till the egg and sugar is so stiff and of course the all important cardamon, do NOT leave this out.  Serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.

 

 

Kremmerhus (cornet)  are also to be found all over Norway during Advent.  These can be made from anyting such as paper, card, felt, material and even the krumkaker are a variation of a kremmerhus in an edible form.  Kremmerhus were orgiganlly given out by shops to carry home goods, small items especially from the habedashery, such as needles and thread, but also from hardware store for nuts, bolts and nails.  The kremmerhus was always made of paper rollled into a cornet shape.  Orignally these did not have handles, that came much later.

 

 

 

Kremmerhus are very easy to make and are traditional like the woven hearts shown on a previous posting.  They are hung on the Christmas tree, filled with nuts, raisons or sweets.  Colours can vary to anything that takes your fancy, but traditionally the colours are red and white.

 

 

Instructions for making kremmerhus

 

To make the template, draw round a large plate on paper. I tend to use an eighth section as in the photograph, but you can use a quarter of the circle, making the overlap join a little bigger for gluing or sewing if you prefer.

 

 

Place template on the fabric (I tend to use felt as it is pliable, strong and stiff enough and does not need hemming!) and cut out.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                          

On the template draw your desired design, as always I think simple is more elegant and stylistic then

begin sewing design on the kremmerhus. Here I have used 6 strands of embroidery thread, to give the line a stronger look.

 

Once the design is sewn on, you can now begin to sew the edge of the kremmerhus.  I use blanket stitch as I think it adds to the design, but there is nothing stopping you using running stitch, back stitch or even gluing it!

 

 

Finally, cut a thin strip of your material and sew each end onto the side of your kremmerhus.

You should now have a beautiful Scandinavian decorative Christmas kremmerhus. Just fill with sweets and hang on the tree.

 

You can use any type of material, in this photgraph the kremmerhus are made from just everyday A4 paper used for daily prinitng.  Obviously it is not strong, but is such a cheap, fun and Scandi way to make decorations with or without children!

 ♥So there you have both edible and decorative makes today, hope you have enjoyed visiting and thank you for coming along.  You are most welcome to pop back soon ♥