....Kakemenn
A few weeks ago we had my mum and dad over from Norway, and my mum taught me and little Miss Moo how to make Norwegian Christmas cookies: "kakemenn".
In Norway, you know Christmas is coming when the bakeries start selling "kakemenn", and they are a Children's favourite, simple and sweet in flavour, and shaped like little men and women.
They are also very easy to make, and Norwegians make big batches of these, not just for munching on whilst doing some Christmas crafting, but also to be decorated and hung up on the Christmas tree...
They also make a lovely gift, to a friend or neighbour....
Today I am sharing my mum's kakemenn recipe as well as how to turn them into a beautiful and tasty gift....with some simple DIY gift-tags!
KAKEMENN RECIPE:
100 g Unsalted butter
4 medium Egg-whites
2 dl sugar
8 - 8 1/2 dl flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Melt, then cool down the butter.
Whisk the egg-whites and sugar together, then add the cooled-down butter.
Stir well.
Add the baking powder to the flour, then gradually mix it into the liquid, until a dough is formed.
Towards the end the dough needs to be kneaded on a floured surface until even...
Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge to harden for at least 1 hour, or until you are ready to start baking...
My mum and little Miss Moo ready to start rolling out the dough.
Little Miss Moo loves baking cakes, and these are easy and fun to do with the kids!!
Split the dough into manageable chunks, and roll out 1 at the time to approximately 3-4 mm thick.
Kids may need some help here, to ensure the dough is rolled out evenly...
Time to get your cookie-cutters out!
Kakemenn is traditionally, as mentioned above, shaped like men and women, and I am lucky to have inherited my mormor's (grans) old cookie-cutters...but just use whatever shapes you've got!
If you haven't got any cookie cutters, just use a knife and cut the rolled out dough into squares...
Little Miss Moo got creative and used a variety of shapes....
....whatever makes it fun!!
Place your cut out cookies on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook in a preheated oven, 100-125 degrees centigrade for20-25 minutes...
The cookies will rise slightly, but should not really change colour...
Leave to cool...
A little taste...
MAKE IT A GIFT
I bought some Kilner jars from the local super-market, and stuffed them full of homemade cookies...
Before jazzing them up with some paper doilies, snowflake window stickers (I found these in the pound-shop) and some ribbons with some DIY gift-tags:
DIY GIFT-TAGS
I glued some of my vintage decoupage images onto some card board...(an old cereal box will do), then cut them out and used a hole-punch to make a hole so I could thread through the ribbon...
Pretty.....and pretty easy!!
A perfect little hostess-gift!
...or as a little Seasons greetings to your children's favourite teacher...
Or maybe you have a friend or neighbour that deserves a little pre Christmas treat!!
Christmas is coming around fast, and its easy to get stressed around this time of year....Sooo much to do!!
The advice I give myself is always: Try to enjoy yourself!!
(I may have to repeat as a mantra in the coming weeks)
If you are all done with your Christmas gift shopping: Congratulations!! (I've not even started)
If not, and you are still looking for that perfect gift, pop back next week, as I will be sharing my ETSY gift guides and showing you a few DIY gift ideas, so stay tuned!
xxx
June
