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Cinnamon Stars
The cinnamon star is found in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. It is another typical Christmas biscuit. Cinnamon stars are sweet almond biscuits with a distinct cinnamon flavour. They are usually coated with a white egg-white sugar icing. Cinnamon stars are said to have existed as early as the 16th century, but as cinnamon was precious, the biscuits were found among the aristocracy. Recipes were not published until the 18th century.
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Mailänderli
Mailänderli are the best known Christmas biscuits in Switzerland, they are based on butter, flour and sugar. The shortcrust pastry is cut out with different shapes and brushed with egg yolk before baking. It also usually contains lemon zest, which gives it a subtle freshness. The recipe first appeared in the 18th century and was already popular then.
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Basler Brunsli
The Basler Brunsli is a brown Christmas biscuit with a strong connection to Basel. Hence the name, as the word “Brunsli” comes from the Alemannic “bruun” for brown. The biscuit is mentioned earlier in Winterthur, but the recipe was first published in 1750 by Eugen A. Meyer in Basel. Since then it has been considered one of the most important biscuits in the Basel area, along with Leckerli and Anisbrötchen. There it is not only eaten at Christmas time, but also at other festivities such as weddings, for example. The dough, based on almonds and chocolate, is coarse, dry on the outside and moist on the inside.
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Totenbeinli
Totenbeinli (literally: small dead legs) are Christmas biscuits that are particularly characterised by their hazelnut flavour. They are therefore sometimes also called Nussstängeli (literally: small nut bars). This pastry originates from Graubünden and used to be served at funeral feasts. Hence the macabre name. Today they are one of the classic Swiss Christmas biscuits.
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Sugar Free Carrot Cake
This book of my grandmother contains recipes and household hacks. A surprising number of recipes are vegetarian or vegan because, among other things, meat and dairy products were scarce. This gave me the idea to try out a few and make them accessible again by publishing the veganised versions. The first one is the Rüeblitorte, which should not be missing in any Swiss standard book. If you would like to see more recipes of this book, please let me know. The current situation with the increasingly noticeable shortage of food and many other articles of daily use confronts the housewife of all classes and sections of the population with extraordinarily…
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vegan “Magenbrot”
Unfortunately, “Magenbrot” is not usually vegan. Although it would be really simple to veganize. I had already tried to make “Magenbrot” myself years ago, when I was not yet vegan, but it didn’t work. I got the base for this recipe from vegallen, a recipe that works. This year, however, I have made it not only gluten-free but sugar-reduced as well. Furthermore, I have made some other changes. Have fun trying it out! Magenbrot is a small, sweet glazedbiscuit that shares many similarities with a gingerbread cookie. The name of the dish directly translates to “stomach-bread” as it is believed to help improve digestion. Wikipedia
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Pastel de Cacao con Chocolate
Apart from bananas, a lot of cocoa is grown in Ecuador, and so it is not surprising that there is chocolate cake in Ecuador.