Sometimes in winter, when I don’t know what to cook, I go down into my basement to look at all my jars of homemade preserves. And I’ve always found an inspiration there! One of the most versatile staples there is sauerkraut. Have you ever tried it in pastry? Today, I’m going to share one of my favourite recipes: authentic Bavarian sauerkraut strudel.
As Bavarians, we often eat sauerkraut together with fried sausages, of course. But there are so many other ways to use it! This strudel will soon become one of your go-to recipes, too. The crispy dough, the juicy filling and the wonderful combination of flavours will leave your family and guests begging for more.
What is Bavarian Sauerkraut Strudel?
Strudel is a wonderful dish. Honestly, if we hadn’t already got it, somebody would have to invent it. You can put anything on strudel dough — apples, sauerkraut, potatoes, or fish — wrap it up, and bake it in the oven. In this case, we have crispy strudel dough with a savoury sauerkraut filling.
This sauerkraut strudel recipe makes for a perfect weekday winter dish. The rich, hearty filling makes it a down-to-earth, warming comfort food. And using homemade sauerkraut is the cherry on top!
In Bavaria, we eat this strudel as a main dish. You can serve it with a cream sauce and a fresh seasonal salad like lamb’s lettuce, beetroot or carrot salad.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the dough
Strudel dough is easy to make. You just need
250 g flour: all-purpose flour is best, make sure it’s not self-raising
1 egg, free-range
1/8 l lukewarm water
2 tbsp vinegar and
1 tbsp oil or melted butter
a pinch of salt
Mix everything and let it rest for half an hour before you thinly stretch it out.
Instead of making the dough from scratch, you can buy a ready-made version, but make sure it’s a high-quality product. Honestly, making the dough is a matter of minutes, and while it rests, you can prepare the filling. There’s almost no time-gain in buying one.
For the filling
For the rich, savoury filling you need
750 g sauerkraut (that’s one large jar): use your homemade staple, if you have one or a good store-bought one. Quality matters!
1 large onion
200 g sour cream
200 g bacon ( you can leave the bacon out for a vegetarian dish)
salt, pepper, and
1 tbsp caraway seeds
Bavarian Sauerkraut Strudel Recipe: Step-by-Step
We start by preparing the dough, as it has to rest for about half an hour.
Making the strudel dough
Weigh the flour and put it into a bowl. Now add the egg, the salt, vinegar and oil or melted butter. Warm the water until it’s lukewarm and slowly pour it into the mix. Don’t add all the water in one go, but rather mix the dough and add water as necessary. Depending on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen, you need less or more water.
Mix the ingredients thoroughly and knead the dough
In this post, I describe in detail how to make strudel dough. If you prefer watching a video, look here:
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Now, the dough has to rest for about half an hour. Just put it back into the bowl and cover it with a second bowl so that it won’t dry out.
As I said before, you can also use store-bought dough, either strudel dough or puff pastry dough. Phyllo/filo dough is an alternative, as well; you just have to “glue” the sheets with oil on top of each other.
Preparing the Filling
Finely chop the onion and cut the bacon into small squares or strips. Heat a skillet and cook the bacon until the fat is released. When the bacon has become bright and glassy, add the chopped onions and stir the mixture until the onions are glassy, as well.
When the bacon becomes glassy like that, add the onions
Let it all cool down and put the bacon-onion mix in a bowl.
If your sauerkraut has a lot of brine, drain it first. Mine is usually fine without draining since I ferment it with less liquid. Now, add the sauerkraut, the sour cream, pepper and caraway seeds to the bacon and onion mix and stir it together. Don’t add salt yet. Due to the sauerkraut and the bacon, it could be salty enough already. Taste the filling and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Assembling the Sauerkraut Strudel
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (355 °F) top/bottom heat or 160 °C (320 °F) fan oven.
Dust a kitchen towel with some flour and roll the dough out on it. Then stretch it out with your hands as shown in the video until it’s very thin.
Start pulling the dough carefully at the edges with your fingers.
Spread the filling evenly onto the dough, leaving about 1 inch from the edges free.
Fold in one inch of the dough on the short edges. Now start rolling the strudel by carefully lifting the kitchen towel and letting the dough roll more or less by itself.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and put the strudel onto it.
Bavarian sauerkraut strudel, ready for the oven. Larger than life – or rather larger than the tray. Had to bend the strudel to put it onto the baking tray.
Mix one egg with a bit of water in a bowl and brush the strudel with it. Alternatively, you can brush it with melted butter or oil.
Baking
Put the strudel into the preheated oven (remember? It’s 180 °C / 355 °F top/bottom heat or 160 °C/320 °F fan oven) and bake it for 40 – 45 minutes.
You know that it’s done when the surface is crisp and has turned into a beautiful golden brown. When the strudel becomes suspiciously dark before the end of the baking time, cover it with baking paper or aluminium foil. It’ll still bake but won’t get too dark.
When the strudel is done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 2 minutes. This helps the filling settle and allows any juice that’s leaked out to be reabsorbed into the dough.
Sauerkraut strudel fresh from the oven
Serve the sauerkraut strudel while it’s still hot.
Traditional Bavarian Sauerkraut Strudel
Crispy strudel dough filled with tangy sauerkraut, bacon, and caraway seeds. This traditional Bavarian comfort food is perfect for cold winter evenings and makes a satisfying main dish.
Weigh the flour and put it into a bowl. Now add the egg, the salt, vinegar and oil or melted butter. Warm the water until it's lukewarm and slowly pour it into the mix. Don't add all the water in one go, but rather mix the dough and add water as necessary. Depending on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen, you need less or more water.
Now, the dough has to rest for about half an hour. Just put it back into the bowl and cover it with a second bowl so that it won't dry out.
In the meantime, finely chop the onion and cut the bacon into small squares or strips. Heat a skillet and cook the bacon until the fat is released. When the bacon has become bright and glassy, add the chopped onions and stir the mixture until the onions are glassy, as well.
Let it all cool down and put the bacon-onion mix in a bowl.
If your sauerkraut has a lot of brine, drain it first. Mine is usually fine without draining since I ferment it with less liquid. Now, add the sauerkraut, the sour cream, pepper and caraway seeds to the bacon and onion mix and stir it together. Don't add salt yet. Due to the sauerkraut and the bacon, it could be salty enough already. Taste the filling and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (355 °F) top/bottom heat or 160 °C (320 °F) fan oven.
Dust a kitchen towel with some flour and roll the dough out on it. Then stretch it out with your hands as shown in the video until it's very thin.
Spread the filling evenly onto the dough, leaving about 1 inch from the edges free.
Fold in one inch of the dough on the short edges. Now start rolling the strudel by carefully lifting the kitchen towel and letting the dough roll more or less by itself.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and put the strudel onto it.
Mix one egg with a bit of water in a bowl and brush the strudel with it. Alternatively, you can brush it with melted butter or oil.
Put the strudel into the preheated oven and bake it for 40 - 45 minutes.
You know that it's done when the surface is crisp and has turned into a beautiful golden brown. When the strudel becomes suspiciously dark before the end of the baking time, cover it with baking paper or aluminium foil. It'll still bake but won't get too dark.
When the strudel is done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 2 minutes. This helps the filling settle and allows any juice that's leaked out to be reabsorbed into the dough.
Serve the sauerkraut strudel while it's still hot.
Notes
Serve this traditional sauerkraut strudel as is or with a cream sauce and seasonal salad.
Variations
This recipe is the basic version of a traditional Bavarian sauerkraut strudel. However, there are several variations you may want to try.
Red cabbage strudel
A festive, slightly sweet variation perfect for holidays
Instead of sauerkraut, use 750 g fermented red cabbage for the filling. Leave out the bacon and add some roughly chopped cooked chestnuts instead. For a touch of fruit, either add some orange zest or add roughly chopped baked apples and a generous pinch of cinnamon.
Heartier version with vegetables
Makes the strudel more filling and hearty
Leave the filling as it is, but add 200 g of pre-cooked, peeled and roughly chopped potatoes or carrots. You can also put the carrots in raw, but finely grated.
Different meat options
Use up leftovers or add more protein.
Instead of bacon, add roughly chopped or whole raw frying sausages, ground pork or meat leftovers.
Mediterranean twist
For a Mediterranean version, leave out the caraway seeds and instead add 100 g dried tomatoes and thyme, oregano and ground paprika to taste.
Oriental version
If you prefer an oriental touch, add sesame, 1 -2 tsp of chilli powder, ground cumin and nutmeg.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use store-bought dough?
Absolutely. Look for strudel dough, puff pastry or phyllo leaves.
How do I store leftovers?
You can store leftovers in your kitchen at room temperature for one day or in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Can I freeze sauerkraut strudel?
Yes, you can freeze the strudel raw or baked. To defrost, put the strudel out of the freezer and let it sit at room temperature overnight. Heat it in the oven before eating.
What type of sauerkraut works best?
Homemade sauerkraut is always the best option, of course. If you want to use store-bought sauerkraut, look for a fermented, organic product.
Can I make it ahead?
Good idea! To make the strudel one day ahead, there are two options:
Fill, roll and bake the strudel, then let it cool down completely. Wrap it in cling film or put it in an airtight container and store it in the fridge overnight. Before serving, heat the sauerkraut strudel in the oven.
Fill and roll the strudel and put it on the baking tray. It’s important that the filling is not too moist. Brush the raw strudel with melted butter to prevent soaking through. Loosely cover the strudel with cling film and store it in the fridge overnight. Due to cooling, the dough becomes denser and needs some extra minutes to bake the next day.
Time To Bake Your Own Sauerkraut Strudel
Traditional Bavarian sauerkraut strudel is a wonderful winter dish that warms the belly and the soul. It grounds us with its down-to-earth, hearty flavours and transforms simple preserved cabbage into something truly special.
Whether you make the traditional version with bacon and caraway or experiment with one of the variations, this strudel is sure to become a cold-weather favourite. The crispy golden crust and tangy, savoury filling never fail to impress—and your kitchen will smell absolutely amazing while it bakes!
I’d love to hear how your sauerkraut strudel turns out! Which version did you try? Did you make the dough from scratch or use a store-bought option? Share your experience in the comments below, and don’t forget to check out my other traditional Bavarian recipes for more warming winter inspiration.
Happy baking, and enjoy every crispy, flavorful bite!
Love cooking as much as I do? You’ll like these recipes:
I’ll make a prediction: once you’ve tried this recipe for orange Christmas cookies, they’ll become your favourites! They’re soft and chewy and taste incredibly citrusy while looking elegant and festive enough to jazz up every cookie plate. And the secret to their incredible orange flavour? It’s actually two secrets: homemade candied orange peel and my homemade non-bitter orange marmalade.
Here’s everything you need to make these show-stopping cookies.
What You Need for Orange Christmas Cookies
Base Cookie Ingredients
Basically, this recipe is a shortcrust, so we need
Butter
It should be right out of the fridge and thus cold. The trick to making it pliable enough to mix the dough is to grate the butter block on a cheese grater. That way, the butter is broken up into small flakes while staying cold.
Flour
All-purpose flour is the flour of choice here.
Almonds
The recipe calls for ground almonds. Whether you use peeled or unpeeled almonds is up to you; the taste is the same, it’s more of an aesthetic decision: with unpeeled almonds, the dough becomes a bit “speckled” while it stays brightly yellow with peeled almonds.
Icing sugar
Granulated sugar doesn’t dissolve well enough in the dough, which is why this recipe calls for powdered (icing) sugar.
Egg
You need one medium-sized egg, if possible from free-range chicken.
Vanilla
The seed of one vanilla pod adds a warm, velvety flavour to the cookies, counterbalancing the tangy orange taste.
Orange Flavour Ingredients
Now for the (obvious) star ingredients for these orange Christmas cookies:
Fresh Oranges
Grate the peel of two oranges for this recipe and mix it into the dough. The fresh essential oils that evaporate from the peel when it’s freshly grated add tanginess to the cookie dough.
Grate the butter into a bowl, add the icing sugar and mix it in a food processor until the butter becomes soft and lighter.
Chop your homemade candied orange peel into tiny pieces.
Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.
Wash the oranges under hot water, dry them and grate their zest off.
Add the vanilla seeds, candied orange peel and orange zest to the butter and mix it all in.
Weigh the flour and almonds and add them to the butter mix.
Add the egg and knead it all together until you have a homogeneous dough. Work quickly here; you don’t want the dough to become too warm.
Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours, better overnight.
Preheat your oven to 160 °C (320°F) top and bottom heat or 140 °C (285°F) fan.
Roll out the dough about 3 mm thick and cut out round cookies with a diameter of about 3 cm.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and put the cookies onto it. Leave some room in between so that they won’t glue together.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes. They should be baked through and golden. Don’t let them brown.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool down completely.
Carefully melt the chocolate and dip half of the cookies halfway into it. If you like, you can decorate the chocolate-dipped cookies with orange zest or candied orange peels.
Spread homemade non-bitter orange marmalade on the undipped cookies and set the chocolate ones on top.
Orange Christmas Cookies
These are the best orange Christmas cookies you'll ever taste! Soft, loaded with orange flavour and elegant.
Grate the butter into a bowl, add the icing sugar and mix it in a food processor until the butter becomes soft and lighter.
Chop your homemade candied orange peel into tiny pieces.
Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.
Wash the oranges under hot water, dry them and grate their zest off.
Add the vanilla seeds, candied orange peel and orange zest to the butter and mix it all in.
Weigh the flour and almonds and add them to the butter mix.
Add the egg and knead it all together until you have a homogeneous dough. Work fast here, you don't want the dough to become too warm.
Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours, better overnight.
Preheat your oven to 160 °C (320°F) top and bottom heat or 140 °C (285°F) fan.
Roll out the dough about 3 mm thick and cut out round cookies with a diameter of about 3 cm.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and put the cookies onto it. Leave some room in between so that they won't glue together.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes. They should be baked through and golden. Don't let them brown.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool down completely.
Carefully melt the chocolate and dip half of the cookies halfway into it. If you like, you can decorate the chocolate-dipped cookies with orange zest or candied orange peels.
Spread homemade non-bitter orange marmalade on the undipped cookies and set the chocolate-decorated ones on top.
FAQs
Can I freeze these cookies?
Yes, but only the plain cookies without marmalade filling and decoration.
Let the cookies cool down completely before putting them into a freezer bag or an airtight container. If you use a container, put some baking paper between layers so that the cookies won’t stick together.
Baked cookies can be stored in the freezer for 3 months. Filled, decorated and stored in a tightly closed cookie box, these orange Christmas cookies will stay tasty for about 2 – 3 weeks. They won’t last that long, however, as they’re too yummy to resist.
If you want to keep them longer, store them plain, that is, without marmalade filling and chocolate decoration in the cookie box and assemble them later.
Can I make the dough ahead of time?
Yes. Wrap the dough in cling film and store it for up to one week in the fridge. Alternatively, you can freeze cookie dough for about 2 months. Before baking, let it defrost at room temperature.
Why does the dough need to rest for 3 hours (or overnight)?
Letting the dough rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours is an essential step in cookie baking and must not be skipped!
During that time, the dough cools down “to the marrow”, and that helps the cookies keep their shape when being baked. If the dough is too warm, the cookies will melt and become some unsightly puddles.
While you’re rolling out one batch of the dough, put the rest of it in the fridge.
Can I use store-bought candied peel/marmalade?
Yes, but the taste will not be as good as with homemade products 😏. If using store-bought, look for high-quality products without artificial flavouring.
Can I substitute the almonds?
If you’re allergic to nuts, leave out the almonds and add flour in the same amount. Note that the texture will be slightly different – the cookies may be a bit more crumbly without the almonds’ natural oils.
Can I skip the chocolate?
You could, but the (dark) chocolate pairs exceptionally well with the tangy orange flavour. As an alternative to the chocolate dip, mix a cup of icing sugar with 1 – 2 tablespoons of orange juice or orange liqueur (for example Grand Marnier) and brush it on the top cookie.
Why is my dough too crumbly/sticky?
Sometimes, the egg is too large or small and thus provides too little or too much moisture for the dough. So, if your dough is too sticky, add a bit of flour or almonds and knead the dough quickly.
If your dough is too sticky after adding flour, it might also be too warm – chill it for 30 minutes before continuing.
If your dough is too crumbly, add 1 – 2 tablespoons of (soft) butter. Again, let the dough rest in the fridge before rolling it out.
How thick should I spread the marmalade?
Put a small dollop of marmalade, about the size of a pea, in the middle of the cookie and stick the chocolate-dipped cookie on top of it. When you press them gently together, the marmalade will spread to the edges without spilling and making a mess.
Perfect Orange Christmas Cookies Every Time
These orange Christmas cookies have a way of disappearing quickly from cookie plates – their bright citrus flavour and soft texture make them irresistible. Whether you’re baking for a holiday gathering or simply treating yourself to something special, I hope they bring a little extra joy to your season. Happy baking!
While I’m quite open to trying out new recipes when it comes to cookies, I won’t negotiate my favourite Christmas dessert: Christmas pudding. Today, I’m sharing my tried-and-tested homemade Christmas pudding recipe that I’ve refined for years.
This rich, chewy and flavourful mother of all Christmas desserts (at least in my opinion) is so much better than anything store-bought. It contains an array of dried fruit, and it’s bursting with the Christmassy flavours of warming spices, brandy and tangy citrus. Better yet, it’s also an impressive show-stopper that’ll awe your family and guests.
The only catch is that it needs at least 4 weeks to mature. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s make a Christmas pudding that’ll become your new family tradition!
The History of Christmas Pudding
First, let’s explore the tradition behind this beloved dessert, then I’ll break down the key ingredients.
Traditionally, Christmas pudding was made on Stir-up Sunday, the last Sunday before the start of Advent. That way, it leaves the pudding enough time to mature and develop its wonderful flavours.
Stir-up Sunday got its name from an Anglican prayer, recited in the churches on this day, asking God to “stir up” the hearts of the faithful. Over time, it became associated with the stirring of the Christmas pudding.
The tradition of making the Christmas pudding on Stir-up Sunday likely started in Victorian times. The family gathered in the kitchen and took turns to stir the pudding while making a wish for the upcoming year. This wasn’t only about cooking, it was about celebrating the start of the Christmas season and creating memories together.
Sometimes, a coin or a trinket was stirred into the pudding, predicting good luck in the New Year for the person who found it in their piece on Christmas Day. In my family, we refrain from adding anything other than edibles to the pudding. I don’t want to risk a broken tooth for anyone…
On Christmas Day, the pudding is decorated with a sprig of holly to represent Jesus’ thorn crown. Add a little bit of warm brandy and light the pudding before proudly carrying it to the family table.
Now that we know the tradition, let’s see what goes in a good Christmas pudding:
Key Ingredients for Traditional Christmas Pudding
Fruit mix
Traditional Christmas pudding contains loads of different dried fruit. I prefer the mixture I describe in the recipe, but you can alter the fruits and/or their amounts. Just make sure that in the end, you have the same overall amount of dried fruit. You’ll need 550 grams total of dried fruit (plus candied orange and lemon peels separately)
If you can’t get dried cherries, for example, you can easily swap them for dried cranberries. Or you leave out the dried apricots and try dried apples or pears instead.
Spices
Although you can juggle with the fruits if you want, don’t alter the spices. The blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger is what makes this recipe so unique and special. There’s nothing quite like this combination of warming Christmas spices that fills your kitchen with the most wonderful aroma while it steams.
Suet
Suet is beef or mutton fat from around the kidneys, which is usually sold shredded or in blocks. Here in Germany, I can get it at the butcher’s; I just need to call in advance and pre-order it. Sometimes you can find suet in the supermarket meat section, in speciality stores or even online.
There are many recipes that use butter, vegetable shortening or even oil for Christmas pudding. I strongly recommend, however, to always use suet, not butter or oil! Suet is in the recipe for a reason: it needs a relatively high temperature to melt. When the pudding gets steamed for hours in a hot water bath, the suet melts very slowly and distributes evenly throughout the pudding as it melts.
When you use butter, shortening or oil, it’ll pool at the bottom of the pudding bowl. When you serve the pudding on Christmas day, you’ll have a greasy top (which was the bowl bottom) and a dry remainder.
I agree that suet isn’t the best thing in the world to eat, but it’s only once a year and in a relatively small amount. And just in case you were wondering: no, it doesn’t taste of meat.
By the way: Suet can be frozen if you buy extra, making it easy to keep on hand for next year.
Booze
This recipe is not for teetotalers as it contains a fair amount (150 ml) of brandy, rum, sherry or similar spirit in which the dried fruits are soaked. Unfortunately, the alcohol doesn’t fully cook off, so this isn’t suitable for children either. If you want to make an alcohol-free version of Christmas pudding, use alcohol-free rum (yep, that’s a thing) instead.
The mould
Apart from the usual equipment like mixing bowls, a spoon (wooden or metal), and a large pot to cook the pudding in, the most important equipment is the pudding mould. Don’t worry, there’s no need to rush out and buy a specific Christmas pudding mould or worse, refrain from making the pudding because you don’t have one! A simple metal bowl that’s large enough to hold the pudding dough and still has some space below the brim will do well. I use a 1.5-litre pudding basin and it’s perfect. If you have a pudding mould of whatever shape, though, feel free to use it. There’s no law that forbids Christmas pudding in any other form than the famous half-ball.
How to make Christmas Pudding
Day 1 – 4: Soaking the fruit
Christmas pudding needs some time to make, several days, in fact. But don’t worry, most of the time is spent letting the ingredients sit and soak.
Start with the dried fruit: place the dates, raisins, sultanas, figs, plums, cherries, as well as the candied orange and lemon peel in a large bowl.
Add the rum or brandy, or whatever your favourite booze is.
Mix all these ingredients thoroughly, taking care not to crush the cherries. I recommend either using a wooden or metal spoon or just mixing everything with your hands. The ingredients are heavy – and will get even heavier as they soak up the booze as the days go on.
This fruit mix has been soaking in rum for a few days!
Once everything is thoroughly mixed, cover the bowl with clingfilm or aluminium foil and let it soak for four days. Every day during this time, take the cover off and mix the ingredients. The 150 ml of booze we used on Day 1 will usually be soaked up within two days. If the mixture looks a little dry, add more booze.
So, if you want to cook the pudding on a Sunday, for example, start soaking the fruits on Wednesday or even Tuesday evening.
Day 4
Everything’s prepared, now’s the time to bring our pudding together.
Making the pudding dough
Place the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, the spice mixture (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger), salt and breadcrumbs into a large mixing bowl. Mix these dry ingredients well before adding the next one.
Now, coarsely grind the beef suet on a cheese grater and add it to the dry mixture.
Grate the apple as well and also add it to the mix.
The same goes for the treacle, the eggs and – you guessed it – the freshly grated orange and lemon peel.
Mix everything really well, taking care not to crush the cherries if possible. When the pudding cooks, the suet melts, so it must be well distributed or else it will look clumpy. At this point, the mixture is very sticky and heavy.
Filling the mould
Grease whatever pudding mould you have with butter, so that the ready-cooked pudding will come out more easily. Gently press the sticky mixture into the bottom of the bowl or mould so that there are no holes or gaps. The bottom of the mould will later be the top of the pudding once it’s unmoulded.
If you want to stick to the old tradition of adding a penny or another token into the pudding, now is the right time. Tradition says that the person who finds the penny in his piece of pudding will get one year of good luck. Just remember to tell your guests in advance to watch out for the penny; otherwise, the new year would start with a broken tooth…
Fill the bowl or mould up to 1 cm (1/2 inch) under the brim. The pudding will expand a bit when cooked so it’s important to leave some room.
If you use a pudding mould, close and secure the lid. In case of a bowl, cover it with aluminium foil. I like to fold a pleat into the foil to give the pudding plenty of room if it likes to rise.
See the crease? That way, the pudding can rise without pushing off the foil
Seal the foil with rubber bands to prevent water from getting into the bowl while the pudding’s cooked in the water bath. Make sure you don’t get water in your pudding!
Cooking the Pudding
Now the pudding is ready to be cooked in a water bath. Fill a pot that’s large enough to hold the pudding bowl or mould. The water level should come up halfway to the edge of the pudding mould, so that water can’t get into it.
Put the mould into the water and bring the water to a boil.
Don’t put cold pudding moulds into boiling water, unless the bowl is of a tempered material. The bowl may crack from the drastic temperature change!
How long to steam Christmas Pudding
Let the pudding cook for 8 hours on low to medium heat. The water shouldn’t boil vigorously (boiling water could splash into the mould); keep it at a gentle simmer.
As the water will evaporate, you must check the pot every one – two hours and fill it up with boiling (!) water if necessary.
After eight hours, take the mould out of the water bath. Be careful handling it, it’s hot and it’ll take a while to cool down.
I usually let the steamed Christmas pudding sit for about 5 – 10 minutes on the counter to cool down before I try to unmould it. Then I place a cooling rack on top of it. Take the mould with one hand (wear an oven mitten!) and the rack with the other and flip it upside down. Usually, the pudding comes out beautifully.
Maturing
This is where the magic happens! As the pudding ages, it develops more flavour. Smell the traditional steamed Christmas pudding when it’s first cooked, and then smell the pudding on Christmas Day. You can smell and taste the difference in an aged Plum Pudding. There’s a reason for preparing homemade Christmas pudding about four weeks before Christmas and some people even start in early or mid October.
When the pudding is completely cool, sprinkle it with the booze you used to soak the fruit and cover it in aluminium foil and either store it in the fridge or a cool and dry basement for at least four weeks.
Once a week, take off the foil and sprinkle the pudding again with rum or brandy. Wrap it back up again (in the same foil) and put it back to rest. Keep up this weekly maintenance until Christmas.
Angela Braun
Christmas Pudding (aka Plum Pudding or Figgy Pudding)
Start four days before you want to steam the pudding:
Place the raisins, sultanas, figs, dates, prunes, apricots, cherries and the candied orange and lemon peel in a bowl.
Pour the brandy or rum over the dried fruit and stir to combine the mixture.
Once everything is mixed, cover the mixing bowl with cling film or a plastic wrap and let it soak for four days. Once a day, take the plastic wrap off and mix up the ingredients. If the mixture gets a little dry, add more brandy or rum.
After four days, place the breadcrumbs, flour, salt, baking powder, brown sugar and spices in a bowl and stir to combine.
Finely grate the suet.
Grate the apple.
Add the grated apple, treacle (or molasses), suet, lemon and orange zest and the eggs to the soaked dried fruit and stir to combine it.
Add the dry mixture to the fruit mixture and stir thoroughly to combine it. It'll become very thick and sticky.
Grease your pudding mould or bowl with butter and scoop the batter into the mould. Gently press the batter down and smooth the top.
Either close the lid on the form or cover it with aluminium foil that you secure with a string around the mould. Fold a pleat in the foil to allow room for expansion as the pudding cooks.
Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a low simmer.
Put the pudding mould into the water. The water level should come up halfway to the edge of the pudding mould.
Now, cook the pudding over low heat for about 8 hours. The water should not be boiling but just simmering. Check every 1 - 2 hours to make sure that there's enough water left in the pot. Add more (hot) water if necessary.
When the pudding is done steaming, carefully lift out the pudding mould and let it sit for about 5 - 10 minutes. Then, put the mould upside down and let the pudding slide out of it.
Put the pudding on a plate and let it cool completely.
When the pudding is cool, sprinkle it with brandy or rum and cover it with foil. Store the pudding in the fridge or a cool place, e.g. the basement.
Once a week take off the foil and sprinkle the pudding with brandy or rum. Then wrap it back up again and put it back in the fridge or basement.
On Christmas Day - or whenever you want to serve the pudding - unwrap the pudding and put it back into the mould it was steamed in. Recook it again on a low setting for one hour.
Flip the pudding onto a plate and light it on fire if you like (see blog post section on how to light a pudding).
Serve the Christmas pudding with vanilla sauce, whipped cream or ice cream.
How to serve Christmas Pudding
Reheating the Pudding
On Christmas Day (or whenever you want to serve your Christmas pudding), unwrap the pudding, place it back into its original mould and cover it with foil (or tighten the lid). Seal the foil with rubber bands and steam it again in a water bath on a low setting for one hour. This gentle reheating brings the pudding back to its perfect serving temperature and refreshes the texture.
Flaming (optional)
Now, you can serve your pudding traditionally with a holly sprig and a dusting of powdered sugar, or go for the spectacular flaming presentation!! It’s not necessary, of course, but it looks so spectacular, and it gives the pudding even more punch.
Safety first: This creates dramatic flames, so keep children and pets at a safe distance, tie back long hair, and have the lights dimmed for maximum effect.
Unmould the warm pudding onto a plate and make a cross-shaped indentation on top of the pudding with a wooden spoon handle – this creates channels for the flaming brandy to run down dramatically.
The trick is to use booze with more than 50% alcohol. I usually use “Strohrum” with 80 % alcohol content but any high-proof rum or brandy (50%+ alcohol) will work – the higher the proof, the better it flames.
To flame your brandy, it must be warm or even hot. Place about 50 ml of brandy in a pot and heat it until it starts to steam. Then pour the heated brandy over the pudding, letting it run down the sides of the pudding where you put the cross in.
For maximum dramatic effect, dim the lights. Then quickly light your homemade Christmas pudding with a lighter or a match. Be careful not to burn yourself! A blue flame will now cover the pudding where the brandy has run down. After a few seconds, the flame will go out.
How many servings does this Christmas Pudding make?
If Christmas pudding were a cake, I’d say you’d get out about six servings from this recipe. However, due to all the heavy ingredients like the dried fruit, suet and sugar, Christmas pudding is a relatively rich and satisfying dessert, so I recommend serving small slices. The pudding will be enough for 8 – 10 people.
Can I substitute the suet? / What can I use instead of suet?
As explained in the ingredients section, suet is essential for the best texture. However, if you absolutely can’t source it or if you’re looking for a vegetarian alternative, you can use butter or vegetarian suet. BUT: as suet has a higher melting point, it melts later during steaming and distributes evenly throughout the pudding. Butter melts a lot quicker and tends to pool at the bottom of the bowl, leaving a slightly soggy pudding top and a dry remainder.
Vegetarian suet is chemically similar to traditional suet and should work, though I haven’t tested it myself due to concerns about hydrogenated oils. If you prefer to avoid both animal suet and hydrogenated fats, butter is your best option—just expect a slightly different texture.
Can children eat Christmas Pudding?
The alcohol doesn’t fully cook off during steaming, so this recipe isn’t suitable for children. For a family-friendly version, substitute alcohol-free rum or brandy throughout the recipe, and skip the flaming presentation.
Does Christmas Pudding contain nuts?
As my son’s girlfriend is allergic to nuts, I’ve adapted this recipe to be nut-free. If you want to, however, you can add 100 g coarsely chopped hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds or other nuts of your liking to the dried fruit mix on Day 1 and let them soak alongside everything else.
How long does Christmas Pudding keep?
Christmas pudding keeps for at least 6 months when stored in a cool and dry place. If you sprinkle it with alcohol weekly, it won’t go bad and you can even store it longer, up to one year.
So, if you like to you can make Christmas pudding already in summer or early autumn, put it in the fridge and sprinkle it with alcohol once a week until Christmas. It’ll mature with time.
Can I store leftover Christmas Pudding?
Definitely! The sugar as well as the alcohol preserve it rather well. Wrap the leftover pudding tightly in foil or plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Then, put in the fridge, where it’ll keep for up to two weeks.
Can I freeze Christmas Pudding?
Yes, you can, but it’s best done when the pudding is already steamed. Once the pudding has cooled down completely, wrap it tightly in foil or clingfilm and put it in the freezer. It’ll last for up to one year.
To defrost, put the pudding out of the freezer, unwrap it and put it on a cake rack where you let it come to room temperature.
Can I make Christmas Pudding to be served right away?
Well, you still need to soak the dried fruit, even if it’s only for one hour. Then you could mix the pudding “dough” and steam it in the water bath, all on the same day. The pudding will taste delicious, just not as complex and deep as Christmas Pudding that had the time to mature.
So, while possible, I really recommend the 4-week maturation—the flavour difference is remarkable and truly worth the wait.
Ready to get started?
And there you have it—my tried-and-tested Christmas pudding recipe that’s been years in the making! Yes, it requires some advance planning and weekly attention (think of it as a delicious pet that only needs feeding once a week), but I promise the end result is worth every moment. There’s nothing quite like presenting a flaming Christmas pudding to your amazed guests, knowing you made it from scratch—and didn’t burn down the kitchen in the process! So don’t wait—start soaking those fruits today and make this Christmas truly special. If you have any questions along the way, leave a comment below. I’m always happy to help fellow pudding makers! Enjoy, and have a wonderful Christmas!
Looking for more Christmas recipes? These may interest you:
When the days grow short and St. Martin’s geese are finished, it’s finally time for Christmas cookies. While I love trying new recipes each year, some are non-negotiable in our family. Vanillekipferl top that list.
Compared to American Christmas cookies with their frosted sugar and chocolate dips, these pale crescents tell a quieter story. But don’t be fooled—they’re far from bland. One bite releases the flavour of vanilla sugar and toasted almonds, and those delicate half-moons crumble on your tongue in the most satisfying way.
Vanillekipferl are essential to German and Austrian Christmas celebrations, passed down through generations. My great-grandmother made them, my grandmother made them, my mother made them—and now I do too. When Mum baked Vanillekipferl each December, their vanilla scent filled the house. My brother and I could barely wait for them to cool. Mum would dust them with powdered sugar while still warm, and we’d sneak one. Or ten.
One year, we’d really overdone it—half a tray gone. Mum, naturally, scolded us thoroughly until my brother protested, “But how come Daddy can eat them?” She turned just in time to catch my dad finishing off the last Vanillekipferl from the tray…
Well, that’s the thing about Vanillekipferl: they disappear fast. Their buttery texture and subtle vanilla-almond flavour make them dangerously addictive, and making them has become as much a part of my December ritual as the eating. Let me show you how to make these beloved Austrian Christmas cookies so you can start your own tradition.
200gpowdered vanilla sugarsee blog section on how to make powdered vanilla sugar
Method
Put the flour, sugar, almonds, salt and the vanilla seeds in a bowl.
Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add it to the ingredients in the bowl.
Quickly but gently mix the ingredients with your hands until just combined - overworking makes the cookies tough.
Form rolls from the dough (see blog section for why rolls) and put them in the fridge for at least 1 hour, better overnight.
Cover a baking tray with parchment.
Remove the rolls from the fridge and cut off pieces of about 1 cm.
Roll each piece into a small rope of 5 - 6 cm, tapering the ends.
Shape into crescents by bending the ropes and set them onto a baking tray.
Chill the tray with the kipferl for 15 - 20 minutes (see blog section on chilling the cookies).
Preheat the oven to 140 °C (285 °F) upper-lower heat or 120 °C (250 °F) circulating heat.
Bake the Vanillekipferl in the hot oven for 15 - 20 minutes. They're ready when you can lift them easily from the tray and they're still pale, don't let them brown!
Right after removing them from the oven, roll the kipferl in vanilla sugar OR dust them with vanilla or icing sugar.
Let the kipferl cool down completely and layer them into a cookie box.
Notes
Vanillekipferl can be stored in a tightly closed cookie jar for up to six weeks. But honestly, they won't last that long 😉...
Great tips for even greater Vanillekipferl
There are a few things you need to observe to make really great Vanillekipferl:
Be quick
You must be quick when mixing the pastry dough. Take the butter directly from the fridge and cut it into small cubes. Then, quickly mix the ingredients with your hands until they’re well combined and the dough is homogeneous. Overworking activates the gluten, which makes cookies tough instead of tender.
Use powdered sugar
You can use granulated sugar, but powdered or icing sugar makes the dough finer and the cookies more tender in the end.
Form rolls
You can, of course, refrigerate the dough in a ball shape, but I find it more convenient if you form rolls. That way, you can cut off slices of roughly the same size and form them into the typical Vanillekipferl crescent.
Cooling the dough
I know it can be tempting to skip the cooling part of the dough, but the dough must be refrigerated for at least one hour (and preferably longer). Otherwise, the cookies will spread during baking, and instead of beautiful crescents, you’ll get flat, unshapely “pancakes”. So, when you plan to bake cookies with your family on Saturday, prepare the dough on Friday evening and let it rest in the fridge overnight.
Forming the cookies
Cut slices of about 1 cm from the cooled cookie rolls and roll them into a ball.
Then, roll them gently into a rope about 5 – 6 cm long and taper the ends.
Form the typical crescent by bending the rope.
Sometimes, the dough falls apart during rolling. In that case, press it all together and knead it slightly until it becomes more pliable.
Cooling the cookies
While forming the Vanillekipferl, the dough naturally becomes warm again. To prevent the cookies from spreading, cool the cookies before baking. As it’s usually cold outside, I normally put the trays with the ready-to-bake Vanillekipferl on my balcony to cool for about 15 minutes. During that time, I preheat the oven and clean up the kitchen.
Preheating the oven
Baking temperature must be right from the start. That’s why you must preheat the oven to the required 140 °C (285 °F) and only put the trays in when the oven has reached this temperature.
Stay close
Each oven is different and the baking time can only be an estimate. Therefore, stay close to your ovenand watch the Vanillekipferl while they bake. They should be light-coloured in the end. If they’re golden-brown, they’ve been in the oven for too long.
Homemade vanilla sugar
Don’t throw the vanilla pod you used earlier for the dough away. Instead, carefully dry it in the oven or a dehydrator and mix it with sugar in a food processor. The result is a wonderfully fine, vanilla-flavoured sugar you can use to dust the Vanillekipferl with!
Covering with sugar
When you dust the Vanillekipferl with powdered or your homemade vanilla sugar while they’re still warm, the sugar will stick better to the cookies. To dust, you can either sprinkle the sugar on the cookies with a sieve or you can carefully roll the Vanillekipferl in a bowl with vanilla sugar.
How long can Vanillekipferl be stored?
Let the cookies cool down completely after baking before you put them in an airtight container (cookie box or jar). In a cool and dry place, the Vanillekipferl store well up to 6 weeks, but honestly, they won’t last that long.
Already one missing!
If you start baking your Christmas cookies really early and want your Vanillekipferl to be at their best when serving them, you can freeze the baked cookies. Just don’t dust them with icing sugar.
By the way: you can also freeze the cookie dough. When you finally want to bake the cookies, put the dough out of the freezer and let it defrost at room temperature.
Vanillekipferl variations
Now that you know the classic, traditional Vanillekipferl recipe, you can get creative if you like:
Go nuts: Swap the almonds for ground hazelnuts or walnuts.
All things chocolate: Replace 50 g of flour with 50 g of baking cocoa for a chocolaty version of Vanillekipferl
Dark coat: dip the ends of the Vanillekipferl in melted chocolate; this is also a great way to add to the chocolate kipferl
Cinna-licious: Coat the Vanillekipferl in cinnamon sugar (powdered sugar mixed with cinnamon) instead of vanilla or pure icing sugar.
Add like crazy: Add pistachios to the dough, or freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries, or replace the almonds with ground poppy seeds. Add lemon or orange zest to the dough or – if you like it hot and spicy – 1/2 a teaspoon of ground chillies!
The tradition continues…
Making Vanillekipferl connects me to generations of women in my family who also baked these delicious Christmas cookies before me – and all the men who loved eating them (looking at you, Dad!). Now, I’d love you to start your own tradition, and it doesn’t matter if you have German or Austrian roots or have just discovered this recipe for the first time.
Admittedly, Vanillekipferl take some patience with the forming and double cooling, but the payoff is so worth it: while baking, your house will smell of vanilla and roasted almonds, and there are only a few things more satisfying than seeing the perfectly shaped little crescents on a cooling rack and powdered vanilla sugar on your fingertips.
Early December is the perfect time to bake your first batch of Vanillekipferl, and if you manage to keep them away from all the sweet tooths, you can proudly present your own Vanillekipferl at Christmas.
Whether this becomes your new December tradition or reminds you of your own family’s cookie rituals, I hope these little crescents bring you as much joy as they’ve brought mine.
November 11 is St. Martin’s Day, an important holiday in German-speaking regions. We celebrate this day extensively with lantern processions: Children (and their parents) walk through their town or village with handcrafted lanterns, singing songs about St. Martin and performing a play about his good deeds. Afterwards, everybody gets hot tea and Saint Martin’s geese, sweet yeast pastries that are shaped like geese (more on the geese connection later). Although my boys are no longer children, the scent of spiced tea and the rich dough of Saint Martin’s geese bring up treasured memories of the lantern-lit streets and the wonderful sense of community at the procession. To keep the seasonal traditions alive (and satisfy our sweet teeth), we still bake Saint Martin’s geese every year, and I want to show you how it’s done.
The Story Behind the Tradition
Martin was a Roman soldier, born around 316. When riding along on a cold winter’s day, he came across a hungry and freezing beggar. Martin, moved by pity, cut his warm cloak in half with his sword and gave half to the beggar. At night, the beggar appeared in Martin’s dreams, revealing that he was Jesus Christ.
Why geese?
After this incident, Martin converted to Christianity and studied the Christian faith. Later, the people of Tours (France) asked Martin to become bishop. Martin, however, modest as he was, didn’t consider himself worthy enough for the task and hid in a goose barn. The geese started quacking, betraying Martin’s whereabouts. He became bishop and served for about 30 years, said to have worked several miracles during that time. Martin died on November 11, 397 and was later canonised. After his death, eating goose on his memorial day became a tradition.
But is that really the reason why we eat geese (real or baked ones) on that day? Historians have another explanation for the tradition of the Saint Martin’s geese: for one, November 11 was the day when taxes or feudal dues were collected. The payment was often made in goods, such as a goose. At the same time, November 11 was the last day before the 40 days of Advent fasting (historically called “Saint Martin’s Lent”) before Christmas, and people indulged in a last hearty (goose) roast and other food that were taboo during the fast.
From harvest fires to lantern processions
I can’t believe how long it has been since that day when my boys attended St. Martin’s lantern processions! And did you see that my youngest had made a goose? 😏
And what does Saint Martin have to do with lantern processions? Light processions were already a tradition among early Christians, and this practice was adopted to honour Saint Martin on his memorial day. Additionally, people lit fires in November in the fields in gratitude for the harvest and as a symbolic farewell to the harvest year. The children crafted torches from straw and lanterns from hollowed turnips with which they wandered through the streets. Sound familiar? Rightly so: this is similar to the original Celtic harvest traditions that resulted in Halloween.
About the Dough: Enriched Yeast Dough
Now that we’ve covered the tradition’s history, let’s dive into baking Saint Martin’s geese!
While you may find recipes using different doughs, the classic dough to make the geese is an enriched yeast dough. “Enriched” simply means that apart from flour and yeast, our dough includes ingredients like butter, eggs, milk and sugar. Enriched yeast dough is perfect for special occasions as it’s sweet, softer and, well, richer than just plain yeast dough. It’s also perfect for shaping, which is ideal for cutting out our geese. Another sweet treat made from enriched dough is this braided yeast bun.
One of the secrets of enriched dough is to give it enough time to rise properly. Once you’ve got your core dough right, you allow it to rise and prove fully. You must be patient here and give it enough time; otherwise, you’ll end up with a brick.
But don’t worry: once you know what to watch for, it’s straightforward to make and a real treat to eat.
Ingredients & Equipment Needed
For making the enriched yeast dough for our Saint Martin’s geese, you’ll need
Flour: Pastry or all-purpose flour is equally good
Yeast: You can either use fresh or dry yeast, but keep in mind that you have to activate fresh yeast before adding it to the other ingredients
Sugar: either use granulated sugar or icing sugar
Egg
Milk: whole milk is best – I don’t recommend low-fat milk
Butter: alternatively, you could use margarine, but honestly, the taste will not be the same
For the decoration, you’ll need
Raisins for the eyes
Pearl sugar
You don’t need any special equipment to make Saint Martin’s geese. A goose-shaped cookie cutter makes the job easier, but it’s not essential – I cut out my geese using this template (download and print at 100%):
Put the flour and sugar in a large bowl. If you use dry yeast, add it as well. In case you use fresh yeast, however, you must activate it now: warm up the milk until it is lukewarm (not warmer or the yeast will die!) and crumble the fresh yeast into it. Stir until it’s dissolved. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour the yeast milk into it. Cover the bowl and let the yeast activate for about 20 minutes. After that time, the yeast liquid will be bubbly and considerably risen.
Melt the butter and pour it into the bowl. Now add the egg and start kneading the dough, either by hand or with a food processor. Knead for about 5 minutes. The dough is ready when it’s soft and smooth and doesn’t stick to your fingers.
First rise
Form the dough into a ball, put it back in the bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel to prevent it from drying out. Let it sit for about 60 minutes in a warm place. The dough is ready when its volume has at least doubled.
This dough has risen perfectly and is ready to be rolled out and cut into Saint Martin’s geese!
Cutting the geese
Line two to three baking trays with parchment paper or brush them with some butter, lard or tallow so that the geese won’t stick.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the yeast dough to about 1 cm (1/2 inch). Cut out the geese with a cookie cutter, the template or by hand and put them on the baking trays, leaving some space between them as they’ll expand during rising. If you use my template, also cut out one wing per goose.
Brush the wings with egg wash and gently press them onto the geese. Press a raisin into place for the eye.
Second rise
Now, let the geese sit for another 20 minutes. During that time, the dough will rise again, making the baked pastry all fluffy and soft.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 175°C (350 °F).
Last decorations and baking
After the second rise, lightly brush the geese’s wings with egg wash and sprinkle pearl sugar on them. I prefer to sprinkle just the wings, but you can, of course, sprinkle the whole goose with pearl sugar.
Put the trays in the preheated oven and bake them for 20 minutes until they are golden brown.
When the geese are baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool down. If you like, you can dust them with icing sugar.
Put the flour and sugar in a large bowl. If you use dry yeast, add it as well. In case you use fresh yeast, however, you must activate it now: warm up the milk until it is lukewarm (not warmer or the yeast will die!) and crumble the fresh yeast into it. Stir until it's dissolved. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour the yeast milk into it. Cover the bowl and let the yeast activate for about 20 minutes. After that time, the yeast liquid will be bubbly and considerably risen.
Melt the butter and pour it into the bowl. Now add the egg and start kneading the dough, either by hand or with a food processor. Knead for about 5 minutes. The dough is ready when it’s soft and smooth and doesn’t stick to your fingers.
First rise
Form the dough into a ball, put it back in the bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel to prevent it from drying out. Let it sit for about 60 minutes in a warm place. The dough is ready when its volume has at least doubled.
Cutting the geese
Line two to three baking trays with parchment paper or brush them with some butter, lard or tallow so that the geese won’t stick.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the yeast dough to about 1 cm (1/2 inch). Cut out the geese with a cookie cutter, the template or by hand and put them on the baking trays, leaving some space between them as they’ll expand during rising. If you use my template, also cut out one wing per goose.
Brush the wings with egg wash and gently press them onto the geese. Press a raisin into place for the eye.
Second rise
Now, let the geese sit for another 20 minutes. During that time, the dough will rise again, making the baked pastry all fluffy and soft.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 175°C (350 °F).
Last decorations and baking
After the second rise, lightly brush the geese’s wings with egg wash and sprinkle pearl sugar on them. I prefer to sprinkle just the wings, but you can, of course, sprinkle the whole goose with pearl sugar.
Put the trays in the preheated oven and bake them for 20 minutes until they are golden brown.
When the geese are baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool down. If you like, you can dust them with icing sugar.
Notes
The baked geese store well in a linen bag or bread bin for several days. Alternatively, you can freeze them for up to 6 months, but remove any sugar because it will turn liquid when defrosted.
FAQs
How to tell when the yeast is properly activated?
After 20 minutes, properly activated yeast will be bubbly and noticeably risen. If it looks flat or unchanged, your yeast may be dead, or the milk was too hot.
What’s the right dough consistency?
Once you have added all ingredients to the bowl, mix them well together and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Another option is letting it knead in a food processor. Anyway, the dough is ready for rising when its surface is smooth and it doesn’t stick to your fingers, your work surface or the bowl.
How do I keep the shapes defined during rising and baking?
The geese will enlarge by about 10% during rising, but the shape will stay the same, only become, well, larger. After rising, you can make small adjustments if you deem them necessary, like changing the bend of the neck, for example, or sharpening the beak. All in all, though, the shapes will stay much the same as the freshly cut out dough.
During baking, there may be a slight additional rise, but that’s it.
How long can I store baked Saint Martin’s geese?
Put any leftover geese in a linen bag or the bread bin, where they can be stored for several days.
Alternatively, you can freeze them. Just make sure not to use icing sugar and scrape off the pearl sugar, as it would turn liquid when the geese are defrosted. Frozen geese can be stored up to 6 months.
Serving Suggestions
Traditionally, Saint Martin’s geese are given to the children after the lantern procession, but they also make a great gift for friends and neighbours. A few years ago, I brought a batch to work and left them in the teachers’ room. Boy, it was like throwing a steak in a lion’s den! The geese were gone within a few minutes.
If you host a tea or coffee party at St. Martin’s Day, the geese make a wonderful treat with coffee, spiced tea or hot cocoa (my favourite!). Any seasonal hot drink, like pumpkin spice latte or gingerbread hot cocoa, as well as chai tea, is also a wonderfully fancy pairing for Saint Martin’s geese.
If there are some geese left the day after baking (or if you’ve made enough to store or freeze them), try them instead of bread for breakfast. The sweet pastry goes marvelously with butter and jam, for example one of these pear jam variations.
Variations & Creative Ideas
Now that you’ve mastered the sweet yeast dough, you can get creative.
Different shapes
Who says that you can only make geese from this dough? Try making large gingerbread men shapes that you decorate with raisins for the eyes and buttons for the shirt. For New Year’s Eve, you can form tiny pig heads or fish; they‘re considered to bring luck. Or you can just make this braided yeast bun.
Flavour additions
In this post, I’ve shown you the recipe for a basic enriched yeast dough. If you like, you can add different flavours to the dough, like for example the zest of an orange, the pulp of half a vanilla pod or ¼ teaspoon of cardamom.
Filling options
Try filling the geese with marzipan, Nutella or jam. For that purpose, roll out the dough only to 0.5 cm (1/4 inch), cut out the geese and put your preferred filling in the middle of the belly of half of the geese. Brush the edges of the geese with egg wash and stick the unfilled geese on top, gently pressing the seams closed. Let the geese rise as described in the recipe, decorate them as you like and bake them for 20 – 25 minutes.
Bake Saint Martin’s Geese!
Although we have stopped attending lantern processions, we still make Saint Martin’s geese every year to celebrate this day – and indulge in these sweet, fluffy pastries. I think it’s important to keep traditions, even if you bend them slightly. It would be a pity if these recipes and traditions vanished! And besides, for me, this seasonal recipe is the signal to start baking Christmas cookies!
These geese are so easy and fun to make that I encourage you to try making them with your children or grandchildren, nieces, nephews or friends’ kids. They’ll love it, cherish this memory of baking geese with you forever and hopefully will carry on this tradition.
Looking for Christmas recipes? These may interest you:
If you have ever been to Southern Germany, I hope you have tried our Spätzle! If you have, I just know that you loved them. If not, let me explain what we’re talking about here: Spaetzle are a kind of pasta where the raw dough is pressed into boiling water. You can either eat them as a side dish to beef or veggies with sauce or as a main dish, for example, with cheese (“Kässpätzle”), homemade sauerkraut (“Krautspätzle) or herbs.
Here in Southern Germany, spaetzle (which translates as “little sparrows”) is a common traditional dish. Although there are ready-made spaetzle available in the supermarkets here, it’s so easy and way yummier to make them yourself. With this traditional spaetzle recipe, I’ll show you how you can make these yummy egg noodles at home and add a new dish to your collection of recipes.
Pro tips for great Spaetzle
Before we start, I’m going to share some pro tips that will help you create great Spaetzle! After all, when you go to all the length to try a new recipe, you want it to be a success!
Spaetzle recipe: Dough
The recipe for Spaetzle dough is quite simple, actually, as it only consists of flour, eggs, a pinch of salt and water or milk. Use all-purpose wheat flour or spelt flour. You can even take wholemeal wheat or spelt flour, but it requires more liquid.
The basic spaetzle recipe per person is
100 g flour
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
50 ml milk or water
That’s it. Easy, right? You’ll probably have all the ingredients at home already.
Many recipes use water for the dough, but in my opinion, spaetzle taste a lot better when made with milk. This spaetzle recipe, therefore, uses milk. If you don’t want to or can’t consume milk, feel free to substitute it with water.
Spaetzle dough is best made by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. That way, you can feel how thick the dough is and add some liquid to make it thinner or flour to thicken it. You can, of course, also mix the dough with a hand mixer.
You can tell that the dough is ready when it is thick and falls slowly from the spoon. Now let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Further down in the recipe, you’ll find a detailed description of how to make Spaetzle.
Equipment
It’s easy to mix the Spaetzle dough, but to press it into the water, you have to use either a “Spaetzlehobel” or a kind of ricer with larger holes. If you have neither and just want to try out the recipe, take a sieve with large holes and scrape the dough through with a wooden spoon or a dough scraper. For completeness, let me tell you that you could also flatly spread the dough onto a cutting board and scrape it into the boiling water with the back of a knife. This method, however, requires experience and takes longer. But don’t let me keep you from trying it!
Spaetzle that are pressed through a ricer are long and thin, whereas Spaetzle formed with a “Spaetzlehobel” are short and round (sometimes, those are called “Knoepfle”, which means “buttons”).
I prefer making our Spaetzle with a Spaetzlehobel. Put the device safely onto the pot, fill in a portion of the dough and move the sledge forward and backwards so that the dough will be scraped through the holes into the water.
How to make Spaetzle
Make sure the water is boiling before you press the dough in portions into it, the Spaetzle won’t be cooked through and become a slimy mass.
When the Spaetzle are ready, they’ll swim on the surface. It’s okay to make all the Spätzle before straining. The first batch can stand that.
When all the dough is used up and all the Spaetzle are ready take them off with a skimmer or strain them through a colander and shortly rinse with hot or cold water.
Drying
Although Spaetzle are usually used immediately, you can also prepare them several hours up to one day in advance. Either way, it is necessary to dry off excess water or the Spätzle will become doughy and stick together.
To dry the Spaetzle, put them onto a kitchen towel after straining them and distribute them evenly.
Let them dry for at least 5 minutes.
If you use them later, scrape them off the towel once they’re cool and dry and put them into a plastic container.
How long does raw Spaetzle dough last?
You can, of course, prepare Spaetzle dough and keep it in the fridge for several hours before using it. As it contains raw eggs, however, the raw dough shouldn’t be kept any longer.
It’s better to store the cooked Spaetzle. Dry and cool them as described above, and put them into plastic containers where they will last 2 – 3 days in the fridge.
Angela Braun
Spaetzle - A Traditional Recipe from Southern Germany
Making traditional Spaetzle, a traditional dish from Southern Germany, is easier than you might think and once you've tasted them you'll want to make them time and time again!
Put the flour, eggs and salt into a bowl. Slowly add the water and mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer. The dough should be thick and fall slowly from the spoon. You may even observe small bubbles under the surface.
Once the dough is ready, let it rest for about 15 minutes. This time is necessary for the dough to hold together and become more stable.
Heat water in a pot. When it comes to a boil either press the Spaetzle in portions through a Spaetzle ricer or a Spätzlehobel. Make sure that the device is about 2 – 3 cm (1 inch) above the water surface which should only be simmering now. Make all the Spätzle until you’ve used up the whole dough.
Cook the Spaetzle in the open pot until they well up several times and swim on the surface. Depending on the size and amount of Spaetzle this takes 2 – 3 minutes.
When the Spaetzle are cooked, take them out of the pot with a skimmer or strain them through a colander and shortly rinse with hot or cold water.
Place a kitchen towel on your kitchen surface and dump the Spaetzle on it. Distribute them evenly on the towel to let them dry and cool off.
Melt butter in a large pot until it sizzles and brown the Spaetzle gently in the hot butter. Serve immediately.
Spaetzle dough variations
Once you’ve developed your taste for Spaetzle (that is: after the first bite 😉), you can try many different variations of the dough.
Mix finely ground hard cheese, like parmesan, for example or season the dough with spices like paprika or chilli powder. You can also add finely chopped herbs like bear’s garlic or parsley to alter the taste. Or take a mix of curd or sour cream and milk to serve as liquid for the dough.
There are almost no limits to the variations a Spaetzle dough provides.
Left-over Spaetzle
What to do with leftover Spaetzle? As you know, you can keep them in the fridge for a few days, and then you can re-heat them in a pan with hot butter and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Basically, Spaetzle can be treated like pasta or rice as a side dish to beef dishes with sauce, like these beef rolls.
Or you layer them with cheese into a pan, fill in some milk and bake it in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes, which makes for a yummy main dish, called “Kässpätzle” (cheese Spaetzle). Served with fried onions and a salad, that’s a wonderful meal.
Spaetzle wrap-up
Congratulations! You’ve just mastered one of Southern Germany’s most beloved dishes. Now comes the fun part: experimenting with variations. Will you try the cheese version (Käsespätzle) first, or add herbs to the dough? Let me know how your first batch turns out—I remember mine being slightly wonky, but absolutely delicious!
