Celebrating Wisconsin' Heritage By Baking Finnish Mordegspinnar Cookies and Holiday Cakes

Holiday baking celebrates the best in our cultural traditions. Wisconsin's rich heritage of Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Irish, Cornish, Swiss, and German shine through when homes fill with delicious aromas of holiday cookies and cakes. This year Finnish mordegspinnar cookies joined our family's celebration.

I found the recipe in Marge Snyder and Suzanne Breckenridge's cookbook Wisconsin Country Gourmet: Seasonal Recipes, Ethnic and Holiday Menus.

Cookies can't go wrong with butter, flour, sugar, and almonds! And these definitely went right. They were light and flavorful; a true gourmet delight.

Click on 'continue reading' for the recipe.

Finnish Mordegspinnar Holiday Cookies

• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 1/2 cup blanched almonds, finely chopped
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 egg whites

Cream butter and almond extract together, gradually add sugar, creaming until fluffy and light. Add flour in fourths, thoroughly blending after each addition. Chill in refrigerator several hours. Combine almonds and 3 tablespoons sugar and set aside. Pinch off small pieces of dough and with lightly floured hands, roll into log shapes about the thickness of your little finger, 2-3 inches long. Brush with egg white and roll in almond mixture. Carefully place on cookie sheet. Bend into crescent shapes, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Makes 5 dozen.

I found it best to transfer them to a plate as soon as they came out of the oven.  Mistakenly, I let the first batch cool on the cookie sheet. Then when I tried to move them, they broke. What did I expect of butter and sugar? Like I said, these cookies are light. My kids didn't mind. They instantly swarmed over the cookie sheet and gobbled up ALL of the crumbs. I had muttered that this was a disaster. They answered, 'But Mom, this is YUMMY disaster! This is your best disaster ever.'

I didn't repeat my mistake and they turned out to look nearly as scrumptious as they tasted.

It's Christmas Eve and I'm planning the menu for Christmas dinner. This morning I asked 5-year old Dave who's birthday it is tomorrow. He was stumped. I told him it's Jesus's birthday. To drive home the point, I'm baking a birthday cake for Jesus tomorrow. I'm thinking chocolate but wonder if devil's food is inappropriate. I found an incredible recipe for Bride's White Angel Food Cake in Helen Myrhe's Farm Recipes and Food Secrets from the Norske Nook. But it slightly intimidates me because Helen writes, "This was a fancy cake in the old days, as light and pure as a bride. Anyone, it seemed, could enjoy it, even old folks with poor teeth or people with bad stomachs." Helen describes how you have to sift the cake flour 3 times to get it light enough. She swears it's worth the extra effort. I'm also considering her Pearly Gate Cake that has the coconut and chocolate frosting. But I won't be baking until tomorrow. Who knows what will happen then.

Merry Christmas everybody. Here are some great cakes that gourmet bakers make to order with pride and passion in Wisconsin.

Custom Decorated Cake

 

Dutch Chocolate Layer Cake

 

 

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Frosting

 

 

Holiday Cheesecake Sampler

 

 

Gourmet Dessert of the Month

Almond Horns Pastries

  

 

 

 

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Comments

[air jordans]

If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.

[Anne @ Pink Galoshes]

This is such a great recipe. What scumptious cookies!