They’re the kind of biscuits that most families make because they’re so easy,” says Dunk of Lebkuchenherzen. “The dough is sturdy so children can roll it out nicely and cut shapes out without worrying too much that they will break.” Put the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat with a hand-held electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and whisk again until combined. Add the grated marzipan, flour, ground almonds, cinnamon and baking powder, then stir until well mixed.

Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of

These little sweets came about one autumn when we found the ground on our usual path to school scattered with walnuts. After dropping the boys off I rushed home, scooping up as many nuts along the way as I could carry. Once cool, put one cake on to a plate, spoon the jam on top and spread it out evenly. Place the second cake on top.

There is no good reason. So, with apologies for changing my mind already, here it is as a review for any of you out there who are in need of a good book for yourself or a baking friend in need of a culinary warm hug. tsp Lebkuchengewürz (recipe follows), or 1 tsp ground cinnamon mixed with
1 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground cloves and 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Advent, Anja Dunk: We put the ultimate festive baking Advent, Anja Dunk: We put the ultimate festive baking

I chose this recipe for two reasons. I like biscotti (and especially the sound of ginger and chocolate) plus I imagined they’d be relatively simple to make. The first stage is certainly easy. All I need to do is weigh out flour, sugar, chopped almonds and candied ginger (hopefully crystallised ginger counts as the same thing, as that’s all the supermarket had) and bung it all in a mixing bowl, along with a pinch of sea salt, a teaspoon of baking powder and some chopped dark chocolate, which I break into pieces with my fingers. I give it all a good stir before adding in three eggs and mixing into a dough. Crumble the yeast (or sprinkle if using dried) into the tepid milk and stir to dissolve. Pour the yeasted milk into the flour mixture and, using your hands, bring the ingredients together into a rough dough. Tip the dough on to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until it becomes more elastic. Form it into a ball and nestle it into the bottom of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1-3 hours until almost doubled in size. (Alternatively, put the flour, sugar, salt and citrus zests into the bowl of a free-standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the butter and egg. Pour in the yeasted milk and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic. Cover the bowl and set aside, as above.) Honestly, Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas (with its specific German Yuletide focus) is pretty well perfect, is pretty well absolutely and utterly superb.

Goat’s cheese and honey – switch the mushrooms for 200g goat’s cheese. Drizzle 1 tbsp honey on each portion, and sprinkle with thyme and some snipped chives before serving.

Advent by Anja Dunk (Festive German Bakes to Book Friday: Advent by Anja Dunk (Festive German Bakes to

The Advent season is one of the most special times of the year, when candles twinkle, the Christmas tree is decorated, and the smells of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove fill the kitchen. Christbrot is very similar to a Weihnachtsstollen (Christmas stollen), but lighter in texture, and is best eaten freshly baked without needing time to mature. This is one of the reasons why a Christbrot is more popular to bake at home than a Stollen each year. It isn’t hard to make Christbrot but the method involves a triple rise, so you’ll need to set a morning or afternoon aside if you choose to make it. Since I received this book early enough, I was able to start with the first ritual of Advent -- on the first Sunday of Advent (November 28) my daughter and I made the recipe for Salzteig (salt dough). I appreciate how Dunk shares the story of her Omi (her maternal grandmother) teaching her how to make the recipe and, how she and her family make salt dough decorations together -- there is a lot of warmth and love in this book! So, my daughter and I sat together to make tree ornaments and an Adventskranz (Advent wreath). This Advent wreath has places for four candles that are to be lit -- one each Sunday before Christmas. Each candle has a meaning within the Christian faith but, since I don't observe, I enjoyed the extra light on the darker days before the winter solstice. Advent is an edible countdown in 24 chapters inspired by the idea of traditional paper advent calendars, where you open up a window to reveal an image of winter on the 24 days leading up to Christmas. It is a real gem that I know will be used for very many Christmases to come in my house.Although Advent is over and the holiday season is ending, I've found myself flipping through Advent making notes for the 2022 holiday baking season! And while I got to enjoy a small taste of Anja Dunk's latest book there are so many recipes (both sweet and savory) I didn't get a chance to make. Such a delightful holiday cookbook, I learned much about the rituals and traditions surrounding Advent and the festive German bakes made to celebrate it. I was going to bring you the Stollen recipe today, but for many reasons (including the words in the introduction to this recipe) I decided, with a glad heart, to share the Christbrot — the Christmas Bread with Dried Fruit — with you. And I must own up here, that I made it with chopped dried apricots in place of the candied peel, used a little more rum than instructed, and then realised only when it was too late that I'd forgotten to add the almonds I'd so carefully weighed out! But it was de-luscious like that, I may have to do exactly the same next time I make it, which will most definitely be soon. The kneading in of the fruits is not light work, but patience is more than rewarded. Add the icing sugar along with 1 tablespoon of vodka and blitz again until a smooth paste forms. You may need to add a bit more vodka depending on how fresh the nuts are. As a lifelong lover of gingerbread, I jumped at the chance to make these jam-filled biscuits – and I’m glad I did, because it was worth it for the smell of the spices wafting through the house alone. Baking as a vegan is often pretty hit or miss, but this was a definite win – probably because few of the ingredients had to be changed, it was just subbing out the butter for a dairy-free alternative and using golden syrup instead of honey. The biscuits weren’t soft or crumbly like shortbread or cookie (that’s down to the rye flour) – but tasted more like gingerbread.