Brunekager

This recipe is from my ex-colleague Helena. It's her great-great-grandmother's recipe, and it's definitely the best I've tried since moving to Denmark. At Christmas time, making and sharing small biscuits is a traditional passtime, and is very common at work and among friends.

Ingredients

  • 250g butter
  • 150g brown sugar
  • 250g mørk sirup (dark syrup)
  • 100g powdered sugar
  • 100g almonds, chopped and skinned
  • 2 tsp ground cloves
  • 5 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp cardamom
  • 25g chopped Sukat or Pomerans (candied lemon or orange peel)
  • 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
  • 1/2 tsp grated orange peel
  • 1 1/2 tsp (8g) potaske in 1 tblsp water
  • 500g plain flour

Method

  1. Melt the butter, syrup and sugars together until boiling point in a large saucepan.

  2. Take the pan off the heat, add spices, nuts, sugar, and grated lemon and orange peel.

  3. Add potaske dissolved in a little water. Finally stir in flour.

  4. Knead the dough and shape it into sausages, approx. 5 cm in diameter. Set aside in the fridge until cold and firm, possibly overnight.

  5. Cut sausages into thin slices and bake for 5-6 min. at a maximum of 200C. Watch them the whole time and don't let them get dark.