Jewish Christmas Cookies anno 1890 – 1

Jødekager 1890

Here is Madam Mangor’s recipe in Danish – I have translated it below and converted the amounts to modern measurements.

3/4 pund smør udvaskes, og deri kommes 1 pund mel, ½ pund puddersukker, revet skal af 1 citron, en halv snes hylstre kardemomme, som er stødt, 1 lod stødt kanel, samt 2 lod bitre og 6 lod søde stødte mandler. Når dette er godt æltet sammen, udrulles det, ikke for tyndt, på brættet med mel uden for vægten, stikkes af med en kop eller et glas, smøres med æggeblomme og bages ved god ild. Heraf bliver omkring 70 kager.

I have not tested this recipe in a modern oven yet. So use common sense. The recipe does not have any raising agent, so I am assuming they are quite hard. Most of this kind of cookies are 3-4 mm thick.

Jewish Christmas Cookies anno 1890 - 1

Delicate traditional Christmas cookies. Recipe from 1890
Course Cookies, Desert
Cuisine 19th century, Christmas, Historical cooking, Holiday Food, Wood stove era
Servings 100 cookies

Ingredients

  • 450 grams sugar
  • 670 grams flour
  • 335 grams brown sugar
  • 1 lemon zest
  • 15 cardamom pods
  • 8 teaspons cinnamon
  • 40 grams bitter almonds ground
  • 130 grams almonds ground
  • 1 egg yoke for brushing the cookies

Instructions

  1. Mix the ingredients and knead them together.
  2. Roll out the dough with a bit of flour. Don’t roll them too thinly (I am guessing a 3-5 millimeters would be the right thickness)
  3. Use a cup or a water glass as a cookie cutter
  4. Brush with an egg yoke
  5. Bake the cookies. Again there are no instructions on how long, but until they edges start to turn golden is a good rule with these kinds of cookies.

Recipe Notes

Source: Madam Mangor's Kogebog 1890


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