Simple Viennese Christmas Cookies

Christmas is really just around the corner and I hurried-up a bit in baking these cookies as it´s just a few days left and we´re about to leave this weekend for our Christmas holiday... I have done a bit of packing here and there and the plants were set to get some lights from the window with its watering system..

For this recipe, I used the simple basic cookie recipe popular
in Vienna and they are really super easy to make. Even kids can help out, they´ll surely have fun if you make this into a family affair.......below is the recipe, dear friends.

Ingredients

250g Flour
175 g Butter, cubed
90 g granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
1 pack Vanilla sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
marmalade ( here, I used strawberry & peach marmalade)
confectioner´s sugar


Instructions:

                                                  

1. Preheat oven to 180 ° C. Sift the flour on the work surface.
Place the cubed butter to the edge of the flour. Make a hollow-shape in the middle of the flour and add the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar and grated lemon peel. Quickly knead all ingredients into smooth dough, make dough into a ball shape, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.

2. Roll out dough on a floured work surface. By using cookie forms , cut out various shapes, I used a thimble to punch a hole in the middle of the top cookie placing the cut out dough on lined baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes til slightly golden in color .

3. Allow to cool and then brush one cookie side with the marmalade of your choice. Put the second cookie with hole on top of the cookie with the marmalade thereby carefully closing both as in a sandwich. Arrange the cookies on a platter, sprinkle with confectioner´s sugar.

Happy Baking!

Wishing everyone a bright Wednesday ahead whever you are

 in your part of the world.

Vienna´s Christmas Lights

 

 

SACHER HOTEL 

 

Vienna is a very small city...despite the size, it attracts so much tourists everyday, be it summer or winter...

 It also attracts tourists and locals alike particularly during the Christmas season as the city is fully decorated with gorgeous Christmas lights and

 Christkindl markets as well to enjoy...

 

 

So let me show you what I mean.... this one here is in the city center called

Graben, a plaza that is adjascent to the St. Stephansdome.
 No matter how cold it is tourists, come and go...

They´ve designed the street lights to look like a big chandelier

It would make you feel as if you are in a big ballroom.

The Kaerntnerstrasse, the finest address in town where all exclusive shops

are located... My office is just a few steps away..

 

A shop vis a vis the State Opera... we have the all famous opera singers

performed at the Opera...such as the likes of Netrebko, Placido Domingo, Carerra,

Luciano Pavarotti ,Callas ( in her early days) and many more...

 

 

 

 

Even at night, the Center is full of tourists and shoppers...

I hope you have enjoyed the view of our Christmas lights.

 

I´m wishing you a joyous 2nd Sunday of Advent.

 

xoxo,

 

Mercy

Hazelnut Macadamia Cookies - Viennese Art

This is a traditional Austrian recipe..... I now started baking the cookies in
time for Christmas  and this one here is the first of the series....
 The recipe is easy to follow, once you have all the ingredients ready ,
 you´ve made half of the work...

  

 These cookies become soft when placed in a container tightly

covered and can last up to 10 days.

The macadamia used here as topping is a bit salty,

 but the flavor contrast between sweet and salty is interesting

 as you can savour more the nut flavor..

Hope you enjoy this recipe !

Hazelnut - Macadamia Cookies

Ingredients:

  300 g flour
200 g cold butter, cubed
100 g sugar or the equivalent Stevia powder ( artificial sweetener )
100 g ground Hazelnuts
1 Egg
1 pack Vanilla sugar
grated peel of 1 lemon ( organic or untreated)

For the filling: peach marmalade, macadamia nuts as topping

 Instructions  

1.
 Combine hazelnuts with flour, butter, sugar, egg, grated lemon peel
 and       vanilla sugar. Mix thoroughly with your hands, knead until
 a smoothdough is achieved.  Wrap it in plastic film or put the dough in
 a plastic bag and refrigerate  for about 1 hour.

2.

Pre-heat the oven at 190°C. Take out the dough from fridge
 and get a portion  of it and between your two Palms
 roll it into 1 cm finger size, 
 cut a Portion equivalent to a teaspoom from the 1 cm  dough roll
  and form each into a ball, repeat until the dough is used up....

arrange on an oven tray and  using the tip of the cooking spoon
 handle, press the middle of the dough for the marmalade
 filling later. 

Place the tray in the middle rack of your oven and
 bake for 7-8 minutes..

3.
 Cool down the baked cookies and using the tip of a tea spoon,
carefully fill each hole with peach marmalade and top it with 
a  macadamia nut.   Sprinkle with caster sugar ( optional)
and arrange each in a cookie box...    

 
                            ENJOY BAKING !

Advent in Vienna

 

 

 

It´s the time of the year that the City of  Vienna prepares for its

 traditional Advent... 

 

St. Stephansdome attracts more tourists to go out even in the evening

 to watch the spectacular street lights being turned on today

 to commemorate the  1st Sunday of Advent. 

 

 

And so I`m sharing with you some pics in and around the Dome

for you to see the happenings in our city center.

 Enjoy the shots!

 

The pottted pointsettia at home are now in full bloom and in time for

the Advent celebration.

 

 The Christkindl Markt at the  Dome´s Plaza has been opened to public

about two weeks now. 

 

 

A mass was being celebrated when I went inside the St.Stephen´s
 Cathedral  to light up candles for the departed loved ones..

 

 

 

 

Candles for our departed loved ones.

 

 

 

 

 

The Dome as we know it every Christmas season..

 

 

 The entrance to the Dome with beamers

 

Christkindl Markt in the Dome´s Plaza, where the traditional "Glühwein"
is also served. Just a note .... Glühwein is a heated punch made of  red wine,
 orange juice, cloves cinnamon, sugar, etc...

 

 

 

Confiserie shop- windows are now full of  displays as having
 them is a must for the  locals and tourists as well.

This is a stall at the Christkindl Markt at the Dome.


 

Gothic facade of the St. Stephen´s Cathedral



 

East Tower of the Cathedral


 

 

 

A fave flower shop just vis a vis the East Tower of the Dome...

 

HAVE A HAPPY  AND A MEANINGFUL

 1st SUNDAY OF THE ADVENT !!!

 

 

past challenges - minerals & copper

Sharing with you a few of the jewelries I made out of minerals and copper.

 Minerals are fun to work with. It is one of the crafts that I enjoy making

because you can finish a piece in just one sitting and you see the

results right away

  

The Malachite I used in this necklace came from Nigeria.

I just added more and bought the smaller ones in Vienna.

 Lapis lazuli and corals.

The corals were from another necklace that I dismantled and included

here as a contrast to the blue tones of Lapis lazuli..

Sponge corals 

The pendant was discovered in a flea market and I used it to add

 character  to this necklace.

Various agate, tiger´s eye, and other minerals

The main material was found at a bazaar in Spain, dismantled  and I used copper

to connect each piece... I made the closure out of copper wire too.

  

This was an experimental work, I was trying to create a unique piece by
 turning and hammering the wire....
 I guess, it turned out beautifully, if I may say so.

 That´s just about for now, I hope everyone´s enjoying the Weekend!

Til next,

Mercy

Shared at: 

Six Sisters Stuff
Life on Lakeshore Drive

My Guest Blogger - Eva ( of Home Decor by Eva)

Hi everyone! I am Eva from Home Decor by Eva and am glad to be Mercy's guest at Challenging Arts and Crafts.

 I want to share my views on decorating with curtains, as they really help brighten up the room and of course provide late risers undisturbed sleep.
 Happy Reading!

Choosing the Right Blackout Curtains!

Blackout curtains first made their appearance during the Second World War, when showing a light at night meant giving enemy bombers a clear and inviting target. It was vital that every chink of light was concealed and that no sign of life was visible from the outside. There were even wardens who would walk around towns and villages at night to make sure that every house was tightly sealed. Following the war, and the relaxation of such rules, people opted for colourful, pretty curtains, rather than the sombre black blackout curtains.

Modern manufacturing techniques mean that we can now enjoy a fabulous variety of patterns, colours and textures in our curtains: from those with an attractive broad bottom stripe that lengthens the room and calls admiring attention to eye-catching patterns that turn heads on entry to the room. Blackout curtains from Yorkshire Linen are a good choice if looking for various colours and textures, rather than the old fashioned thick and heavy black fabrics that used to be necessary to cut out the light. 

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Blackout curtains have made something of a comeback, especially in countries subject to widely variable seasons. Being able to get to sleep at nine o'clock in winter is no problem, but in the height of summertime this can mean that the sun is still blazing down! Closing the curtains and casting the room into darkness is a tremendous help in being able to sleep at such an early hour! For this reason many parents use blackout curtains in their children's nurseries and bedrooms, Target has a good children s variety to help little ones get off to sleep at a good hour, rather than only after darkness has fallen. Night workers and people who work swing shifts also benefit greatly from blackout curtains, being able to shut out the daylight and get a good 'night's' sleep! 

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Blackout curtains generally do not only block light. Quite often the very thickness of the curtains, which generally have a thick lining as well as the thick visible fabric, can work to block out draughts and chills in extremely cold weather, and also work to muffle outside noises.

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My husband used to work nights and would go to be at about seven o'clock in the morning, waking at around three or four in the afternoon. Initially, we had a pair of light blue, standard curtains, which let in a lot of light and all the noise from the neighbours! In winter, my husband could sleep fairly well, as the children tended to play indoors, and the meagre sunlight was on the other side of the house. In summer, not only did he have to contend with shouting children and roaring strimmers and lawn-mowers, he had full blazing sunshine lighting up the bedroom for most of the morning!

We got some blackout curtains as soon as we found out about them and the difference was amazing! Our bedroom was cast into complete darkness, and was so quiet that we could hear our own breathing! As our bedroom is wallpapered in pale pick textured wallpaper we chosen rich dark red fabric which adds a wonderful rosy glow to the interior!

 

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Blackout curtains are excellent devices as they can ensure that everyone in the home can sleep properly and deeply while at rest. Scientists have found that too much light, noise or even too great a temperature fluctuation can disturb sleep. With the wide and beautiful range of attractive blackout curtains available today, you can have your perfect interior and look after the health of your family at the same time!
 

 

Easy Pumpkin Strudel

Pumpkin Strudel

My godness,  I´ve just realized that pumpkin is so versatile after gathering all those  yummy & delicious  pumpkin recipes from  wonderful bloggers from various social media. I will try to sort out those recipes and try them sometime...

Meanwhile, here is what I baked today, I´ve been wanting to do this one....It´s a deviation of the popular viennese dessert "Apfelstrudel"... Instead of apples, I used pumpkin to fill the roll... here´s how I made it..

Ingredienst 

 

1 pack phylo/puff pastry - frozen or fresh
200 g diced and steamed pumpkin, butternut or hokkaido sort
250 g curd cheese
1 egg yolk
6 tbsp flour
120 g sugar or 6 tbsp stevia powder
1 tbsp grated Lemon rind
4 tbsp dried coconut flakes
1 cup red currant marmalade or jam
caster sugar to springkle on the strudel
 

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven at  180°C. Smash the pumpkin with either the back of a fork or use a stabmixer to crush the pumpkin, blend thoroughly until a fine consistency is achieved. Add the curd cheese, egg yolk, the flour, the sugar, the coconut flakes and the rind of lemon, blend well... set aside.

 2. Roll out the phylo pastry without removing the wax paper... spread the squash mixture on to the phylo pastry evenly leaving 2 cm allowance on all sides..

3. With the help of the wax paper, roll the phylo pastry carefully towards the other end as in jelly-roll and close the middle edge as well as the sides by brushing them with water and pressing them slightly with your finger.

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 180 °C for about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
To  prevent the top of the pastry from getting dark, cover it with an aluminum foil or wax paper after the first 30 minutes of baking, then remove the foil after  20 minutes. Continue to bake for 10 minutes more  to make the crust crispier.


5. Remove from oven and sprinkle with caster sugar and top with red currant marmalade that was heated beforehand in the microwave.
Serve warm or cold... 


HAPPY BAKING!