Fattigmann: Norwegian Christmas Cookie Challenge 7

Finally – the end of the challenge!  This last cookie was baked post Lizzie Rose’s arrival with an enormous amount of help from Mum and Eliot.  I knew this one might be a challenge so the extra help was came at the right time.

I just wanted to bake this last cookie so the challenge was complete, the cookies were boxed up and people received them before the festive season was over!  Luckily it didn’t need that much butter because the shortage is still leaving the shelves empty in Norwegian supermarkets across the country!

The Fattigmann Cookie (or Poor Mans Cookie) is by no means a recipe for folks strapped for cash – it needs 12 eggs, a load of flour and some alcohol to make it work so whoever named this cookie was being sarcastic.  Mixing the ingredients isn’t the time-consuming part – it’s the folding!  I’ll explain later.  Again, we needed to add a lot more flour so the estimated 40 cookies turned out to be 80.  I’m starting to wonder if my measurement skills need some fine tuning.

Recipe:  Should make 40 but we ended up with approx 80

• 6 Eggs
• 6 Egg Yolks
• 1 1/2dl Whipping Cream
• 1 1/2dl Sugar
• 50g Butter
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cardamom
• 5dl Plain Flour
• Little cognac to taste
• 1kg Vegetable Fat/Lard for frying
• Crinkle pastry roller cutter – the same used for the Siripsnipper

Method:

1. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Whip the whipping cream and stir it into the egg mixture slowly
3. Melt the butter and add that to the mixture
4. Add the cinnamon and cardamom to the flour and sieve it all into the mixture little by little
5. Gradually work the mixture into a dough and put it into the fridge until the next day
6. Cut the dough into chunks and roll it out thinly .- approx 3mm.  You may need more flour for this part if the dough is sticky (ours was)
7. Cut into diamonds (like the siripsnipper) and then cut an incision in the center of each diamond
8. Take one end of the diamond and fold it through the incision pulling it completely through the other side – see picture
9. Fry the cookies in lard for approx 4 minutes or until golden brown – be sure to turn them regularly
10. Cool on a wire rack
11. If serving immediately, sprinkle some icing sugar over the top.  Otherwise put them into an airtight box

Sarah’s Tips:

• When you stir the whipped cream into the egg mixture it will look like it’s curdling.  Stir slowly and keep going.  It will eventually smooth out.
• The folding takes time and practice – make sure the dough mixture is dry enough that you can manage and manipulate the folding

Christmas cookie challenge complete!

You’re probably thinking that we have thousands of cookies around the house – you’re not wrong.  We have a lot but we’ve decided to package them up and give them away to neighbours and friends.   I hope they still taste okay!

You can also get a glimpse of behind the scenes in our kitchen during cookie making.  I’m not sure how I managed to get this much flour on my face given that I wasn’t anywhere near the mixing process at the time.

God jul blog readers!